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Meditations written by Heidi Gainan, a member of the Idaho Falls Catholic Community. Contact info below. March 9, 2010 Fr. Caleb posted this on Facebook the other night: "The 'Three Questions' 1. Where are you in your relationship with God? 2. Where are you with the people closest to you? 3. Where are you with the world in general?" What a good thing to do as we're about half way through Lent...give these questions a real, honest look. They are so intertwined, too. Today's gospel reading, (Matthew 18:21-35) is the story of the king who forgives his servant a huge debt and then the servant turns around and punishes another guy who owes him money. Jesus tells us that God will forgive us the same way we forgive others. Our relationship with God is so related to our relationship with others! And our relationship with the world is just a bigger picture of our relations with God and those closest to us in our own little nooks. Today, let's prayerfully reflect on our relationships from the inside out....God, those closest to us, and the world in general. How can we improve them? Love, heidi (and thanks, Fr. C!) March 8, 2010 "Nevertheless, as the Lord lives and as you live, there is but a step between me and death." 1 Samuel 20:3 It is stunning in its sadness. A person, seemingly healthy, dies suddenly and leaves the rest of us to wonder...what in the world happened? It also leaves us with an unsettling feeling that we aren't ready for that to happen to us or others close to us. Why? Because we probably haven't said the things we want to say. I remember my dad telling me, as a kid, that people often feel terrible remorse when someone dies because there are divisions between them or they have quarreled and not reconciled. That makes death so much harder. What can we do about it? What lessons can we learn when we feel the lump in our throats seeing an obituary of someone our age or younger? We have time right now, today, to say what we want to say. Make sure those we love know we love them and how much we love them. Make sure we forgive those in our lives and, just as important, accept the forgiveness others extend to us. Make sure the sun doesn't set on our anger. Life is so fragile. And short. Let's think about this today and do what we know we need to do. Love, heidi March 5, 2010 "Once, an old Cherokee told his grandson about the great fight going on inside of him. It was a conflict between two wolves. One wolf was his urge to anger, envy, greed, arrogance, self-pity, revenge, false pride, and resentment. The other wolf, the old man said, was his inclination to live in joy, peace, hope, and love, to be generous, humble, compassionate, and trusting of all humankind. When he finished, the grandson asked, "Which wolf wins, grandfather?" His reply was simply, "The one I feed.'" Fr. Ed Hays, "The Lenten Pharmacy" Today, as we move through Lent, let us ask ourselves which of our wolves are we feeding? Love, heidi March 3, 2010 "God's will appears when we cherish the everyday, the least and the littlest, when we put the other-centered love ahead of ego-centered navel-gazing." Nathan D. Mitchell, Daybreaks I believe that God doesn't manipulate every little thing that happens to us in our lives. But God does watch our reaction to every little thing that happens to us in our lives. As we grow and mature in God's love, we see things differently...or we should. It's hard to see each and every minute of our lives as a gift from God; what with the humdrum purr of everyday life. Like the movie, "Groundhog's Day," I mean, it's like the same thing every day. But it is God's will that every day we see the miracle of that. Ask someone who has just lost a loved one. They would LOVE to have an ordinary day, like every day used to be. Or ask someone who has just received a bad diagnosis. They may never have a humdrum, ordinary day again. They may finally be able to see the gift of every second they breathe in and out. Today, let's cherish the ordinary. Let's look at each minute of our lives as the gift that it truly is. Love, heidi March 2, 2010 "Come now, let us set things right, says the Lord:Though your sins be like scarlet, they may become white as snow." Isaiah 1:18 This sounds almost too good to be true, doesn't it? How could God forgive all the things I've done and it's like I've never sinned at all? Sometimes, in our misunderstanding of God, we tend to assume God is like us...and we know how hard it is for us to forgive and move on. It is just so hard for us to wrap our minds around the idea that God loves us so much that forgiveness is totally there for us. And not only that, but God forgives AND forgets. There is no stain of sin left behind...God doesn't hold a grudge. Jesus says in today's Gospel, "Whoever exalts himself will be humbled; but whoever humbles himself will be exalted." (Matthew 23:12) Let us humbly come to the Lord to set things right...and let's try to imagine that God forgives and forgets. Love, heidi March 1, 2010 "Is the cross God's way of saying, 'I know how you feel?'" Rob Bell, "Drops Like Stars" This is an amazing thing for us to ponder as we delve deeper into Lent. It is awesome to realize that God entered into our humanity. God didn't have to become one of us, but God did and that is incredible to me. God entered our humanity and experienced so much of what we struggle with on a daily basis. God had family, friends; celebrated weddings, wept at a friend's death. God suffered betrayal and the scattering of those he loved when he needed them the most. He had friends who frustrated him and a mother who loved him like we mothers do. Think about your day today and think about God entering into this very day. Think about God joining you going to the post office, wiping a runny nose, meeting a client, stopping at a traffic light. God has entered into your day every bit as vividly as God entered into our world two thousand years ago. How will that change our day? God is saying, "I know how you feel." Love, heidi February 26, 2010 "In jail we try to talk without euphemisms and niceties: Don't say the money got stolen; say, I stole the money. Take responsibility. Your mother hurt you, your father didn't love you, we all know that. Now will you take personal responsibility for what YOU did?" Fr. Richard Rohr, "Radical Grace" I remember a funny story my mom told me about when she was a little, tiny girl. She had gone to the store with her mother and, not knowing any better, helped herself to a peanut from a big bin of peanuts. Her mother found her later cracking open the peanut and asked her, "Roses, where did you get that?" Little Roses told her the truth. Well, her mother marched her back to the grocer and made her confess, shaking and trembling. The grocer was kind and forgiving. My mom lived 84 years and had lost most all of her memory by the end. But she remembered that. How easy it is for us to make excuses for why we do what we do. Lent is the opportunity for us to completely come clean with God, own up to what we do and have done. God, the Ever-loving Good Grocer, will always forgive us. Love, heidi February 25, 2010 "For now, it seems that some fasting is the best way to remind myself of the millions who are hungry and to purify my heart and mind for a decision that does not exclude them." Henri J.M. Nouwen I'm not a good faster. I'm often miserably hungry just by lunchtime. And it doesn't seem to have the correct meaning for me. When I read this today about fasting it seemed to make so much sense to me! We have so much and the needs of people who seriously hunger seem far away. But, the fact is, they are not far away. They are close to us because they are our brothers and sisters. This Lent, as we embark on our fasting, prayer and alms giving, let us join hearts and minds with our brothers and sisters who hunger...and let our actions and decisions not exclude them. Love, heidi February 24, 2010 "God graces us with the strength to bear the unbearable." Helen Bach I know you must be wondering...no, Helen Bach isn't a famous theologian or Christian writer. She is a living example of what she believes...that God gives us the grace to bear the unbearable. She is elderly, in a nursing home, painfully aware of what she has lost. Her husband of fifty-six years last fall. Her beloved cat. Her independence. Her home. It all seems to be slipping away...why? To prepare her for a new and eternal life, after she leaves here. To open up new avenues for her, like her recent baptism and the new friends that has brought to her. To open her eyes to the presence of God in her odd new life. To grace her with the strength to bear the unbearable. One thing I have noticed about Helen throughout this year I have journeyed with her, is that she is thinking more and more about others and what they are going through in their lives. As she lets go of the many trappings in her life, thoughts of others fill her mind and heart. All of this is such an amazing, beautiful, yet difficult journey to God. It is in the letting go of here, that we can open up and prepare for something better, something eternal. Love, heidi February 22, 2010 "You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church." Matthew 16:18 The story of Peter is such a good example of how God doesn't choose the empowered, He empowers the chosen. Peter may not have been perfect as evident by his missteps in scripture (denying he knew Jesus, trying to tell Jesus what to do, doubting, frequently getting ahead of himself), but he did the one thing Jesus needed. He eventually came around to allowing God to work through him. We have heard many times that God can work through our weakness...in fact, our weakness can be an amazing canvas for God to work miracles. Moses was another great example of God working through an unlikely vessel. But, Moses showed up and God was able to work through him and lead the children of Israel. Peter showed up as well. He felt horribly about his weakness and how he let Jesus down when Jesus needed him the most. But still he showed up, willing and eager to "Feed my lambs," as Jesus asked him to do. Today, in our weakness, let's show up, too. Let's be open to opportunities throughout our day to allow God to use our weakness for His good. We may not be much, but we can be so much more if we are open to God working through us! Love, heidi February 19, 2010 "One who is spiritually alive has an excess of strength, an honest sense of interior creativity and interior imagination. They can say, 'I have more than enough. There's enough of me that I can give some of it away.'" Fr. Richard Rohr, "Radical Grace" I'm not sure when it happened that we decided we need more and more and more. Fr. Rohr is one to always point out that those societies where no one has much materially have so much more spiritually. Having less in one sense means having so much more in another sense. Maybe this recession can teach us something about living with less and sharing what we have with those who have so much less than that. Maybe we can finally learn that less is actually more. One of Fr. Rohr's stories involves him visiting in a very poor area and the people killing their very last chicken to celebrate his visit. And after the celebration, they shared what was left of the feast with those in the village who had not been able to come. The example is to give of ourselves, down to the last of it. And then, what we have left will be so much more. Love, heidi February 18, 2010 "'You have heard that it was said to your ancestors, 'You shall not kill; and whoever kills will be liable to judgment.' But I say to you, whoever is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment...'" Mattheew 5:21-22 I went to the school kids' mass yesterday for Ash Wednesday and it is always illuminating for me. Father asked the kids questions about Lent and when he asked, "What special things do we do during Lent?" one kid answered, "We don't kill people." "Yes!" Father agreed, "hopefully that will carry over all year!" For me, the kid was spot on. We can "kill" people with negative thoughts, harsh judgments, prejudice and gossip. Our attitudes can be terrible weapons. I will think about that little kid all through this Lent and his suggestion for not killing people will be in my heart. And, hopefully, like Father said, it will carry over for the rest of the year. Love, heidi February 17, 2010 "Jesus said to his disciples, 'Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them...'" Matthew 6:1 I was thinking the other day about how I would celebrate Lent if I lived on a deserted island--just God and me. You couldn't completely do Lent justice because one third of our observation of Lent is to give alms and who would you give alms to? But what about the other two parts of Lent--prayer and fasting? How would I do these in just the presence of God? Because, truly, the purpose of Lent is to draw closer to God. Living on a deserted island with only God would eliminate the "doing it for show" aspect of Lenten observance. And Jesus totally knew this because he cautioned us, in this scripture, to pray quietly in our own room, not parading our piety in front of others. Jesus also told us to wash our faces and not to allow our fasting to show to the world. And Jesus told us to give alms quietly, without advertising it...our right hand shouldn't know what our left hand is doing. Jesus knew how these penitential practices could cause us to sin,even as they are to draw us closer to God. Jesus knew us so well. So, today, Ash Wednesday, let's wash our faces, comb our hair, pray quietly in our own rooms and keep our plans for Lent deep in our hearts. Let's pretend we're on a deserted island, alone with God. Love, heidi February 16, 2010 "Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers and sisters: all good giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no alternation or shadow caused by change." James 1:16-17 Earlier in this passage, James tells us that when we are tempted it is not God tempting us. Our desire tempts us...the temptation comes from within us as we wrestle with the world. The healing comes from God, not the problem. We can do a great job of getting ourselves into trouble all on our own, God does not have to throw stumbling blocks in our way. But it is God's grace that causes us to look inside, realize our failures, pick ourselves up again and turn again to God. The mess is ours, the healing comes from God. Today, as we ponder the beginning of Lent tomorrow, let us think about what temptations cause us to stumble. What faults and failings can we bring to God for healing this Lent? Today is Shrove Tuesday so enjoy your pancakes tonight! Love, heidi February 11, 2010 "She replied and said to him, 'Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children's scraps.' Then he said to her, 'For saying this, you may go. The demon has gone out of your daughter.'" Mark 7:28-29 The thing that struck me when I read this today was how much Jesus valued people. At first, he seemed to turn this woman (a Greek) away, which would have been understandable in the culture. She was not a Jew and she was a woman. But Jesus, contrary to the culture, responded to her and valued her--even praising her faith. Likewise, Jesus healed her daughter, who was not even there at the time. Women and children were not highly valued in the culture, and yet, in this reading, Jesus valued both. Jesus shows us the value of those different from us. Jesus shows us the value of every single life. Today let's think about how we can value our fellow human beings on this planet...even those very different from us...even if it goes against the culture. Love, heidi February 10, 2010 "Hear me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile." Mark 7:14-15 The complicated and elaborate dietary laws of the Jewish people in Jesus' day would make your head spin. Besides all the rules about what you can and can't eat there were washing rituals and such. It's amazing anyone got anything down! The people felt they would be harmed in some way for eating the wrong thing...that is, they would be disobeying God if they ate incorrectly. Certainly they would be punished for such behavior. But Jesus is telling them here that what they eat isn't as harmful to them as what comes from their hearts. The rotten behavior that comes from human beings is far more defiling than anything a person could eat. Jesus goes on to name theft, murder, greed, malice...and so on. Sometimes it is easier for us to think that something as simple as a dietary law will keep us holy. It may be just too hard to wrap our minds around how naughty our thoughts and actions can be. Food for thought, today. Love, heidi February 9, 2010 "You disregard God's commandment but cling to human tradition." Mark 7:8 Jesus is talking to the Pharisees here but he is also talking to us, knowing full well that Lent is right around the corner. The Pharisees were all caught up in human laws they made to separate themselves from the rest of society. The issue in this reading today was that Jesus' disciples had not gone through the ritual washings prior to the meal and the Pharisees questioned Jesus about that. Jesus points out to them that the washings may look good from the outside, but the intentions of their hearts are not of God. He tells them, "How well you have set aside the commandment of God in order to uphold your tradition!" (v. 9) This is a message to us, too, who can get so caught up in putting on our holy hats for Lent that we forget the whole purpose of Lent...to drawn closer to God and change from the inside. "Holiness is not a matter of external observances but of the inner heart." (The Word Among Us) Love, heidi February 8, 2010 "Then Solomon said, 'The Lord intends to dwell in the dark cloud.'" 1 Kings 8:12 Melanie Rigney in "Living Faith" adds, "In a quietly profound way, living faith in the darkness of crisis and struggle and uncertainty can be lovely as well, for what we learn while we're there moves us closer to the light." The trouble is, while you're living in the cloud, it is easy to get discouraged and feel so alone. You may look around and see others happily going on with their lives and here you are struggling. Sometimes the darkness of a bad situation makes it hard to see God at work...but the fact is, God is at work--in you! The strength you are being given may be observed only in retrospect. You may ask yourself later, "How did I get through that difficult time?" Only then can you see God's tracks through your situation. Knowing that, the next time you go through a trial you can realize with certainty that God is right there...because He was last time and because He promised to be always. Love, heidi February 3, 2010 "'Where did this man get all of this? What kind of wisdom has been given him...Is he not the carpenter?' And they took offense at him." Mark 6:2-4 It is so interesting to me that many times in the gospel, those closest to Jesus do not recognize him for what He truly was, and yet, the demons seem to be spot on when they speak up about Him. In this reading today, Jesus goes back to His hometown and the folks are so puzzled by His words and the fact that their hometown boy shouldn't be saying them...like that. They have Jesus pegged as the carpenter and that is that. Who IS this guy? Whereas how many times have we seen Jesus approach someone possessed by a demon who calls Jesus the Son of God? This irony tells us again and again that Jesus came to challenge us; to pull us out of our comfort zone about what is and what isn't. Jesus is full of surprises. Jesus is in our situations (good and bad) and deeply embedded in our daily lives. It's up to us to recognize Him, welcome Him, and follow Him. Love, heidi February 2, 2010 "Now, Master, you may let your servant go in peace, according to your word, for my eyes have seen your salvation." Luke 2:29-30 Simeon was letting God know that he recognized the Messiah in this tiny baby and now he could die in peace, knowing that Israel would be OK. It is first amazing that Simeon saw the salvation of Israel in this infant, as children were not highly valued in the culture. And yet, this baby brought Simeon to his knees, figuratively. Simeon saw something that we need to be looking for everyday--the salvation of Jesus. We miss so much as we go about our workaday lives. Recognizing the infant Jesus as the Savior may happen for us around Christmas time, but what about the rest of the year? Jesus is here with us in the dreary days of winter, the windy days of spring, the lazy, hazy, crazy days of summer--we just need to recognize Him.Today, Jesus will be in the presence of the most difficult, unlikely person you meet. Can you see Him? Love, heidi February 1, 2010 "If I speak in human and angelic tongues, but do not have love, I am a resounding gong or a clashing cymbal....If I give away everything I own, and if I hand over my body over so that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing." 1 Corinthians 12: 1,3 Strangely, yesterday as I heard this reading during mass, the Black-Eyed Peas song, "Where Is The Love?" popped into my mind (I know, where did that come from, right?) But the song and this reading go together beautifully and the message is awesome. We can do all kinds of great things...we can give to the poor, help our neighbors, take care of our kids, but we need to put love in all those efforts or they are greatly diminished. All that we do doesn't amount to a hill of beans if we do not love each other. And the hardest thing to do at all is to love. When we ask "what does love look like?" St. Paul gives us a vivid picture of love..."Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, it is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury..." (v.4-5) That is exactly what love looks like and that is exactly what we need to offer our brothers and sisters on this planet. Dear Lord, you give us the perfect picture of how you want us to treat each other...we can only love because you loved us first and you continually fill us with your love...please help us to love others the way you love us! Love, heidi January 28, 2010 "Who am I, Lord God, and who are the members of my house, that you have brought me to this point?" 2 Samuel 7:18 David had just heard Nathan's revelation from God involving building a house for the Ark of the Covenant. He was in awe that the Lord had need of him for this task and building a house for the Lord became his tireless goal. Who are any of us that God has need of us? Really. We are just a bunch of folks with faults and failings, human to the core. But yet, God has great need of us. In fact, we are the Lord's hands and feet on this earth! We are all parts of the Body of Christ, each one having an important task and serving a critical-to-the-Kingdom role. And yet we tend to diminish ourselves, like David here and say, "What can I possibly do? I'm just one person...and not the greatest person at that. I'm no Mother Teresa!" God, in his mercy and grace, takes the little with have, in our weakness, and uses it for good. Our job is to recognize both our weakness AND God's strength and realize they are both way beyond us. David says later in this chapter, "And now, Lord God, you are God and your words are truth..."Lord God, please use me as you will this day...turn my weakness into strength and use me to do your work! Amen! Love, heidi January 27, 2010 "The place of the wound is the place of the healing. The place of the break is the place of the greatest strength." Fr. Richard Rohr, "Radical Grace" This struck me as very powerful today when I read it. The areas of our lives where we are wounded become our areas of strength. It goes along with the old saying, "Where there is struggle, there grows strength" (a saying on my mother's mirror). Fr. Rohr mentions this in the context of peer support programs like AA. Those who have a similar wound can help others; and isn't that just like God to turn a person's struggle into their own greatest strength? Let's think today of our areas of weakness. Have we suffered the pain of loss or personal sorrow? How can we ask God to use that for the benefit of others? Have we suffered illness or job loss? Can we use those wounds to reach out to others in similar situations? What lessons have we learned from the wounds we have endured...how can we use that strength to help others? Love, heidi January 26, 2010 "Amen, amen, I say to you, when you were younger, you used to dress yourself and go where you wanted; but when you grow old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." John 21:18 As one nears the end of a long life, life can seem so difficult! Treasured aspects of our lives may be taken away--loved ones, possessions, our independence. Our lives may seem so much less OUR lives and we are at the mercy of others. It could hard to keep the faith when your world seems to be falling apart day by day. I have a dear, elderly friend who pleads with me to explain why so much of her life has been whittled away. Why would God take everything away? It dawned on me that God may be taking away parts of this life to prepare us for the new, eternal life that awaits us. The more we have here, the more attached we are to here. As our lives become smaller here, the more open we can be to what awaits...even though it is a mystery and we may be somewhat fearful of what lies ahead. We need to let go of here. Let's pray for all of our elderly and those whose "here" is becoming less and less. We give them over to God who prepares a most awesome reward for them and we ask God to help us, help them. Love, heidi January 25, 2010 "Now the body is not a single part, but many. If a foot should say, 'Because I am not a hand I do not belong to the body,' it does not for this reason belong any less to the body."1 Corinthians 12:14-15 This was yesterday's second reading and it struck an interesting chord with me. Just as we people are the Body of Christ, made up of all different sorts and personalities we all belong to the Body in our own important way. None of us belong any less to the Body because of who we are or where we came from or how we were raised. Each of us has an important job to do in the Kingdom. The hard part for us may be finding that job or discerning what God is calling us to do. Oswald Chambers today says, "As workers for God we have to learn to make room for God--to give God elbow room." ("My Utmost for His Highest") Our lives get so crowded with our duties and responsibilities here that God gets edged out. But we need to take the time to ask God what role in the Body of Christ are we to be and be open to God surprising us. Love, heidi January 21, 2010 "He had cured many and, as a result, those who had diseases were pressing upon him to touch him." Mark 3:10 I thought of the situation in Haiti immediately upon reading this today. Jesus was nearly crushed by people wanting him to heal them and the desperation in Haiti must be overwhelming to those trying to help and alleviate the suffering. Human suffering is so raw and frightening. Fear is such a basic human emotion and fear is at its highest during times of crisis. Jesus shows us that alleviating human suffering was one of his most important tasks. If we are to do as Jesus did that must be our mission too. Pray today about how you, in your circle of influence can help alleviate the suffering in our world. Haiti may seem far away and far out of our circle, but, as we learned yesterday, every man, woman and child in Haiti is our brother or sister. Let's pray and then act! Love, heidi January 20, 2010 Last summer, I attended a wonderful retreat and one of the stories shared has stayed with me in a powerful way. Sister Maureen shared a story of when she was doing parish work in Montana many years ago. She was visiting the apartment of an elderly man, who was very hard of hearing and very much alone. He lived in a one-room apartment in a run-down and dreary part of town and those in the parish were very concerned for him. Sr. Maureen visited him this day and she pounded loudly on the door to get his attention, "Jack! Jack! It's Sister Maureen!" No answer. She could hear rustling in the apartment, so she tried again..."Jack! Jack! It's Sister Maureen from church!" Nothing. Her concern grew as she continued to hear noises inside but could not seem to rouse Jack. Once again she called, "It's Sister Maureen! Please come to the door!" Finally, at long last, she heard a voice, "Whose sister are you?" Sister Maureen smiled to herself, "I'm your sister, Jack..."And there it is, Friends. We are all sisters and brothers in Christ. How can we live our lives today, knowing and believing that? Love, heidi January 19, 2010 "Not as man sees does God see, because he sees the appearance but the Lord looks into the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7 Buried deep within the fascinating story of Samuel, Saul and eventually, David, is this amazing nugget of wisdom. We've heard it countless times, but let's pray it today. How often do our preconceived ideas, values or interpretations influence our judgement of someone? We sell people short--we even sell ourselves short--because we don't see with the eyes of God. God sees into the heart of a person--including their potential--while we just see the outside appearance, with special attention to their short-comings. Today, let's put on a special pair of glasses. Let's put on glasses that will let us look for the good in people; the possibilities, the smile behind the frown. This January day, let's try to see the world as God sees it and sees that it is good. Love, heidi January 14, 2010 Each day I drive by the Christmas tree cemetery and I saw our tree there after Sam and I hauled over the other night. Yesterday, I noticed the trees were gone--the city had picked them up. I felt sad. This is the first time I really mourned a Christmas tree. I remembered how fun it was for me to pick it out with the kids and Blaine holding onto it through the sun roof of the car all the way home. I remembered how wonderful that the kids decorated it; laughing and carrying on. Jeni had helped take it down. Through that they noted the ornaments--the funny ones they'd made in school, the ones marking their births, the ones they remembered year after year. The tree was more than just a decoration, it gave us many wonderful memories and moments. The tree served us so well and its life as a Christmas tree was more than fulfilled...it served the best it could. So, if we can say the same after our lives. Lord, help us to serve the way we are made to serve. Help us to live up to our potential as followers of you. Help us to help others as our Christmas tree helped us to celebrate each other. Our lives may be as fleeting as a Christmas tree in December, but may they be as worthwhile...Love, heidi January 13, 2010 "Rising very early before dawn, he (Jesus) left and went off to a deserted place, where he prayed." Mark 1:35 Oswald Chambers, in "My Utmost for His Highest" takes it one step further. He says, "Jesus can expound nothing until we get through all the noisy questions of the head and are alone with Him." So, not only must we spend time in the quiet with God, but we should not bring our own agenda. We need to clear the noise out of our heads and just come and sit with Jesus. This also goes along with our first scripture reading today from Samuel, when Samuel keeps hearing the voice of the Lord and Eli advises him to answer, "Speak Lord, your servant is listening." (1 Samuel 3) The message in all of these is our listening--not talking! Let's come to God for some alone time, with a quiet heart and quiet mind. Hard to do, I realize! But only in our quietness can God get a word in. Love, heidi January 12, 2010 "In their synagogue was a man with an unclean spirit; he cried out, 'What have you to do with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are--the Holy One of God!'" Mark 1:23-24 This passage shows us something very important. It is not enough for us to know who Jesus is...even the devil knows who Jesus is. Far more important is for us to live as Jesus lived and for us to treat each other with the love and compassion that Jesus modeled for us. Jesus didn't just suggest that we love each other--he commanded that we love each other! Also, it is one thing to know who Jesus is, just as this evil spirit here, but it is another thing to know Jesus up close and personally. Our goal is to have a personal relationship with Jesus and not just be able to identify him. The better we know Jesus, the better we will get what Jesus wants us to do and the better our chance of doing it! Love, heidi January 11, 2010 "I am not worthy to loosen the thongs of his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." Luke 3:16 Many of us cannot remember the day of our baptisms. But we may remember the time we awakened to our baptism by the Holy Spirit and fire. Maybe it was during our Confirmation or at a high school Search. Maybe it was later, as we grew up and realized that our lives were incomplete without God in the middle of them. Whenever it was and no matter the circumstances, at some point we realized that we needed and yearned for God in our lives--our daily lives--not just our Sunday lives. We realized our knowledge came from somewhere beyond ourselves--the Holy Spirit. We realized that our hearts burned with a fire for God and our tears flowed at this dawning. And, even though God had been with us constantly prior to this realization, we KNEW right then and there that God was in our midst. Love, heidi January 7, 2010 "This is the commandment we have from (God): Whoever loves God must also love his brother." 1 John 4:21 The earlier verse, "Beloved, we love God because he first loved us" (v. 19) really can shed light on the commandment verse. We love because God gave us the ability and the grace to love in the first place. God gifts us with the urge to love, then we turn around and love too. So because God gives us the ability to love, God can surely help us when it comes to loving others, right? What stands in our way of loving others? When we really think about it, we have difficulty loving because of our own insecurities. We don't always feel good about ourselves and that can cause us to struggle with others. But God, the giver of our love in the first place, can also help us to turn our struggle with others into strength. Let's really think today about what stands in our way in our love for other people. And let's pray to God--who places His love in our hearts--to help us love each other. Love, heidi |
