VATICAN CITY (CNS) A Christian marriage isn’t just a big ceremony held in a church with nice flowers and everyone wearing fancy clothes and taking lots of pictures, Pope Francis said.
Marriage is an act of faith between a man and woman who are both fragile and limited, but courageous enough to follow Christ and seek to love each other as he loves them, the pope said May 6 during his general audience in St. Peter’s Square.
“Men and women, courageous enough to carry this treasure in the ‘earthen vessels’ of our humanity, are an essential resource for the church and for the whole world,” he said. “May God bless them a thousand times for this!”
The pope continued a series of talks about the family by focusing on the beauty of Christian marriage as a sacrament that builds up the church and the world.
A Christian marriage “is not simply a ceremony that you have in church with flowers, the dress, photos. Christian marriage is a sacrament that takes place in the church and is also something the church does, ushering in a new domestic community,” he said.
All Christians “are called to love each other like Christ loves them,” and to be at the service ofeach other, he said. But the love between husband and wife is given greater, even “unthinkable,” dignity when St. Paul says the love between a husband and wife reflects the love between Christ and his church, the pope said.
Just as Christ loves his church, every husband, too, must love his wife and give himself completely for her, he said.
Looking up from his text, the pope asked all of the married men in the crowd if they fully grasped what was being asked of them. Such responsibility and a commitment to offer so much love and dignity to a woman “is no joke, you know; it’s serious,” he said to applause.
While the analogy between husband-wife and Christ-church may be imperfect, he said, its spiritual significance is “revolutionary, and simple at the same time, and within the means of every man and woman who trust in God’s grace.”
This love has been inscribed by God in the human creature, “and with Christ’s grace, countless Christian couples, even with their limits, their sins, have achieved” it, the pope said.
The selfless, reciprocal, fruitful and indissoluble union between a man and a woman is part of God’s original plan and “the sacrament of marriage is a great act of faith and of love,” he said.
Marriage “gives witness to the courage to believe in the beauty of the creative act of God and to live that love that drives one to always go beyond, beyond oneself and beyond one’s own family,” he said. “The Christian vocation to love without reserve and without measure is what, with Christ’s grace, is at the foundation of the free consent that constitutes marriage,” the pope said.
The pope said the church is intimately bound up in every Christian marriage and it is edified with each union’s “successes” and suffers with every failure. “But we must ask ourselvesin all seriousness: Do we fully accept we as faithful and pastors, too this indissoluble connection between the relationship of Christ and the church with the relationship of marriage and the human family? Are we willing to seriously take on this responsibility? That is, that every marriage takes the path of the love Christ has for the church? This is something huge.”
Such a path takes courage,and that is why whenever “I greet newlyweds, I say, ‘Look, the courageous ones!’ Because you need courage to love each other as Christ loves the church,” he said to applause.
At the end of the audience, the pope noted May 8 marked the70th anniversary of the end of WorldWar II in Europe. He said he hoped humanity would “learn from past mistakes.” Given the “current conflictsthat are tearing apart” certain parts of the world, the pope asked all leaders to commit themselves to “seeking the common good and promoting a culture of peace.” Among the tens of thousands of faithful present in St. Peter’s Square was a large group of Chinese Catholics from the Diocese of Wenzhou.
The pope met with them before the start of the audience after he gave indications to Vatican security to deviate the popemobile’s usual route through the square and head to where the group was standing, sending a few undercover Swiss Guards scurrying when the vehicle did not take its expected turn. The pope descended from the popemobile to greet members of the large and enthusiastic group of pilgrims who waved Chinese and Vatican flags. They vigorously shook the pope’s hands or grabbed at him while he smiled and blessed a few babies.
Also in the audience was a uniformed delegation from the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team. The Globetrotters performed for Pope Pius XII in 1951, St. John XXIII in 1959 and Pope Paul VI in 1968. They met St. John Paul II a number of times and even awarded him “honorary player” in 2000.
Copyright (c) 2015 Catholic News Service.
Reprinted with permission from CNS.
http://www.CatholicNews.com
http://cnstopstories.com/2015/05/06/pope-marriage-is-brave-promise-to-love-like-jesus-not-showy-ceremony/
Wednesday, June 24, 2015
Wednesday, June 17, 2015
Pope says ‘scandal’ of inequality, fear of marriage must be addressed.
VATICAN CITY (CNS) Two millennia after the “Gospel of the family” defeated an abusive social practice that humiliated women, the “radical equality” of spouses in Christian marriage must now bear “new fruit” in society, including “the right to equal pay for equal work,” said Pope Francis.
This “disparity” between men and women in the workplace is “a pure scandal,” Pope Francis said April 29 during his weekly general audience.
Continuing a series of audience talks about marriage, the pope began by saying Jesus demonstrated his great fondness and solicitude for marriage and family when he changed water into wine at the wedding at Cana.
The love between man and woman in marriage is “God’s masterpiece,” the pope said, straying from his prepared remarks. Though Jesus’ message to married couples is always the same, “many things have changed” since then, he said.
Today there are fewer marriages, more marriage breakups, and fewer children, the pope noted. Family and marital bonds are broken with “always greater frequency and speed,” and children are always “the biggest victims,” he said.
The pope said that if a person, since childhood, experiences marriage as a temporary bond, then “unconsciously” he or she will tend to live that way, too.
Though young people rank family first as a social indicator for happiness, he said, many give up on the idea of “an irrevocable bond” and of a long-lasting family life.
“For fear of failure, many do not even want to think about (marriage),” Christian youth included, he said.
“I believe we need to reflect with great seriousness about why many young people ‘don’t feel’ like getting married,” the pope said. Why do they “often prefer cohabitation” and why do “they have so little faith in marriage and family?”
The pope dismissed economic difficulties as a major factor, “even if these are truly serious.”
The argument that marriage has changed in recent decades because of women’s emancipation “is not valid either,” he said.
“This is an insult. It is not true,” he added, straying again from his prepared remarks. “It is a form of chauvinism that wants to dominate the woman” and that follows in the footsteps of Adam who blamed Eve because he ate the apple.
“Poor woman,” the pope said. “We must defend women.” “In reality,” the pope continued, “almost all men and women would like permanent emotional security, a solid marriage and a happy family.”
The pope said the fear of failure in marriage is perhaps “the greatest obstacle to welcoming the word of Christ, who promises his grace on the marital bond and on the family.”
“The most effective witness to the blessing of marriage is the good life of Christian spouses and their families. There is no better way to communicate the beauty of the sacrament,” he said.
“Marriage, consecrated by God, safeguards that bond between man and woman that God has blessed since the creation of the world, and it is the fount of peace and goodness for marital and family life,” he added.
The pope also spoke of “an abuse” at the time of the early Christians, “which was the right of husbands to repudiate their wives,even with the most pretentious and humiliating reasons.” This practice was “then considered to be normal,” he said.
“The Gospel of the family, the Gospel that proclaims this sacrament (of marriage) had defeated this culture of habitual repudiation,” he added off the cuff.
“The Christian seed of radical equality between spouses must today produce new fruit,” he continued.
“Therefore, as Christians, we have to become more demanding in this respect. For example, backing to the right to equal pay for equal work; the disparity is a pure scandal!” he said. “At the same time, we must recognize the motherhood of women and the fatherhood of men as a treasure that is always precious, especially for the children’s benefit.”
He urged Christians to be unafraid to invite Jesus to their “wedding feast” and into their homes, so that Jesus may “safeguard the family.”
“When Christians marry ‘in the Lord,'” he continued, “they are transformed into an efficacious sign of God’s love. Christians do not marry only for themselves; they marry in the Lord for the benefit of the whole community, all of society.”
Copyright (c) 2015 Catholic News Service.
Reprinted with permission from CNS.
http://www.CatholicNews.com
http://cnstopstories.com/2015/04/29/pope-says-scandal-of-inequality-fearof-marriage-must-be-addressed/
This “disparity” between men and women in the workplace is “a pure scandal,” Pope Francis said April 29 during his weekly general audience.
Continuing a series of audience talks about marriage, the pope began by saying Jesus demonstrated his great fondness and solicitude for marriage and family when he changed water into wine at the wedding at Cana.
The love between man and woman in marriage is “God’s masterpiece,” the pope said, straying from his prepared remarks. Though Jesus’ message to married couples is always the same, “many things have changed” since then, he said.
Today there are fewer marriages, more marriage breakups, and fewer children, the pope noted. Family and marital bonds are broken with “always greater frequency and speed,” and children are always “the biggest victims,” he said.
The pope said that if a person, since childhood, experiences marriage as a temporary bond, then “unconsciously” he or she will tend to live that way, too.
Though young people rank family first as a social indicator for happiness, he said, many give up on the idea of “an irrevocable bond” and of a long-lasting family life.
“For fear of failure, many do not even want to think about (marriage),” Christian youth included, he said.
“I believe we need to reflect with great seriousness about why many young people ‘don’t feel’ like getting married,” the pope said. Why do they “often prefer cohabitation” and why do “they have so little faith in marriage and family?”
The pope dismissed economic difficulties as a major factor, “even if these are truly serious.”
The argument that marriage has changed in recent decades because of women’s emancipation “is not valid either,” he said.
“This is an insult. It is not true,” he added, straying again from his prepared remarks. “It is a form of chauvinism that wants to dominate the woman” and that follows in the footsteps of Adam who blamed Eve because he ate the apple.
“Poor woman,” the pope said. “We must defend women.” “In reality,” the pope continued, “almost all men and women would like permanent emotional security, a solid marriage and a happy family.”
The pope said the fear of failure in marriage is perhaps “the greatest obstacle to welcoming the word of Christ, who promises his grace on the marital bond and on the family.”
“The most effective witness to the blessing of marriage is the good life of Christian spouses and their families. There is no better way to communicate the beauty of the sacrament,” he said.
“Marriage, consecrated by God, safeguards that bond between man and woman that God has blessed since the creation of the world, and it is the fount of peace and goodness for marital and family life,” he added.
The pope also spoke of “an abuse” at the time of the early Christians, “which was the right of husbands to repudiate their wives,even with the most pretentious and humiliating reasons.” This practice was “then considered to be normal,” he said.
“The Gospel of the family, the Gospel that proclaims this sacrament (of marriage) had defeated this culture of habitual repudiation,” he added off the cuff.
“The Christian seed of radical equality between spouses must today produce new fruit,” he continued.
“Therefore, as Christians, we have to become more demanding in this respect. For example, backing to the right to equal pay for equal work; the disparity is a pure scandal!” he said. “At the same time, we must recognize the motherhood of women and the fatherhood of men as a treasure that is always precious, especially for the children’s benefit.”
He urged Christians to be unafraid to invite Jesus to their “wedding feast” and into their homes, so that Jesus may “safeguard the family.”
“When Christians marry ‘in the Lord,'” he continued, “they are transformed into an efficacious sign of God’s love. Christians do not marry only for themselves; they marry in the Lord for the benefit of the whole community, all of society.”
Copyright (c) 2015 Catholic News Service.
Reprinted with permission from CNS.
http://www.CatholicNews.com
http://cnstopstories.com/2015/04/29/pope-says-scandal-of-inequality-fearof-marriage-must-be-addressed/
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Long Term Commitment
You have heard me say many times that our Charlie was a rescue dog. I don’t know if I have ever explained his adoption process.
Via petfinder.com I found a 9 year old golden mix named Charlie in Youngwood. I had a late evening planned at the office, so for my lunch break, I had Robert meet me at the shelter so we could see if this Charlie was the dog for us.
When we arrived, the lady in charge had me fill out an application, which was actually pretty complicated. I needed to include my social security number, place of work, and three personal references. They wanted to know who lived in our house and their ages. How we would discipline our new dog was also required information. They wanted to know if our yard was fenced, and how much time the dog would spend outside. I also had to sign a contract that said that if for any reason I felt the dog was beyond my capacity to care for, I was to return the dog to them at the shelter.
Although that Charlie was not to be our dog, we were approved as possible pet parents. I feel certain that the complex application helped us to eventually adopt OUR Charlie from the shelter in Greensburg.
I often hear from people how complicated it can be to adopt a dog from a shelter, because the shelter staff really wants to keep these animals safe and well cared for. What’s difficult is an application can never cover what having a pet is really like. For instance, having a fence seems like a safe way to contain a dog, but not Charlie. He has to be supervised when in the back yard in case he decides to jump said fence. No application can fully anticipate the specific needs of a pet.
Unfortunately, we often apply an application mentality to our relationships with one another. Dating sites are prime examples. If someone meets all my criteria, then they are suitable to date or even marry. We expect our kids to live up to application standards as well. They have to be able to “check all the boxes” so to speak. Even when we think we are living outside of others’ standards, casual conversation can bring up those feelings of guilt when we’re not keeping up.
This approach to relationships creates a superficiality that lacks the depth that characterizes intimate relationship. Feeling that we will only be loved if we meet outside standards builds a level of uncertainty and distrust into our relationships. Not being assured that another will be with you through thick and thin creates insecurity, which leads to pain and hurt.
God’s love is unconditional, but how can we even begin to understand that when we constantly put standards on our love of one another?
Relationships can’t be relegated to simple expectations and returns. Love is to desire the best for another and we should be seeking that in the context of the other, not according to our own wants or standards.
That puts a whole new spin on marriage. We shouldn’t be looking for a person who meets our standards, but instead be the person who strives to love beyond standards. We don’t look for the best spouse, we attempt to be the best spouse possible. When we stop putting all kinds of requirements on each other to earn love, we can be free to love as Jesus taught us. And really, isn’t that we are supposed to be about?
Marriage is supposed to be our human example of how Christ loves his church. We have to be willing to let go of all the superficial conditions to love each other fully. Being loved unconditionally creates assured and trustful relationships. No application could ever create that.
Charlie is a special dog, with special needs. He is loved for his doggy self, not for what I knew about him through our application process. We would do well to put down the standards and love each other as we are.
Via petfinder.com I found a 9 year old golden mix named Charlie in Youngwood. I had a late evening planned at the office, so for my lunch break, I had Robert meet me at the shelter so we could see if this Charlie was the dog for us.
When we arrived, the lady in charge had me fill out an application, which was actually pretty complicated. I needed to include my social security number, place of work, and three personal references. They wanted to know who lived in our house and their ages. How we would discipline our new dog was also required information. They wanted to know if our yard was fenced, and how much time the dog would spend outside. I also had to sign a contract that said that if for any reason I felt the dog was beyond my capacity to care for, I was to return the dog to them at the shelter.
Although that Charlie was not to be our dog, we were approved as possible pet parents. I feel certain that the complex application helped us to eventually adopt OUR Charlie from the shelter in Greensburg.
I often hear from people how complicated it can be to adopt a dog from a shelter, because the shelter staff really wants to keep these animals safe and well cared for. What’s difficult is an application can never cover what having a pet is really like. For instance, having a fence seems like a safe way to contain a dog, but not Charlie. He has to be supervised when in the back yard in case he decides to jump said fence. No application can fully anticipate the specific needs of a pet.
Unfortunately, we often apply an application mentality to our relationships with one another. Dating sites are prime examples. If someone meets all my criteria, then they are suitable to date or even marry. We expect our kids to live up to application standards as well. They have to be able to “check all the boxes” so to speak. Even when we think we are living outside of others’ standards, casual conversation can bring up those feelings of guilt when we’re not keeping up.
This approach to relationships creates a superficiality that lacks the depth that characterizes intimate relationship. Feeling that we will only be loved if we meet outside standards builds a level of uncertainty and distrust into our relationships. Not being assured that another will be with you through thick and thin creates insecurity, which leads to pain and hurt.
God’s love is unconditional, but how can we even begin to understand that when we constantly put standards on our love of one another?
Relationships can’t be relegated to simple expectations and returns. Love is to desire the best for another and we should be seeking that in the context of the other, not according to our own wants or standards.
That puts a whole new spin on marriage. We shouldn’t be looking for a person who meets our standards, but instead be the person who strives to love beyond standards. We don’t look for the best spouse, we attempt to be the best spouse possible. When we stop putting all kinds of requirements on each other to earn love, we can be free to love as Jesus taught us. And really, isn’t that we are supposed to be about?
Marriage is supposed to be our human example of how Christ loves his church. We have to be willing to let go of all the superficial conditions to love each other fully. Being loved unconditionally creates assured and trustful relationships. No application could ever create that.
Charlie is a special dog, with special needs. He is loved for his doggy self, not for what I knew about him through our application process. We would do well to put down the standards and love each other as we are.
Wednesday, May 27, 2015
Relaxation
Baxter has a keen ability to help me relax. He crawls on my lap, or he just rolls over for me to pet him, and he begins to purr. Something about that sound and the funny vibration that accompanies it creates a peace and calm that is hard to resist. It is like a psychic massage, a soothing sound and touch that makes me forget the problems or concerns I might be carrying. It says: “Forget about the rest of the world for a moment. Concentrate on our time together. Listen to my peaceful sound and find your center through me. I won’t add to your burdens, but I will help you release them for now.” Add to this message a nose and head rub, and soon the world is all right again. The calm brings clear thinking and settled feelings. I am ready to start over.
Maybe episodes like this are part of the reason so many people prefer their pets to fellow humans. Pets help us decompress by giving us time just to settle down and forget about our troubles. They seem to sense when we need a time out, and they provide the opportunity to take one. At these moments, they don’t ask for anything for themselves except to be close to us. Their closeness gives us perspective on whatever is occupying our attention. It eases our anxiety and provides spaces for us to think again and differently about our issues. A purring cat invites us to pay attention and settle down.
God calls us to the same attitude and frame of mind. In prayer, He comes close to us and invites us to release our burdens, to forget about our troubles for a while, to feel the warmth of His love next to us. Prayer is not a time to solve our problems, but to drop them for a moment. Prayer helps us to recognize that before we have issues with which to deal, we first have appreciation to offer for the gifts what life contains. These come without any strings attached, simply because we are God’s children sharing His life in our living. We hold them in the packaging of our relationships, and we must package them carefully if we are not to damage our sense of gratitude for life.
So our prayer is meant to spill over into the way we deal with each other. Too often we are just problems for each other or functionaries who provide each other things that we need. Prayer shows us we are companions on life’s journey. We are meant to help each other over the rough spots, strengthen each other when we are weak, comfort each other when we are hurting. We do this not by solving anything but by paying attention, feeling close and allowing others to relax in our presence. This is the way we humans purr.
However, we get so wrapped up in our issues, in getting things done, in making demands on each other that we forget to pray that we learn to purr for each other. It’s the greatest service we can offer.
-Monsignor Statnick
Pope Francis and a few other authors have agreed to give Baxter a break for the summer. So this is the last reflection he will inspire until the weather cools and the new school year begins. Baxter hopes his feline frolics and foibles are helpful to his readers, but he has his agent looking for a new ghost writer to convey his wisdom. Baxter feels his present scribe is entering his dotage and might need to be placed out to pasture for his twilight years. If anyone is interested in applying for the position, please call 724-CAT-FOOD, and ask for “More Kibble”. (Baxter will do anything to circumvent his diet.) Happy summer and see you in September!
Wednesday, May 20, 2015
Graduation
It is graduation season. Pre-school, kindergarten, eighth grade, high school, college and post-graduate programs are celebrating their successful students and wishing them well for the future. A graduation marks a milestone in someone’s life. One phase is finished with the end of the ceremony, and another begins. It is a time to collect our memories from the past few years, and to face our futures, hopefully with confidence. We consciously move on rather than dwindle to an end.
Baxter has never gone through a graduation ceremony. He makes his transitions in life without much thought. He has passed from kitten, to young cat, to senior feline without fanfare or ceremony. It is not that he hasn’t learned some things along the way. He has developed his habits, his likes and dislikes, and his tricks to get what he wants from the repetition of routine and the lessons of trial and error. He just doesn’t look back on these experiences that taught him his life lessons, and he doesn’t seem to anticipate the future and where it might lead. He is a creature of the moment, imprinted with the past but not reflective about it or how it might lead him into the future.
This is what makes us different. As human beings we are meant to reflect and ponder upon our lives. We are not made to live from moment to moment without thought to what we are doing and where it is taking us. Our lives compose a history where what happens holds a certain meaning. However, this meaning is not self-evident most of the time. We have to plumb the experience for its deeper dimension, for the relationships that connect the pieces, for the God who was present quietly but powerfully while we lived through it. We have to become people who reflectively look back on our lives not in nostalgia to relive the past, but in confidence that we will discover a divine providence that will lead us into the future.
Our lives are not just a series of passages from birth to death, marked by the accumulation of years. They are a series of transformations, marked by ever deepening changes in our perspective and the character we bear in the world. As we live on faithfully and thoughtfully, these transformations are marked by grace more than our own talent, power, sin or failure. We see more and more of God’s hand with us, and we become more and more reflections of God’s work and word in our world. Salvation history continues as we understand the history of our lives unfolding in the path of faith.
As disciples, we all have one last graduation to celebrate. The ceremony takes place in a church. It takes a whole lifetime to meet the requirements of its credentials. It is marked with sadness for the good times that are over, but also with hope for the better times that lie ahead. The processional includes our loved ones, as we are led to the light of Christ at the foot of our casket. Marked by the blood of the Lamb from the moment of our baptism, we now join the great company of saints in glory, and we see the point of it all.
Baxter, you don’t know what you are missing. Happy Graduation!
Baxter has never gone through a graduation ceremony. He makes his transitions in life without much thought. He has passed from kitten, to young cat, to senior feline without fanfare or ceremony. It is not that he hasn’t learned some things along the way. He has developed his habits, his likes and dislikes, and his tricks to get what he wants from the repetition of routine and the lessons of trial and error. He just doesn’t look back on these experiences that taught him his life lessons, and he doesn’t seem to anticipate the future and where it might lead. He is a creature of the moment, imprinted with the past but not reflective about it or how it might lead him into the future.
This is what makes us different. As human beings we are meant to reflect and ponder upon our lives. We are not made to live from moment to moment without thought to what we are doing and where it is taking us. Our lives compose a history where what happens holds a certain meaning. However, this meaning is not self-evident most of the time. We have to plumb the experience for its deeper dimension, for the relationships that connect the pieces, for the God who was present quietly but powerfully while we lived through it. We have to become people who reflectively look back on our lives not in nostalgia to relive the past, but in confidence that we will discover a divine providence that will lead us into the future.
Our lives are not just a series of passages from birth to death, marked by the accumulation of years. They are a series of transformations, marked by ever deepening changes in our perspective and the character we bear in the world. As we live on faithfully and thoughtfully, these transformations are marked by grace more than our own talent, power, sin or failure. We see more and more of God’s hand with us, and we become more and more reflections of God’s work and word in our world. Salvation history continues as we understand the history of our lives unfolding in the path of faith.
As disciples, we all have one last graduation to celebrate. The ceremony takes place in a church. It takes a whole lifetime to meet the requirements of its credentials. It is marked with sadness for the good times that are over, but also with hope for the better times that lie ahead. The processional includes our loved ones, as we are led to the light of Christ at the foot of our casket. Marked by the blood of the Lamb from the moment of our baptism, we now join the great company of saints in glory, and we see the point of it all.
Baxter, you don’t know what you are missing. Happy Graduation!
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Turf Wars
Baxter loves to look outside at the other critters with whom he shares this world. He is fascinated by birds and rabbits. He follows their movements with charged attention. He sees bugs as toys. He loves to reach for them and try to grab them in his paw. Then he may release them and bat them around. If they don’t get away, they usually get eaten. Baxter is not a vegetarian.
However, there is one of God’s creatures whom Baxter refuses to engage in any way except angrily. Another cat! Baxter will not abide a fellow feline on or near his turf. At best, he will have a stare down contest with the invader until they back away and leave the premises. At worst, he gets into a hissing, clawing, spitting fit, all intended to get the visitor to scoot in as quick and cowardly a fashion as possible. Baxter will have no one of his species sharing his territory. He claims sole proprietorship, and any other cat is not just unwelcomed, but thrown out in no uncertain terms. Baxter is very possessive of his sphere of influence.
Sometimes we are as well. We won’t let anyone else in or near what we consider our area of responsibility and expertise. We see them as a threat to what we do and who we are. We have the knowledge and experience, and therefore, the right to call the shots and do the job. We have been around a long time, and we don’t need any advice or assistance, unless we ask for it specifically. We are the champions of the cause, and we have notched up the successes of the past. We know best. What’s wrong with doing it our way?
It’s not God’s way. God is not an autocrat dishing out directions and marking off boundaries that no one dares to counter or cross. Sure, He has rules to guide our lives, and do’s and don’ts to follow. But they are for our own good, so that we are fair and respectful towards each other and learn how to build a better world, not to make God look good. God looks at us and sees what we can be, and He sets a place for us to live and work with others to become the persons God intended. That means we have to share our space and cooperate with others to do God’s work.
Our personal successes are not what will account for our lives before God, but how others’ lives were made better for our service to them and with them. “Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?” “For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there among them.” Christ is disguised in others when they cross over into our lives.
Baxter is excused for his possessiveness and territoriality. He can’t help himself. It is built into his instincts. We have no excuse. God made us to be open to His grace by serving one another, by sharing our time, talent and treasure with them, by allowing them to claim a space in our world. It’s not mine or yours but ours. It is not my way or your way but God’s way through us. When we learn these lessons, God’s work begins to become our own.
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Sleeping Soundly
At first, I wasn'’t sure of where they were coming from, these strange sounds in the night. They were a mix of moans and groans, whistles and snores, sighs and heavy breathing. I looked everywhere for their source. I listened near the window, thinking they were coming from the outside. They weren'’t. I explored the basement, walked through every room in the house. Nothing. I checked out the refrigerator, then the furnace, even the chiming clock. No luck from any of these. I began to think that one of two things was possible. Either I was becoming delusional, or zombies were for real. Not wanting to believe that I was nuts, I looked for blood droplets on my pillow. No evidence. What was going on? Who could be at the bottom of these strange sounds in the night? I should have known, but sometimes we miss the most obvious explanation. Baxter!
When Baxter is sound asleep, he isn’t quiet. He make all these weird noises; I suppose to add sound effects to his dreams. He is in such a deep sleep that he is unaware of his noise making but any other creature trying to sleep can’t miss it. He releases a cacophony of sounds from the twilight zone while he blissfully floats in la-la Land. I admire his deep slumber and the utter abandon it conveys. However, the sounds of his peaceful rest create restless discomfort for those of us who have to live with it. Baxter doesn'’t realize it, but his deep sleep keeps others awake, alerted to the sounds his peacefulness generates.
We may have a similar situation in our spiritual lives. We are too restless and distracted to go deeply into reflection on our lives and encounter the God who is revealing Himself to us. We may be so frightened by the sounds around us, that we can’t listen to the silence within us. The world is a noisy place, and we get caught up in its shouts and threats. We may be so disturbed by the sound that others make in their habits of living that we can’t rest in ourselves and listen for the Lord. We don’t want to miss something interesting, so we are always attuned to what someone has to say or what we may overhear. We become focused on the external world so completely that we never enter our own interiority to examine what I truly think, feel and believe about myself, others and my God. We ride life like a wave, and we never dive into its depths to see what is living under the surface. We become spiritually shallow.
Deep sleep gives us a metaphor for how we are to rest in the Lord and contemplate His goodness. It’s not about trying to get to sleep and dream. Rather, it is about allowing ourselves to relax in the presence of God as to be taken away by the encounter. We forget where we are, what time it is, what others are doing, and simply fall into the embracing arms of our loving God. We allow God to take the lead, while we rest, while we let go of whatever is disturbing us. We focus on the moment in prayer, and we give no regard either to what happened in the past or what may occur in the future. We are absorbed in the present where God is with us in peace.
Like Baxter, Christians should make strange sounds in our world today. Not snorts and sighs or whistles and moans because we are asleep, but shouts of peace, forgiveness, compassion, justice and respect because we rest in the Lord. We have nothing to fear from those sounds.
When Baxter is sound asleep, he isn’t quiet. He make all these weird noises; I suppose to add sound effects to his dreams. He is in such a deep sleep that he is unaware of his noise making but any other creature trying to sleep can’t miss it. He releases a cacophony of sounds from the twilight zone while he blissfully floats in la-la Land. I admire his deep slumber and the utter abandon it conveys. However, the sounds of his peaceful rest create restless discomfort for those of us who have to live with it. Baxter doesn'’t realize it, but his deep sleep keeps others awake, alerted to the sounds his peacefulness generates.
We may have a similar situation in our spiritual lives. We are too restless and distracted to go deeply into reflection on our lives and encounter the God who is revealing Himself to us. We may be so frightened by the sounds around us, that we can’t listen to the silence within us. The world is a noisy place, and we get caught up in its shouts and threats. We may be so disturbed by the sound that others make in their habits of living that we can’t rest in ourselves and listen for the Lord. We don’t want to miss something interesting, so we are always attuned to what someone has to say or what we may overhear. We become focused on the external world so completely that we never enter our own interiority to examine what I truly think, feel and believe about myself, others and my God. We ride life like a wave, and we never dive into its depths to see what is living under the surface. We become spiritually shallow.
Deep sleep gives us a metaphor for how we are to rest in the Lord and contemplate His goodness. It’s not about trying to get to sleep and dream. Rather, it is about allowing ourselves to relax in the presence of God as to be taken away by the encounter. We forget where we are, what time it is, what others are doing, and simply fall into the embracing arms of our loving God. We allow God to take the lead, while we rest, while we let go of whatever is disturbing us. We focus on the moment in prayer, and we give no regard either to what happened in the past or what may occur in the future. We are absorbed in the present where God is with us in peace.
Like Baxter, Christians should make strange sounds in our world today. Not snorts and sighs or whistles and moans because we are asleep, but shouts of peace, forgiveness, compassion, justice and respect because we rest in the Lord. We have nothing to fear from those sounds.
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