Faith and Service

The thing that is most important to remember about the request posed by the disciples in today's gospel is this: FAITH FOR A DISCIPLE OF CHRIST IS A LIVING RELATIONSHIP WITH GOD.

I'm tempted in this reflection to start this next paragraph with the words, "Faith is not...", and then list all of the things that easily get confused with faith. I've decided not to go there. It's simple really: Faith is our living relationship with God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

If we have this understanding of faith, a lot of things begin to make sense. This is why faith is a gift. We cannot earn this relationship with God, because God is so far beyond us that we cannot bridge the distance. God must cross the distance and initiate this relationship with us. God has done this. Time and time again, God has done this. The relationship that we have with Father, Son and Holy Spirit is gift. Faith is a gift.

Think about Abraham for a second, "For what does the scripture say, 'Abraham had faith, and it was credited to him as righteousness." (Romans 4:3). Abraham had a living relationship with God. They walked and talked together, and this relationship with God, that God invited Abraham to know him intimately, and they spent time together, was what made Abraham righteous. God bridged the distance, and Abraham showed up.

For the Christian, this gift of relationship with God comes through Jesus. Jesus is the way for us to enter that relationship. He is the total revelation of God. So while God bridges the gap to all humanity, one can only enter into the deepest relationship with him, to know him fully, through Jesus.

So the disciples request, "Increase our faith." What they're really asking, although it's unlikely that they knew this at the time, is for Jesus to bring them into a deeper relationship with himself, and ultimately with the fullness of the Trinitarian God.

Jesus's response is unique to Luke. This request is recorded several times throughout all the gospels. But this particular response is unique to Luke. And what is the response:

Be of service to one another. Jesus speaks of the servant who comes in from the field after working all day, and then has to serve more when the master requests his work. This is our role, service to one another. Jesus tells the disciples (us) that if our faith is to be increased, that we should enter into the role of servant.

He adds something very hard, though: Do not ask for anything in return. Serve unselfishly because that is who you are as my disciple. Do not expect any reward, extra pay, "overtime." He might as well have said, "You are my disciples. I expect you to serve." Oh wait, he did: "This is how all will know that you are my disciples, that you love one another." (John 13:35). And when the service is done, we say, "We only did what Jesus asked us to do."

Christian faith is increased through service. Here's the trick, we don't need to look at national unrest or international catastrophes to find challenges to faith. We don't need to look at personal tragedies, like the loss of a job or the foreclosure of a home. No. To find challenges to faith we need only to look at the mundane, more subtle, more insidious challenges that we face everyday, and usually when things are at their best. I'm a firm believer that people have the deepest faith when they are faced with hardship. At least, that's when they pray the most.

It is the times when things are going well that we become complacent in our faith. "Everything's going great, God, so I don't really need you right now." If faith is a living relationship with God, it is not based on need or convenience. So, how do we increase our faith when everything is going well?

Service.

I saw an example of that today at the St. Andrew Parish fall festival in Holts Summit. I spent 4 hours in the kitchen making mashed potatoes. Everyone working in the kitchen was volunteering, as well as everyone serving the food and working the games outside. They were serving any who came for a meal. And everyone of them did it with a smile. They increased my faith by their service, and I joined in with the friendship and the laughter and the fellowship and the service and the faith building.

Here's my challenge, find a service project. If you want to deepen your faith and experience a relationship with Jesus that is alive and powerful, find a way to serve "the least of these." And don't go all wimpy by saying, "My family will be my service project."

I believe that service should first and foremost start in the family. But it's a cop-out if that's all you do. How about this, find a project for your family to do together. Volunteer at the Samaritan Center or Salvation Army. Volunteer at your Church. Get involved in Cursillo, Christ Renews His Parish, TEC, highway clean up, United Way, ... the list goes on and on. Look outside your normal circle of influence. The possibilities to be of service are really endless.

Serve, and do it as a Christian. Pray before you start; pray when you're done. Offer it as a living sacrifice to God the Father. Pause several times during the activity to bring to mind that you are serving because you are a disciple of Christ.

I'm going to find one. Let's hold each other accountable to be of Christian service. I promise, it will deepen your faith.

I'm posting the link to this reflection on my facebook page. If you want to join me as an accountability partner for service, comment on this link in facebook. Join me in Christian service. Let's take the Lord at his word. Let's deepen our faith through service. Let's do what he says to do so that our relationship with him will be alive in the Spirit who binds us together.

Are you with me?

Some Thoughts on Prayer and my GPS

We read things like this in the Gospel according to Luke: "And I tell you, ask and you will receive; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives, and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. What father among you would hand his son a snake when he asks for a fish? Or hand him a scorpion when he asks for an egg? If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in Heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?" Luke 11: 9-13.

When we read things like this, sometimes we can't help but think: "Yeah, right." For example, Lesley and I have been praying nearly two years that our house would sell. Ask and you will receive? How many unanswered prayers are out there. Desperate mothers praying for their children who are lost in the world of drugs and alcohol? People praying for a miracle to heal them from cancer? And in these economic times, how many unanswered prayers are out there for work?

How, then, do we understand these words?

The apostle James, gives us some insight: "You ask, but do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions." James 4:3. I have to admit, with Lesley and I and the house situation, we have been looking for a house that is within the credit range that we can afford, but that is much more house than we need. There's a great line in the movie "Shadowlands." The movie is about C.S. Lewis and his wife, who died of cancer. A friend of C.S. Lewis is talking to him about turning to God in prayer, and Anthony Hopkins, who plays C.S. Lewis, responds, "We do not pray to change God's mind, but our own."

There's another way to think about this. Allow me to be so bold as to paraphrase Jesus. "Which of you would give your son a venomous snake, if he asks for one?" Sometimes we don't give our children what they ask for because we know it wouldn't be good for them. They're asking for the wrong thing. Sometimes, God doesn't answer our prayers just as we pray them because we're praying for something that ultimately would be bad for us. God knows what is best. If we can hold on to our faith, we believe that God will answer our prayers in a way that is better than anything we could possibly wish for ourselves.

I'd like to put this discussion in a larger context. This thought came to me several years ago, and I've found it to be more and more true since then. I think God's answer to prayers is something like using a GPS. God knows the destination and the route. We're asking for directions, even when we don't quite know what the destination is. We have an idea. I know that Lesley and I want to provide an appropriate home for our children to grow up that will allow us to provide for them a Catholic education and an occasional vacation. God knows exactly where that place is. So I pray, listening for directions for God to position us in a place where He will be glorified in our family life. God doesn't give me the entire route at once. He gives me turn by turn directions. I have to listen for those directions, step by step.

Lesley and I were going to look at an open house one day, and we plugged the address in to our GPS. The GPS led us to the 179 and Missouri Blvd interchange that's closed down. We couldn't take the directions the GPS gave. That happens with God's directions, too, although it's usually not that we can't do what God asks. We just don't. (That's called sin.) If we're faithful, however, and return to listening to God, He says like that GPS system, "You are now off course. Recalculating route." And God gives us turn by turn directions to get us back to the right place.

Prayer then, becomes asking for directions, not asking for things. Instead of praying, "Lord, heal my loved one." We begin to pray, "Lord, show me how to bring Your healing to my loved one." Very different. My prayer has changed. Instead of praying, "Lord, give us a house." I've started praying, "Lord, lead us to the house that you want us to have, and lead the one to this house whom you want to buy it." Very different prayers.

Ultimately, Jesus gives the answer in the gospel. "If you then, who are wicked, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the Father in Heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask?" What we should be praying for is the Holy Spirit. "Seek ye first the kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added." Matthew 6:33. If we seek the Holy Spirit, pray for the Holy spirit, and listen for the Holy Spirit, every other prayer will be answered, although it may be in ways we didn't expect.

GPS: God's Positioning Spirit.

Mary and Martha

St. Augustine used the story of Mary and Martha (Luke 10:38-42) as an example of how the contemplative life was superior to the active life. Well, I don't want to take on St. Augustine, but I have often thought that this interpretation is one way to look at it.

I think another way to see this story is that Mary and Martha are actually two sides of one person. I'm not saying that Mary and Martha are make believe characters that are symbolic. I believe that they were two, very real sisters. I believe that their juxtaposition, however, demonstrates a dual reality that exists in all of us.

Martha was so busy serving the Lord, that she forgot to listen to him.

How many of us have done that? We get so busy serving the Lord in our work, family, church, community, that we forget to take time to just sit still at his feet and hear him speak to us. We take St. Paul's injunction to "pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17) as an excuse to never sit down with scripture, meditation, spiritual reading, and make time to listen to the Lord. We say that we "pray at every moment of the day even when we're doing other things." We should be doing that, but let me ask you this. If every time you wanted to have a serious, heart-to-heart conversation with someone you love, that person said, "Sure, we can talk while I'm at work (or doing laundry or fixing supper or watching TV or ministering or fill in the blank with any other activity), how that would that make you feel?

Jesus wants to speak to our hearts. He wants us to set aside the activity, even the ministry activities in which we participate, to have some time to just sit with him, at his feet.

Here's what Mary knew that Martha didn't. Jesus was a cool guest. When it was time to help fix supper, he would have said, "Hey, what can I do to help?" When it was time to clean up afterwards, he would have said, "Here, let me bring the dishes to the sink for you." When it was time to be involved in the activity, he would have been there, hands on, side by side with Mary and Martha. It wasn't time. It was time for Martha to set aside her active service of the Lord to be still in his presence for a while.

Jesus wants to spend time with us. The Lord of the Universe wants to be with us. Can you imagine that? We are important enough to him that he emptied himself to be with us. Is he important enough to us to set aside time to be with him, to have our attention solely focused on him, for just a little while each day?

The Good Samaritan

Somehow, for some people, "the man going from Jerusalem to Jericho" has been thought of as a Jewish man. Scriptures give us no indication, however, that the man sat upon by robbers was Jewish. Instead, he is just "a man." He could have been Roman, Greek, Egyptian, or any other ethnicity. Jesus begins right away to challenge us in this story. He completely ignores any divisions that may occur, and rather presents a human being in need of help.

Another thing I think unfortunate is that the priest and the levite who pass by the man have been impuned with cowardice. It's often explained that perhaps they were afraid that they, too, would be harmed if they helped this man. That may be, but it surprises me that it is so rarely mentioned that the priest and levite were actually following the Jewish law.

The man was beaten and left for dead. There must have been blood on the man. If they had helped the man, they would have violated the Jewish law concerning contact with blood, and would have themselves become ritually unclean. With this, they would have been ostracized from their communities and unable even to enter the temple or synagogues until they had completed the ceremonial purification acts, which as described in Jewish law, took an extended period of time.

They didn't help the man because they were obeying the law: a fact that would not have been missed by the "scholar of the law" to whom Jesus told this story.

It took someone who was already ostracized, a Samaritan, to ignore the "legal" consequences of contact with blood and to obey the more important law of God, "to love your neighbor as yourself." How often have we not helped someone who was in need because of fear thar we ourselves would be ostracized by others? I wonder if I have walked by on the other side of the road because I'm afraid of what others may think. When have we not done the right thing, because doing the right thing might mean being made fun of, losing status, or losing a friend? Or how often have we not helped others in need because we consider ourselves to be holy, and do not want to be "defiled" or made "unclean"?

We are called to love our neighbor as ourself. Jesus does not make a distinction about whom our neighbor is, any human being in need is our neighbor. Jesus does not make a distinction about what the need is, any person who is suffering. Jesus does not care about how righteous we think we are, the law of love is the supreme law. Jesus, the Son of God, who was eternally perfect and holy, emptied himself, took the form of a slave, and died on a cross in order to help us.

Now he gives us a very simple command, "Go, and do likewise."

The Pilgrim Church

Deacon Ramsay (St. Andrew Parish, Holts Summit) in his homily last night used this wonderful image (that he credited to his wife) of the Church as a caravan. There are those billions who have gone before us, untold numbers who will come after us, and here we are at our time and place in this great parade, or caravan. We rely on each other in fellowship, and follow the path that has been tread by so many before us, following Jesus Christ. With this image, one cannot help but think of the ancient Israelites in the wilderness.

They were brought from the land of Egypt through the waters of the Red Sea into their own pilgrimage, and moved as a great caravan across the wilderness. We were brought from our slavery to sin and anguish through the waters of Baptism into this caravan of the Church, and we move toward the Promised Land, which is far better than the land promised to the Israelites. When we reach our Promised Land, "He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more, for the former things have passed away." Revelation 21:4. Truly, "if for this life only we have hoped in Christ, we are of all men most to be pitied." 1 Corinthians 15:19. That would be like the Israelites hoping that the wilderness would provide all that they needed to be happy.

There's the key!

That would be like the Israelites hoping that THE WILDERNESS would provide all that they needed to be happy...

...Rather than relying on God to provide what they needed.

How often are we hurt because we want THIS LIFE, which is our wilderness, to provide our happiness, rather than relying on God? So many things have converged on me. At our meeting for Road Riders for Jesus, and in several other areas, Pastor Gary Berhns, the pastor of Christian Fellowship here in Jefferson City, MO, has challenged me to think about why it is so difficult to trust in God. This is my response...because too often I simply forget, and put my trust in the wilderness.

But what a lesson in the pilgrim caravan of the ancient Israelites. "There is no food." "There is no water." "We don't have meat." God provided it all, not the wilderness. They wanted their needs met, and looked in all the wrong places, rather than trusting that God would provide. How often have I wanted my needs met, and looked to people, places and things of this earth to meet my needs! And how often have I been disappointed in this?

Every time I turn my gaze from my God and expect a person, place, or thing here on this earth to meet my needs, I am disappointed. "If for this life only we have hoped in Christ..."

But, really, honestly, in this great caravan of the Church, we stand on the mountain overlooking the Jordan to the promised land (Deuteronomy 34:1-3). We are at the cusp. Our lives, really, are so very short compared to the span of time of the world, and even less compared to God's eternity. We are so close to the end of our pilgrimage. And on this mountain top, I have seen glimpses of the promised land. And I look through the prisms of the signs of the sacraments of my Church, and I receive food for the journey in the fellowship of the caravan, every time we gather to receive the food that Christ himself provided in the wilderness (John 6).

And I am grateful, Lord, at how wonderfully you have provided for me. You have already given all that I need before I even ask (Matthew 6:8). All the people, places and things in my life are gifts from you to nourish me in this pilgrimage. Help me, Lord, to be for others, what you have allowed them to be for me. And thank you, Lord. Thank you for allowing me to walk this pilgrim journey with you. Thank you.

Pentecost Sunday

This is the holy day that brings to a close the Easter Season; the day we celebrate the presence of the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit that drove those 11 scared men out of that locked upper room into the streets of Jerusalem, preaching to all the world in each person's language (Acts 2:1-11) is still driving the Church throughout the world today. That same Holy Spirit is inspring the Church to proclaim today in every language the gospel of Jesus Christ. This is the reversal of the curse of the Tower of Babel. A people once divided has now become one again.

Isn't this what we pray for in every Eucharistic Prayer? In the Spirit and in the sharing of the one bread and one cup, that we may all be one.

Evangelization takes on a level of reconciliation then. This is the gift of the Holy Spirit as it is given in John's gospel, "He breathed on them, saying, "Receive the Holy Spirit, whose sins you forgive are forgiven; whose sins you retain are retained." The Holy Spirit is given to the Church for evangelization and reconciliation. In unity and fellowship, we proclaim the message of Christ. As a matter fact, the unity of our fellowship, the love we show one another, can be as powerful a witness as anything we preach. "See how they love one another," was the comment that so many pagans made in the time of Tertullian, the 3rd century bishop.

The Holy Spirit was given to equip the Church to empower the Church to complete it's mission of making disciples of all the world. But the Holy Spirit is also given to each of us individually. It is a restoration of that gift of creation. Adam did not become a living man until the Holy Spirit was breathed into him at that moment of creation (Genesis 2:7). That original unity with God, for which we were created in the first place, is restored.

We have the Spirit of God living within us when we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord. These aren't just words. God has invited us into a living relationship with him so intimate that he comes to dwell within our very being. The Holy Spirit lives within us, and guides us (John 14:26). My favorite image of the Holy Spirit within us is that the Holy Spirit is like a tuning fork, and we are the instruments. The Holy Spirit resonates within us at all times. When we make time in prayer to listen to the Holy Spirit, there is harmony in our lives, serenity, "the peace that surpasses understanding" (Phillipians 4:7). When we are not in union with the Spirit of God that indwells our hearts, there is dissonance, a troubled conscience, fear, hatred, anger, hopelessness.

Being in union with the Spirit means the original unity for which we were created is restored, but it also means the original unity we were to have with each other is restored as well. This is what Paul refers to in using the image of the body (1 Corinthians 12: 12, 13). We are all one in the Spirit, "So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any incentive of love, ANY PARTICIPATION IN THE SPIRIT, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the love, being in full accord and of one mind" (Phillipians 2:1, 2). Imagine an orchestra in which every person's instrument is out of tune and every individual member is playing his own song.

If each of us makes a point to listen to that Holy Spirit, while each of us may have a different instrument and be playing different notes, we will all be in tune with each other and the differences between us will create an amazing harmony in the world. "Let us make a joyful noice unto the Lord" (Psalm 95:1, Psalm 100:1). Or, as Paul puts it, let us be one body with many parts.

The Holy Spirit makes it possible to have peace when there is suffering, love when there is hatred, courage when there is fear, hope when there is darkness, and forgiveness when there is betrayal. The Holy Spirit is the Presence of God in the world, in our Church, and in our hearts.

"Come, Holy Spirit. Fill the hearts of your faithful. Enkindle in them the fire of your love. Send forth your Spirit, Lord, and we shal be created. And you will renew the face of the earth.

"O God, who buy the light of the Holy Spirit instructs the hearts of the faithful, grant that by that same Holy Spirit we may be truly wise and ever rejoice in His consolations, through Christ our Lord."

AMEN!!!

The Holy Spirit's Coming: Let's Get Ready

The Church is nearing the feast of Pentecost. We can tell because the readings for each Sunday are becoming more explicit in their mention of the Holy Spirit. Jesus is preparing to leave his disciples to return to his father. This great discourse in John's gospel that we've been meditating on for the last several weeks is leading us now to focus our reflection on the presence of the Holy Spirit.

In today's gospel, we hear the promise of Jesus to his 11 disciples (Judas had left by now). "The Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I told you" (John 14:26). This promise takes on two layers of reality in the Church, or two levels of interaction. First, we cannot forget the context in which Jesus is saying these words. He is speaking directly to the 11 here, not to the entire community of disciples. These are his final words to those who would be leading his Church once he ascends to the Father.

These 11 were given this teaching authority. It's throughout the gospels. Jesus gave the authority to teach to these disciples whom he called (Mark 3:13-19). He sent them out over and over again as his representatives, in his person (In Persona Christi). They are the ones especially endowed with the gift to teach his message without error. These readings that we are hearing are the foundation for the teaching of the infallibility of the Pope and College of Bishops. The Apostles were given the authority to teach infallibly the message of our Lord. We see this acted out in a very real way in the first reading today from the Acts of the Apostles. The reading today is an edited version of the story we've been hearing in the daily readings for Mass throughout this week.

The argument arose in the early Church about whether the Gentile converts had to be circumcised and follow the Mosaic law in order to be Christian. As you can imagine, the Gentiles weren't crazy about this idea! The Apostles came together, and through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, gave the teaching that Gentile Christians only had to abstain from illicit marriage, not eat meat that had been sacrficed to idols, and avoid eating meat with blood in it.

The authority of the apostles was handed on to those who would come after them. There is passage after passage in the letters of Paul and James and Peter that describe the passing on of full Apostolic Authority to the Successors of the Apostles, including the authority to teach infallibly. This infallibility must be properly understood, however.

It's actually a misnomer to call it the "Infallibility of the Pope and College of Bishops." It is not the pope and college of bishops who are infallible. It is the teaching they offer that is infallible. The teaching is what is without error, not the teachers. The second thing to remember is that this gift of infallibility is contained to teachings of faith and morality. This why the Galileo debaucle happened. The pope and bishops attempted to impose their teaching on a matter of science. That's outside of their realm of infallibility, and it was proven. We see, however, throughout the history of the Church, that no matter how corrupt the pope or hierarchy may have been, we've never seen them pronounce a teaching of heresy. This is how we account for terrible things like the priest sex abuse scandal. The movement of these priests was not a matter of faith or morality, but an administrative decision. The pope and college of bishops can be in error adminstratively and scientifically. When acting in concert with one another, however, as the Successors of the Apostles, their teachings in matters of faith and morality are infallible.

This is the first level of this gospel reading: the authority of the Apostles (and their Successors) to teach infallibly.

The second layer is this: the promise and gift of the Holy Spirit is given to each of us individually, to guide us in our own private lives. You are temple of the Holy Spirit. Ultimately the presence of the Holy Spirit is a return to the original order of creation, when the Spirit of God was breathed into the first man, and brought him to life. More on this on Pentecost Sunday.

The Holy Spirit is coming! Actually, the Holy Spirit is already with us. We're going to begin a series over the next few Sundays reflecting on the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives. It is very important, however, not to lose the importance of the role of the Holy Spirit in the Church. We follow the teachings of faith and morality of the Pope and the College of Bishops. Preparing for the Holy Spirit's presence in our personal lives means also recognizing the power of the Holy Spirit in those who lead us in faith.

Suffering in the Kingdom of God

The Dalai Lama, in his book The Art of Happiness makes a very interesting comment. He says so many people, when suffering comes, ask the question, “Why me?” A better question, the Dalai Lama says, would be to ask, “Why not me? What great thing have I done that I deserve not to suffer?”

Here’s the fact: Jesus Christ, the only human being that has ever existed who was perfect by his own merit, suffered…and died…on a cross. What makes me think, when suffering comes, that I deserve anything less than He? St. Paul “strengthened the spirits of the disciples and exhorted them to persevere in the faith, saying ‘It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God” (Acts 14:22).

Suffering comes to us. In this life, it is unavoidable. We suffer because of that original sin, which is passed on to us, and separates us from God. That original sin is the source of all suffering. So many times people ask, “If God is all-powerful, why does he allow suffering?” And, frankly, it’s offensive to me when people ascribe to God the cause of suffering. That happens in a lot of ways. The fact is that we suffer because we are separated from God, and that was not by God’s doing. Humanity as a whole chose to be separated from God, a choice that is symbolized in the story of Adam and Eve and that forbidden fruit. We, as a whole, have chosen not to obey God’s word of life to us. Suffering is the consequence of that separation from Him.

Here’s the good news. Our God did not and does not leave us in our suffering. Instead, through Jesus Christ’s suffering and death, God transformed what was the consequence of our separation from Him into the doorway through which we are united to him eternally in bliss. “I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, ‘Behold, God’s dwelling is with the human race. He will dwell with them and they will be his people and God himself will always be with them as their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, for the old order has passed away.’ The One who sat on the throne, said, ‘Behold, I make all things new’” (Revelation 21: 3-5).

“It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God.” Why? First of all, because it’s unavoidable. Suffering comes whether we want it to or not. It’s the consequence of humanity’s choice to separate ourselves from God. Some might think, “I’ve never wanted to be separated from God.” Honestly, which one of us has never sinned?

But secondly, because it is through suffering that we are united to Jesus on the cross. When we unite our pain and suffering to the suffering of Christ, then we go through the suffering and deaths that we experience in life and are raised with him. “The saying is sure: If we have died with him, we shall also live with him” (2 Timothy 2:11).

How do we do that? The 100 billion dollar question, isn’t it? I know saying the answer is a lot hard than doing the answer,

We unite our suffering to the suffering of Christ first by the grace of acceptance. We accept that in this life, we are going to suffer. I think that a lot of sin that we commit is committed because we are trying to avoid suffering in some way. We lie because we see the suffering the consequences of telling the truth. We gossip because if we don’t, we might suffer by not being included with the ones who doing the gossiping. We hold on to resentments because we have suffered, and it makes us feel a little bit better to hate the ones who have caused us pain. I think it’s natural to avoid suffering. Some suffering cannot be avoided. I think the hardship of being faithful is a source of a lot of our unfaithfulness. When we make the commitment to prayer, how often do we hit the snooze button? How often have we missed church on vacation because making time to worship with the community would interfere with our good time? There's a grace that comes with spiritual maturity: the grace of acceptance of suffering, the grace of meeting life's on life's terms, not on ours.

In this, I’m not saying that if we get sick, we should say, “Oh, well, I can’t avoid it so I’m just going to lay here at let the sickness get worse.” That would be dumb.

When we get a headache, we can say, “I’m going to take aspirin to get rid of this, but until it goes away, I’m going to accept it and not let it make me grumpy towards my family.” My grandfather was recently diagnosed with cancer. His attitude is one of total acceptance, even while undergoing treatment. “This isn’t going to kill me,” he said, “and if it does, my number’s up. What can I do?” He’s undergoing treatment for it, and understands that the treatment is going to hurt. He has accepted this, too. If only we can accept that we are going to suffer, I think the suffering gets a little easier to bear because we stop fighting the suffering.

After we accept in grace that suffering exists, we can make a conscious decision to love in our suffering as Christ loved. Like I said, I may take aspirin to get rid of a headache, or chemo to try and get rid of cancer. While I’m waiting for my suffering to end, I will act in love toward those around me, rather than taking my suffering out on them. I will love as Christ loved on the cross, when he prayed for those who nailed him there.

And we can say a prayer in our suffering. “Lord, I really want our home to sell, so that I can provide a more appropriate place for my growing family. It’s not. Help me to endure with patience this situation over which I have no power, and unite it to your suffering for the good of my family.” Our suffering can become a prayer in itself, when we consciously make it so.

Our suffering, which was originally the result of our separation from God, can be the doorway by which we are more fully united with Him in His Kingdom. I know “the saying is sure: if we have died with him; we also shall live with him.” And “He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, for the old order has passed away.” He has made all things, including our suffering, new.

Enjoying the Ride Called Life

Check out Pastor Ron's new blog "Enjoying the Ride Called Life."

Good stuff.

You can get to it over at the links section.

A Couple of Poems I Wrote

Here are a couple of poems I wrote.

A Biker’s Sonnet

I know why Columbus[1] saw the sea’s tide,
And where the world drops off the other side,
And thought, “Ol’ boy, that’s where you need to go.”
I know why Neil and Buzz[2] walked on the moon
And why Michael[3] went along for the ride.

Polo, Cortez, Lindbergh[4] all had it, too:
That obsession to see the journey through.
It pulsed in and pushed and called them to know
Like how the desert beckoned Benjamin[5].
Each step along the way is ever new.

There’re things out there the map can never show.
Those in their cages never really know.

But it’s in my blood, that calling to roam.
If you come with me, RIDE HARD OR STAY HOME!


[1] Christopher Columbus, of course.
[2] Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin, of the Apollo 11 Mission, the first two men to walk on the moon.
[3] Michael Collins was also on the Apollo 11 mission, but did not walk on the moon because he had to stay aboard the command module that remained in orbit to ensure the others’ safety.
[4] Marco Polo, who explored a path to China from Europe; Cortez, who explored and conquered Central America; Charles Lindbergh, who was the first to fly solo across the Atlantic.
[5] Benjamin of Tudela, a 12th century European who explored a path to Asia from Europe, then crossed the Sahara Desert in Northern Africa.

and

Grace

I now accept the road and all it sends,
Its rocks and sand, its potholes and its bends.
I now receive the sun and rain and winds.
Reluctantly, I, too, embrace its ends.
I put my faith in this machine I ride.
On these two wheels, there is no place to hide.
It lives in me, and I in it abide.
In bolts and gears, rod and shaft I confide.
I know me, like a too familiar song.
I know just how far I can ride, how long.
I know all the places I can go wrong.
I know myself, where I am weak and strong.
When road, the ride, and rider become one
Are Peace and Grace and then the trip’s begun.

As you can see, there is a theme in my writing lately. I hope you're able to read between the lines on the second. Here are some hints: 1) The road isn't really about the road; 2) abide is a biblical word; 3) "rod" is an antiquated word used to refer to an instrument of execution, and "rod and shaft" sounds an awful lot like "rod and..."