Imagine going to heaven and standing by God as He lovingly shows you the calendar of His plan for your earthly life. It begins with the day you were born. Once you received Christ as Savior, every day that follows is outlined in red. You see footprints walking through each day of each week of your life. On many of the days, two sets of footprints appear. You inquire, "Father, are those my footprints on the calendar every day and is the second set of prints when You joined me?"
He answers, "No, My precious child. The consistent footprints on your calendar are Mine. The second set of footprints are when you joined Me."
"Where were You going, Father?"
"To the destiny I planned for you, hoping you'd follow."
"But Father, where were my footprints all those times?"
He answers, "Sometimes you went back to look at old resentments and habits while I was still going forward, hoping you'd join me. Sometimes you departed from My path and chose your own calendar instead. Other times your footprints can even be seen on another person's calendar because you thought you liked their plan better. At other times you simply stopped because you would not let go of something you could not take the next day."
"But Father, we ended up OK even if I didn't walk with You every day, didn't we?"
He holds you close and smiles, "Yes, My child, we ended up OK. But, you see, OK was never what I had in mind for you."
"Father, what are those golden treasure boxes on certain days?"
"Blessings, My child, I had for you along the way. Those that are open are those you received. Those still closed were days you did not walk with Me."
Visitation Catholic Church
Friday, March 27, 2009
Isolation
I have heard of a couple of people suffering physically and emotionally in the past few days.
I started thinking of what physical or emotional pain does to us. It isolates us. We want to withdraw into ourselves, be left alone. We even tell God to go away, to leave us alone. Yet, the opposite is what we need. When we are with people, the pain IS less. With God the difference is even greater. If it is good for us, God will heal us. However, if it is better for us, God gives us the means to endure the pain. As much as I don't like to think that it is God's will that I suffer, I have to acknowledge that God knows what I need better than I do. Job couldn't understand God; why should I be able to understand? I have to think if maybe something in my life needs correcting. If not that, then what? Something in the future that I may be called to do that God is now preparing me for. Our choice when we suffer is whether to walk with God or to walk alone.
I started thinking of what physical or emotional pain does to us. It isolates us. We want to withdraw into ourselves, be left alone. We even tell God to go away, to leave us alone. Yet, the opposite is what we need. When we are with people, the pain IS less. With God the difference is even greater. If it is good for us, God will heal us. However, if it is better for us, God gives us the means to endure the pain. As much as I don't like to think that it is God's will that I suffer, I have to acknowledge that God knows what I need better than I do. Job couldn't understand God; why should I be able to understand? I have to think if maybe something in my life needs correcting. If not that, then what? Something in the future that I may be called to do that God is now preparing me for. Our choice when we suffer is whether to walk with God or to walk alone.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Psalm 23 as interpreted by Leslie Brandt
"The Lord is my constant companion.
There is no need that He cannot fulfill.
Whether His course for me points to the mountaintops
of glorious ecstasy or to the valleys of human suffering,
He is by my side,
He is ever present with me.
He is close beside me when I tread the dark streets of danger,
and even when I flirt with death itself,
He will not leave me.
When the pain is severe,
He is near to comfort.
When the burden is heavy,
He is there to lean upon.
He touches me with eternal joy.
When I feel empty and alone,
He fills the aching vacuum with His power.
My security is in His promise to be near to me always,
and in the knowledge that He will never let me go."
Psalm 23, as interpreted by Leslie Brandt in Psalms/Now (Concordia,
1973), p.38.
There is no need that He cannot fulfill.
Whether His course for me points to the mountaintops
of glorious ecstasy or to the valleys of human suffering,
He is by my side,
He is ever present with me.
He is close beside me when I tread the dark streets of danger,
and even when I flirt with death itself,
He will not leave me.
When the pain is severe,
He is near to comfort.
When the burden is heavy,
He is there to lean upon.
He touches me with eternal joy.
When I feel empty and alone,
He fills the aching vacuum with His power.
My security is in His promise to be near to me always,
and in the knowledge that He will never let me go."
Psalm 23, as interpreted by Leslie Brandt in Psalms/Now (Concordia,
1973), p.38.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Lent
I have always thought of Lent as a time of discipline, a time to give up something to help me resist a later temptation. I have started to think of Lent as a time to also give up thought, attitudes or feelings that are opposed to the will of God. I am thinking of a resentment that has been long for too long of a time. God is asking me thins Lent to give it up. If I give it up every day for 40 days, by the day of Easter, with God’s grace, it will be gone for good and my soul will be healthier for it.
Ash Wednesday
“Remember man, that thou art dust and unto dust thou shall return.”
Ash Wednesday is a day when the Church collectively recognizes its condition as a sinful people (for those here on earth) journeying to God. It is a day to remember as a people that material things here on earth have no lasting value. It is a day for the Church as a whole to redirect itself towards God. People can do this as individuals; but we are not solely individuals in our relationship to God. Jesus pointed that out when He spoke of the vine and the branches. Paul spoke of us as members of a body with Jesus as the head. So, collectively the Church worships, the Church ministers, the Church repents. To do something as a group helps to anchor those of us who approach God unsteadily. The prayers of those gathered embrace us and uplift us. They encourage us to follow the right path. ‘Wherever two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there.” Matthew 18:20 Today in the midst of a materialistic culture, we need reminding that our focus ought to be on the spiritual rather than the physical. The body does need as much attention as the soul. It is the indulgence of the body that the Church looks at on Ash Wednesday and the succeeding days of Lent. Its message is to rather indulge the needs of the soul than the needs of the body, for the soul is what binds us to God. All that is physical is naught until our bodily resurrection at the end of time and we do not know what that entails. How filled our soul is with grace will determine the depth of our beatific vision of God, our heavenly reward.
Ash Wednesday is a day when the Church collectively recognizes its condition as a sinful people (for those here on earth) journeying to God. It is a day to remember as a people that material things here on earth have no lasting value. It is a day for the Church as a whole to redirect itself towards God. People can do this as individuals; but we are not solely individuals in our relationship to God. Jesus pointed that out when He spoke of the vine and the branches. Paul spoke of us as members of a body with Jesus as the head. So, collectively the Church worships, the Church ministers, the Church repents. To do something as a group helps to anchor those of us who approach God unsteadily. The prayers of those gathered embrace us and uplift us. They encourage us to follow the right path. ‘Wherever two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there.” Matthew 18:20 Today in the midst of a materialistic culture, we need reminding that our focus ought to be on the spiritual rather than the physical. The body does need as much attention as the soul. It is the indulgence of the body that the Church looks at on Ash Wednesday and the succeeding days of Lent. Its message is to rather indulge the needs of the soul than the needs of the body, for the soul is what binds us to God. All that is physical is naught until our bodily resurrection at the end of time and we do not know what that entails. How filled our soul is with grace will determine the depth of our beatific vision of God, our heavenly reward.
Living God’s Will
“…I am now once taking this opportunity to exhort you to live in harmony with the mind of God.” Ignatius in his Epistle to the Ephesians c105 A.D.
What a beautiful way to express it. Today we have WWJD - what would Jesus do? Ignatius does not tell us to ask ourselves questions before we take action, but rather to direct our lives so to be in step with God always. His words are peaceful, flowing, continuing. WWJD suggests an existing disharmony, that we would have to ask ourselves in a situation what would be right. If we were ‘living in harmony with the mind of God,’ we wouldn’t need to ask WWJD. We would know; it would be part of our being. The question would become “Why would we not do what Jesus would.” Instead of having to stop and think about what was the right thing to do, our actions would come as natural as taking a breath. Mother Teresa did not ask if it was right to minister to the dying or what the advantages to her would be; she just did it because she ‘lived in harmony with the mind of God.’ We tend to live most of our hours without thinking of God, without considering what God wants us to do, how God wants us to live. Usually we think of God when there is a problem-WWJD. (The image of Gomer Pyle always trying to adjust his step while marching comes to mind.) To live in harmony with the mind of God - a description of sainthood - a description of where we ought to be spiritually.
What a beautiful way to express it. Today we have WWJD - what would Jesus do? Ignatius does not tell us to ask ourselves questions before we take action, but rather to direct our lives so to be in step with God always. His words are peaceful, flowing, continuing. WWJD suggests an existing disharmony, that we would have to ask ourselves in a situation what would be right. If we were ‘living in harmony with the mind of God,’ we wouldn’t need to ask WWJD. We would know; it would be part of our being. The question would become “Why would we not do what Jesus would.” Instead of having to stop and think about what was the right thing to do, our actions would come as natural as taking a breath. Mother Teresa did not ask if it was right to minister to the dying or what the advantages to her would be; she just did it because she ‘lived in harmony with the mind of God.’ We tend to live most of our hours without thinking of God, without considering what God wants us to do, how God wants us to live. Usually we think of God when there is a problem-WWJD. (The image of Gomer Pyle always trying to adjust his step while marching comes to mind.) To live in harmony with the mind of God - a description of sainthood - a description of where we ought to be spiritually.
Monday, January 19, 2009
Isolation
I started thinking of what physical or emotional pain does to us. It isolates us. We want to withdraw into ourselves, be left alone. We even tell God to go away, to leave us alone. Yet, the opposite is what we need. When we are with people, the pain IS less. With God the difference is even greater. If it is good for us, God will heal us. However, if it is better for us, God gives us the means to endure the pain. As much as I don't like to think that it is God's will that I suffer, I have to acknowledge that God knows what I need better than I do. Job couldn't understand God; why should I be able to understand? I have to think if maybe something in my life needs correcting. If not that, then what? Something in the future that I may be called to do that God is now preparing me for. Our choice when we suffer is whether to walk with God or to walk alone.
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Another version of footprints
Imagine going to heaven and standing by God as He lovingly shows you the calendar of His plan for your earthly life. It begins with the day you were born. Once you received Christ as Savior, every day that follows is outlined in red. You see footprints walking through each day of each week of your life. On many of the days, two sets of footprints appear. You inquire, "Father, are those my footprints on the calendar every day and is the second set of prints when You joined me?"
He answers, "No, My precious child. The consistent footprints on your calendar are Mine. The second set of footprints are when you joined Me."
"Where were You going, Father?"
"To the destiny I planned for you, hoping you'd follow."
"But Father, where were my footprints all those times?"
He answers, "Sometimes you went back to look at old resentments and habits while I was still going forward, hoping you'd join me. Sometimes you departed from My path and chose your own calendar instead. Other times your footprints can even be seen on another person's calendar because you thought you liked their plan better. At other times you simply stopped because you would not let go of something you could not take the next day."
"But Father, we ended up OK even if I didn't walk with You every day, didn't we?"
He holds you close and smiles, "Yes, My child, we ended up OK. But, you see, OK was never what I had in mind for you."
"Father, what are those golden treasure boxes on certain days?"
"Blessings, My child, I had for you along the way. Those that are open are those you received. Those still closed were days you did not walk with Me."
He answers, "No, My precious child. The consistent footprints on your calendar are Mine. The second set of footprints are when you joined Me."
"Where were You going, Father?"
"To the destiny I planned for you, hoping you'd follow."
"But Father, where were my footprints all those times?"
He answers, "Sometimes you went back to look at old resentments and habits while I was still going forward, hoping you'd join me. Sometimes you departed from My path and chose your own calendar instead. Other times your footprints can even be seen on another person's calendar because you thought you liked their plan better. At other times you simply stopped because you would not let go of something you could not take the next day."
"But Father, we ended up OK even if I didn't walk with You every day, didn't we?"
He holds you close and smiles, "Yes, My child, we ended up OK. But, you see, OK was never what I had in mind for you."
"Father, what are those golden treasure boxes on certain days?"
"Blessings, My child, I had for you along the way. Those that are open are those you received. Those still closed were days you did not walk with Me."
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