It feels like life is just too busy for me to just sit quietly and enter into a companionable silence with God. I think of gotten out of the habit. Perhaps that’s what the hymn is trying to remind me …
P. J. O’Rourke once remarked, “Everyone wants to save the planet; nobody wants to help Mom do the dishes.” Unpaid and low-pay work is often invisible work, but it is still work that matters.
“You are the earth’s salt. . . . You are the world’s light.” What are humans made for except this incredible realization, this knowledge of being loved by the Creator? The deepest treasure of our souls is the belonging we find when we pray.
The disciples accept Jesus as the Messiah, but they still don’t have a clue about what that really means. Jesus wants to take them up to the next level, to have them fully understand what it means to follow him. He tells them that to be a Christian means to serve, not to lord it over people.
How do you stay engaged when troubles come, when the answer isn’t the one you wanted? It may be that it’s that beautiful liturgy. But, it might also be a nagging question that you’d like to bring out into the open. It might be joy, or creativity, or weeping, or anger, or sadness. These are all ways that we stay engaged. And whatever it may be for you, it’s a step up from walking away.
We Christians claim to be followers of Christ. We’d put him on our FB friends list in a heartbeat, but what would our words and likes tell him about us? What would it tell our other Facebook friends?
There are many different ways to be blind even when you can officially “see.” We can be blind to that which we do not know. We can be blinded by pride, and not see things about ourselves. We can be blinded by fear, and close our eyes to truths that are too painful to confront. In each case, this blindness can cause us keep stumbling over the same issue over and over again.
In our loneliest, most defeated and most drained unworthiness, if we stretch out our finger and touch the fringes of the Holy, we will find our place again. We will find the life-giving bond with God that belongs to no one else but us.
A part of me mourns the loss of my childhood intimacy with both libraries and churches. It was wonderful being surrounded by people who believed in my potential and who actively encouraged me to become who I am today.
Rich or poor, or somewhere in between, in Christ’s love you can take it with you… we can, and we will, get there from here.