Day 160: Guidance

Jesus said to them, "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but now you say, 'We see.'  Therefore your sin remains."  John 9:41

I find that the use of blindness as a metaphor is quite harsh.

We have other metaphors in the Gospels that are much easier to understand.  We are sheep that are not too good at living on our own, but we can be led in a direction and can be taught.  We are children who are innocent and willing to learn.  We are salt to give good flavor to the bland world.  We are light to illuminate the darkness.  But, are we blind?

I have to wonder, does blind in the New Testament mean not being able to see anything at all, or does that mean to be just visually impaired (nearsighted/farsighted)?  The metaphor would be easier for me to grasp if the latter because I have to wear glasses in order to see well.  At the same time, though, am I just being so prideful that I need to say that I can see?

I interpret Jesus' saying above as being against judgment.  We as humans have no right to take God's place and exercise judgment on the world.  When we judge, we claim to be seeing while we ourselves are blind.  After taking that into account, I can start to understand that blindness in this sense truly is blindness, where we cannot see a single thing no matter how hard we try or how thick of lenses we wear.  This makes Jesus' power that much more glorious, though, for Jesus not only teaches us, but he also transforms us.

As I consider blindness more and more, I think all about our stumbling around in the world without direction or help.  When we wander around, we will find it very difficult to get anywhere.  So, why should we take it upon ourselves to cast judgment on all of those around us?  Can we really lead others without Jesus?  Do we even know where we're going?  We can sure try to get around, but then, what if there's a hole right in front of us that we can't even feel our way out of?  What if there's somebody chasing after us?  A car?  That's what this world is to us.  There are so many unknowns, and we can't just wander around without any direction or guidance.

The most important fact for us to consider is the fact that we are truly blind.  We need Jesus to guide us through all the difficult places.  We need that strong hand to guide us at all times of the day, not just during the daytime.  We need someone who won't abandon us, and that's what Jesus is here for.  When we acknowledge that we need Jesus, Jesus will start walking beside us and in front of us.  With Jesus, we will find ourselves walking in infinite grace.

Day 141: Finding Peace with God

"He who seeks the Lord will find knowledge with righteousness, and those who seek Him rightly will find peace."  Proverbs 16:4

This proverb suggests a progression.

The first part of this proverb talks about the beginning of a life of faith.  In the beginning, we will find out about the bible, the different stories, some of the lessons, and maybe a bit about theology.  We will learn how to pray with the favorites selected from different parts of the bible and from tradition.  All of it, at first, is knowledge.  And this is great for all of us.  We need our minds to be filled with good knowledge, for the mouth only speaks drawing from what the mind and heart know.  Think about a dialect of a spoken language.  The people who speak different dialects do so because of what they are surrounded by.  If there are many people saying "y'all" as a second person plural, then you probably will, too, over time.  I know of many foreigners who adopt "y'all" after living in the South for a while.

The latter part of the proverb gets to a core message.  When we seek the Lord rightly, we will find peace.  Today, we all need more peace in our lives.  We are being bombarded with society telling us what we need to know, how much money we need to make, what job we need to do in order to make said money, whom to marry, what to buy, what house to live in, how to speak, how to live "well".  That's a lot for us to handle.  But, the last thing we need is to go to church, or even to approach the bible, or God, and come out even more stressed than before.  That's not why we are Christians.  We are Christians because Jesus came into the world to bring us peace.  We don't need to worry about what's going on around us.  We don't need to concern ourselves about so many societal rules because our salvation has come for us.  We have a place prepared for us in heaven!

Our faith will progress from knowledge to peace.  The good thing, though, is that we don't have to wait for years to get this.  We can do it now.  We can find peace through our religion.  It all comes down to how we live our life.  We have to live knowing that God is in control.  We have to pray knowing that God is taking care of us and hearing us, and - more importantly - God is speaking to us.  We need to read the bible knowing that there is wisdom that we can apply to everything in our lives.  We have to go to church knowing that God is great and that we will achieve peace through our prayers, our praise, and our love.  We have to take the love that God has given us and spread it all over our lives so that we can make the world that much better.  When we live our faith, we will find peace.

Day 140: Transformation by God

"These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever.  For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error."  2 Peter 2:17-18

I found this message to be harsh, but it is an important reminder for us and how to live.

We all have a host of temptations that attempt to rule over us every day.  Sometimes, we overcome them; other times, we are overcome - thus is life.  In addition to being overcome by temptations, we will go out of our way to justify ourselves by judging all of those around us for everything we can imagine.  We will start to speak great words that are just empty.  When we do that, though, we become empty wells or weak clouds.  We give up all control over our lives to whatever temptation that comes our way.

Now, this might sound like a dead end, but that's not the case.  Sure, we can become like an empty well or a mere cloud, but we were all created in God's image.  God is working in all of us.  We don't have just one option to give our control over to temptations.  Instead, we can hand the control over to God, the expression of perfect, unconditional love in our lives.

When we try to talk our way through our temptations and our sins, we only become further enslaved by our sins.  However, when we start to adopt everything that God teaches and tells us, we can start to transform our lives.  It might start with just words.  Rather than deceive ourselves with our own words, we can speak the truths that we learn through God.  Once we speak them, we will start to live them.  Once we live them, we inch closer to God.  As we go further down our journey, we will start to become much more like God.  We need to allow for God to do the work in our bodies so that we can continue to heal. 

 

Day 124: Change that Saves

"But Christ came as High Priest of the good things to come, with the greater and more perfect tabernacle not made with hands, that is, not of this creation."  Hebrews 9:11

This is a message that is so pertinent to today, especially for those who wish to see the Church continue to grow.

To start, this passage refers specifically to the new tabernacle that Jesus brings about with his coming to earth.  He instituted something that was drastically different: one sacrifice for all eternity, a complete forgiveness of sin, love of God.  That's quite a change from the older Mosaic tabernacle, but it was necessary for the spreading of the Gospel.

Today, there are many churches that are dying everywhere, and those congregations are turning to many different consultants from different places.  Some are even looking to consultants for large businesses so that they can make the best business decisions.  But, I would say that there is a fundamental issue: we hold onto our old customs, even if they do lead us straight to complete failure.

We want to be comfortable.  We know that things that have sustained us for long stretches of time should still work.  At the very least, those things are comfortable.  When I was a little kid, I loved eating fried foods as my main source of food.  However, over time, I gained lots of weight because of my decisions, and, even more recently, I'm finding that fried foods make my stomach upset for quite a long time after enjoying.  Yet, I want to be able to eat them because they are so good!

I am sure that we all have issues that we could talk about.  Maybe you can't run as far as you used to.  Maybe you shouldn't see that one ex lover who used to be great in the past but now only serves as a temptation to you.  Maybe you can't sit in front of the TV all day because of the threat of debilitating weight complications.

We need this same sort of mentality with our churches.  The churches are not ours; they are God's.  As such, we need to remember to listen for God's advice on all matters.  That might mean that you will have to start playing different music.  That might mean that you will have to incorporate more modern language, or even an entirely different language.  That also might mean that you will have to dissolve a community and embrace another.  I cannot speak for every church that is out there, but I do know that there are always difficult decisions to be made.  And that's where we need to start remembering what Jesus has done.

Jesus has come into the world to bring us all closer to God via change.  Jesus wants to change us all for the better.  That means that we need to be going back to God every chance that we get (which is, of course, all the time).  Jesus is showing all of the good things that are in existence.  Most of all, we need to remember that Jesus is going to be working in our communities, even when that means that our hand prints will be supplanted by his.

When we allow for Jesus to renew us, we will be able to change for the better.  We need to open up our arms that were once crossed in front of us so that we can welcome Christ's embrace.

Day 122: Welcoming Others

"I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."  Luke 18:14

Perhaps something that I come across quite frequently is this: I'm too messed up for church.

As I read the bible, I learn that this is never a valid excuse.  All throughout the bible, there are countless stories of people whose names get to be associated with holiness who lived lives that are quite far from being perfect, let alone "holy" in our eyes.  In fact, you can look at all your church leaders who stand up before you, but you may forget that they are all humans.  Every single one of them.  I have to say that I am quite blessed to be part of a family that has two priests in it because I have been able to understand that God calls any kind of person to the ministry.

However, the excuse of being to messed up for church has one other factor that is not quite as easy to debunk.  That factor lies in the congregation.  We have done a pretty decent job as Christians at bringing the message of Jesus to many people, even if it doesn't seem like it.  The bible is easy to publish and distribute.  So many verses have come into common parlance in the West, and some have even made their way outside of the Western world.  There are churches on every inhabited continent, and there are Christians proclaiming the Gospel through countless media.  But, to be frank, we have also done a good job at bringing the same issues that were plaguing the communities in Jesus' time.  I have heard way too many times from many of my friends that they were turned off by church because of how one person spoke.  People try to spread their gospel by invoking hatred and fear from the start.  Yet, that's not what Jesus did.

Jesus never missed an opportunity to remind people where they belonged.  He even told his disciples whenever they thought that they were doing everything perfectly that they had it all wrong.  Jesus reminded all of his followers about the same message, that God has come into the world in order to gather all the people in a warm embrace of unconditional love.  Anything outside of that message was not right.

Think about a rose.  We think of that flower as being one of the prettiest flowers in existence, and we produce so many of them that they are commonplace.  Two days ago was Mother's Day in the USA, and, of course, there were many roses.  When you look at a bouquet or even a rosebush, the first thing you'll probably notice is the actual rose.  It's not until you try to pick it up or look much closer that you'll find the thorns.  I find that many Christians out there today are doing the exact opposite.  We have people showing off their own thorns rather than the beauty of the flower.  What's worse is that in reality, there are no thorns in the Gospel.  Jesus took care of the thorns of sin and death with his crucifixion.  Now he just calls us, with a flower of love, to come closer.  Rather than project our own internalized hate towards all those around us, how about we learn to project our love to everyone? 

Day 121: Building up with Love

"nor will they say, 'See here!' or 'See there!'  For indeed, the kingdom of God is within you."  Luke 17:21

If there isn't any other reason to come together as one church, this is the one.

Jesus says this in response to the Pharisees, who were people who did a pretty good job at isolating themselves from everybody else.  They considered themselves the purest of Jews, alienating the rest of the ethnically Jewish people who were in the area.  They came up with so many different interpretations of the law so that only a select group of people would be able to become true Jews.

I don't have to say much else in order to bring this same issue up to today's world.  At the highest levels, we have many bishops, pastors, and other major leaders calling for discrimination of anybody they feel should be taken out: women, the ill, any LGBT person, single parents, orphans, people of different races, non-English speakers.  If we delve even deeper into supposedly united denominations, we can see issues that break communities apart.  Even at the parish/mission/church level, there will be people who want to tear the congregations up.  The worst is that now, with the availability of social media, everybody has a platform they can stand upon to shout and make their points, bringing out their own poison and breeding weeds among the wheat fields.  They will all spread their hate with the same conclusion: See here! This is how the Kingdom of God will be, once we clean it up.

But that's not what Jesus preached.  Jesus made the image plain and simple: the kingdom of God is within you (or y'all, the Greek is plural).  I'm sure we all know what happens whenever teams break up, or when people decide to go their own way, deviating from a great team project - failure.  When we decide to take on the role of a schismatic in a community, we cannot lie that it will be a way to build up a community.  If we are going to maim the body of Christ, that's exactly what we will do.  Rather than build up the Kingdom of God by uniting all the many residents, we will be taking it apart, brick by brick, and, ultimately, execution by execution.  There will be no kingdom to speak of when we finish up our goal of dividing people up.

We are called to learn how to live with each other.  And why is that, exactly?  The Kingdom of God relies on one thing: the abundance of love.  If we do not have love, we cannot be builders of the Kingdom.  Before we start to take construction into our own hands, we have to take a moment and think, are we acting with love?  If not, then reevaluate what you're doing.  God has worked through all of our lives, showing us what the miracles of love are.  How about we start bringing love into our communities to build them up?

Day 120: Guidance

"But he said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.'"  Luke 16:31

This is something that relates to parenting.

Jesus reprimands those who are listening to him, for he wants them all to become followers by word and deed.  Yet, he knew that there would be some who wouldn't listen or take his words to heart.  In the same way, I see that this is the role of a good parent.

Growing up, and even to this day, my mom disciplines me whenever I do not listen.  I don't like it many times, but after I get over the shock, I realize that she only wants the best for me.  She wants me to grow and to live a fulfilling life.  I see that Jesus was the same.  If we as children don't learn how to listen to our parents, then how will we listen to anybody else around us?  How will we listen to others who don't provide us with food, nor converse with us, let alone even know our name?

To take these questions even further, how will we know what to listen for in the end times?  How will we know what direction to walk in?  We are very fortunate to have something as concrete as the bible.  In the bible we have many different stories telling us how to live a good life.  We have advice readily available to us.  And, above all, we have the Gospel of love being relayed to us throughout many lives, particularly that of Jesus, the ultimate sign of love.

I know that I have been blessed with a parent who shows me unconditional love and who leads me to God.  However, I do know that others are not blessed in that exact same way, sometimes even lacking a parental figure entirely.  The good news, though, is that we have the parental words of Jesus ready for us to receive.  Sometimes they are fatherly, and other times they are motherly.  We need to listen to these words and take them to heart, for Jesus wants us to come back home, and we will only be able to do that if we grow up at home.

Day 100: Proclaiming the Great Things

"Now the man from whom the demons had departed begged Him that he might be with Him.  But Jesus sent him away, saying, 'Return to your own house, and tell what great things God has done for you.'  And he went his way and proclaimed throughout the whole city what great things Jesus had done for him."  Luke 8:38-39

This is a message that might seem a little harsh at first.

Jesus has told so many to drop everything and follow him, but this man whom he had just healed he sent away.  The man even asked to follow.  However, that's where we need to look at our own ideas.

The man had been through a struggle, hosting demons and living in the cemetery.  He was suffering some of the craziest things we could think of.  So, now that he's back to his senses, it would make sense for him to follow Jesus as a disciple.  But Jesus calls us to follow him in so many different ways.  The important fact here is that Jesus is showing that following will be difficult.  Just because one thing has passed doesn't mean that everything else is going to be very light and easy.  Look at Paul's or Peter's life if you want a better example.

The other thing is a question of understanding.  The man wanted to be near Jesus because Jesus saved him from evil.  Jesus, in turn, explains how he can always be with him: proclaiming the Gospel.  We seem to forget the many ways Jesus is walking right next to us.  We deceive ourselves into thinking that Jesus is only with us when we're at church or in the middle of prayer.  The truth is that Jesus is with us everywhere.  It's only our choice whether we feel his presence or not.  When we proclaim the Gospel and live it, we will feel all the good things that are Jesus.  Therefore, Jesus sends us out every day so that we can proclaim the Gospel and acknowledge that he is with us, every step of the way.

Day 094: Lord of the New

So the scribes and Pharisees watched Him closely, whether He would heal on the Sabbath, that they might find an accusation against Him.  But He knew their thoughts, and said to the man who had the withered hand, "Arise and stand here."  And he arose and stood.  Then Jesus said to them, "I will ask you one thing: Is it lawful on the Sabbath to do good or to do evil, to save life or to destroy?"  Luke 6:7-9

Jesus came into the world to change things, and the way he did that was very direct.

One of the things that probably separates so many of us from one another is language.  Language is something that humans use to communicate with one another, but when two people don't speak the same language, there is a stark disconnect between the groups of people.  I know that in my own family, we will switch back and forth between Spanish and English in order for others not to understand what we are talking about (at times).

We speakers of English, though, might forget that there are so many people around the globe that don't understand English.  We like to think that English is the only way to speak to one another, and if somebody can't speak English, then that person is deficient.  Historically, many cultures looked down upon the others that didn't speak the same language as they did (ever hear of the word barbarian?), but that still goes on to this day.  And, it's not only English speakers who have that prejudice.

In the same way, the Pharisees looked at Jesus.  He was doing many new things, and they were amazing, revealing the unconditional love of God for all of God's people, but the Pharisees rejected those things because they were different.  Rather than accept a new Gospel, they wanted to stick with the things as they were, even if that was actually hurting them.

Jesus challenges us every day to accept the new and the good.  The good might look very strange to us at the first glance, but if we live as the disciples did, attempting to understand every word and teaching that Jesus did, and not as the Pharisees, finding all things new to be bad, we will enjoy blessing after blessing.

Day 090: Seeing God's Face

"He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation."  Colossians 1:15

Here is the Good News.

When reading the Old Testament, especially the time period from the Exodus before the era of Judges, you can get an image of a community with a lot of angst.  There are many commandments coming from the God who liberated all of Israel from slavery in Egypt.  Not only that, but those commandments are only coming from Moses, the only person allowed to see God, let alone interact with God.

When Jesus came into the world, though, we now have a clear image of Almighty God.  We can see Jesus in the flesh.  We can hear Jesus in a language we can understand.  We see another human to whom we can relate, teaching us the Way.  It is a good thing, for we are all invited to participate in the divine.  Jesus gave us the Eucharist, and now we have a way to commune with God.

When I thought about this verse, I thought about an old hymn, where one of the verses says, "I see Thee face to face and live!"  And that's what we have now!  We see Jesus face to face and live!  We have so many things to be thankful for, and the chief of them is that we can come so much closer to God than ever before.  Love, which was once something concealed and confusing, is now something we can understand with many examples from Jesus Christ.  We have all of his teachings to guide us.

When we read the bible, when we pray, when we take communion, we are seeing God face to face, and we, indeed, are living.

Day 081: Building Faith

Then Jesus said to them, "A little while longer the light is with you.  Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who walks in darkness does not know where he is going." John 12:35

This is a poignant message from Jesus, especially as he prepares to go to the cross.

I just learned that it is a description of how our lives are so short that we only have a little while to walk in the light so that we may head in the right direction.  And, when I think about the short time that we have, I also think about how we can even learn to make our lives ones of light.

I love to study languages.  The hardest part about learning a language, in my opinion, is building up vocabulary.  There are usually so many words to learn.  Sure, there are few that you need to get by, but after getting a "survival level" in your target language, you have to start fleshing it out until you can achieve "fluency", whatever that goal might be for you.  The issue with learning vocabulary is that it is so easy to forget it.  I can learn a word now and forget it in thirty seconds.  I could learn a phrase today and forget it tomorrow.  So, I have had to figure out ways to master my mind in order to learn vocabulary.

Another image that comes to mind is working out.  From a visual standpoint, it is usually pretty obvious who spends time exercising and dieting and who doesn't.  From a personal standpoint, though, you can't lie to yourself.  When you go run for a day, you might only be able to go so far for so long.  However, after training for weeks or even months, you can build up an endurance to run quite a distance.  When you build up that endurance, you will find smaller physical tasks to be much easier.  But, when you lay off of exercise for a period of time, you realize that you have to start the training all over.  Your endurance wanes, and/or your muscles shrink.

In the same ways, I like to think about walking in the light.  We have let the world of darkness take over so many facets of our lives that we need to put in an effort just to walk towards the light, let alone in it.  We need to surround ourselves with the resources we need in order to get to the light.  And, just as Jesus was showing us in this example, the Gospel is the easiest way to the light.  We have all this guidance from Jesus to walk in the right direction.  Pair that up with some prayer and you should be set for life.

In the end, whatever the method, we have to remember that it is not instantaneous.  We need to develop our lives in faith, and we need to build up our faith like a strong vocabulary or a set of muscles.  During Holy Week, take the opportunities that are out there to build up on your faith.  Attend a few services.  Read a few devotionals.  Pray. 

Day 080: A Ministry

"For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?"  Hebrews 9:13-14

This is a great explanation about the greatness of Jesus and his sacrifice for us.

Just on the surface, Jesus has made so much of a greater sacrifice than all the priests before, for he offered his life for all of us.  He took all of our sins and went to the cross so that we won't have to.

Going further with this, I like to think about what the blood of Christ really is.  As God says in the Old Testament, the life is in the blood.  Christ's life is in his blood.  But the neat thing is that the blood of Christ is so much more than just blood.  For communion, it is nourishment that sustains us, day by day, healing us and bringing us closer to one another.  I also like to think that the blood of Christ is his teachings, for he lives in all of us through his many teachings.

We have so much to learn from the Gospels.  We learn how to handle living on earth.  We learn how to live with one another.  We learn how to get closer to God.  We learn about what God really is.  We witness the glory of God through Jesus' earthly ministry.  And, through Jesus' earthly ministry, we have been gathered together.  Jesus has gone out in every direction to bring us together and prepare us as a worthy offering to God.

During this Holy Week, make it a point to read more about Jesus and to pray to Jesus.  Ask Jesus for guidance during this week.  Ask for revelations.  Ask for direction.  And praise God for the salvation that we receive through Jesus. 

Day 071: Simplicity

"But I fear, lest somehow, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, so your minds may be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ."  2 Corinthians 11:3

We have been deceived many times that simplicity is something to be suspicious about.  We respond to things that are simple with, "it's too good to be true."  In order to cope with this sentiment, we have decided to make everything around us more and more complex.  On top of everything else, though, we have done this to the Gospel.

Jesus asserted many times in the Gospels that the whole message is just one of love.  Love God.  Love your neighbors.  Go out into the world with this message.  Bring the love that I have given you to everybody in every nation, in every language.  But that's too simple for us, isn't it?  I mean, God, the creator of the universe and all that is in it, the governor over everything and every day, only asks for us to love.  That's it.

However, we have gone out into the world, baptizing ourselves in the name of our own thoughts.  We have taken not only two tunics, but an entire wardrobe with us: all of our interpretations, all of our biases, all of our judgments.  Instead of accepting others with welcoming hands, we have gone into other houses and poured our dust over everybody who comes to us with a question.  We have isolated everybody around us in the name of something we call our own "gospel".

That's not what Jesus preached.  That's not what we have learned.  That's what we have deceived ourselves into believing and doing.  Rather, we are called to love everybody with the same love that God has given us.

This Lent, meditate on the simplicity of the Gospel.  Let the Gospel of love permeate all throughout your mind and body.  Let the love shine through you in everything you do.

Day 066: Direction

"For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's will save it."  Mark 8:35

 This sounds like quite an order, but it's for our own sake that Jesus commanded it.

But, to preserve our own life can seem pretty selfish, especially before God.  When we go about on our own, making everything in our life just the way we want it, many times the process leads us on a path away from God.  Our life would have our name on it, but it would fall very far from God.  Directing our lives can isolate us from all those around us, and then we will indeed be gaining our own world while losing our soul.

Losing our life means to let go of it.  We need to let go of our lives so that God can take it and shape it into the best that it can be.  What do Jesus and the Gospel mean?  They mean love.  They mean support.  They mean everything that is good.  So why would we want to keep our life from all of that?

Giving our life over to Jesus is a constant thing, though.  We periodically take it back from God's hands out of fear.  However, in order to make sure that God has complete control over our lives, we need to be in constant communication with God through prayer and reading the bible.  We will only be able to give our lives over for the Gospel's sake if we actually know what the Gospel is.  We direct our lives on the basis that we know our every thought.  If we familiarize ourselves with the Gospel, then we can allow for the Gospel to take over.  It will be a lot of work, just as Jesus pointed out (take up your cross), but Jesus will be there every step of the way, guiding us and helping us.

Take some time this Lent to familiarize yourself with God in a new way.  Find a new devotional, have a conversation with a faith leader or even your friends, or just sit down and read the Gospel of Mark (it's the shortest one).  Also, pray for guidance through your process of learning.

 

Day 022: Following

"When Jesus heard it, He departed from there by boat to a deserted place by Himself.  But when the multitudes heard it, they followed Him on foot from the cities.  And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude  and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick." Matthew 14:13-14

I find that this situation is a good structure for how we should live.  Jesus goes away from the place where there are many misunderstandings.  His people follow him there.  He has compassion on them.

Jesus is moving to many different places, constantly.  Jesus is speaking to different groups who haven't accepted the Gospel yet, and he is bringing more and more people to the table.  Jesus is calling us to go with him, so that we might be able to learn even more from him.  Right after this passage, we learn about the feeding of the 5,000, which is a sign of the Eucharist.  Jesus is always teaching us.

Today, especially in the United States, we are constantly facing the arrival of new people, some from different wars or conflicts, and others for their own well-being and/or their goals.  They speak in different languages, they practice different customs, and sometimes we are comfortable with relying on our own misunderstandings.  The women who wear headscarves are wicked in their ways.  The men who murmur in a different language are cursing us under their breath.  The children who are working to provide for their families are obviously trying to atone for their family's sinful ways.

But Jesus is walking before these new people.  Just as he sent all the apostles into foreign territory to preach, baptize, and anoint, he is sending us into the new groups of people so that we ourselves may learn more about the beauty in God's creation.  We can learn about new ways to pray, new ways to worship, and new ways to sing when we go where Jesus is sending us.

Lastly, we need to be ready to learn.  We need to be ready to believe.  When we follow Jesus, he always has compassion on us.  He will forgive us all our sins, our misdoings, our doubts.  He will cleanse us and feed us.  We just need to be ready to depart our comfort zones, our isolated towns, and follow Jesus onto the shores, so that we can learn more about his faithfulness.

Day 019: Direction

"Some therefore cried one thing and some another, for the assembly was confused, and most of them did not know why they had come together." Acts 19:32

We have memes of this situation floating around the internet, and one of my favorite ones is as such: "Who are we?"
"Spanish Students!"
"¿Cómo te llamas?"
"¡Bien!"

We can gather and speak loudly, but if we lack direction, we are putting ourselves at a risk of falling apart in the times of pressure or challenges.  And, of course, Jesus is all about presenting us with a challenge, whether it be of faith or of how to live.

Paul and some companions go into Ephesus in order to preach, but some people start to get antsy about the fact that the Gospel is about Jesus and not Artemis, whose statues and temple provide a strong source of revenue for the city.  And, yet, when they are faced with the Gospel of love, of miracles, of grace, of forgiveness, they all freak out.  They are going to lose their livelihood.  Then, they go to riot, but they have no idea how to riot.  I mean, is there really a way to riot against the good news of love and forgiveness?

And, since they have no good argument, such that they can't even agree on what they're rioting about, they end up nearing a censure for rioting without a cause.  They remain silent.

The life that Jesus asks us to live is not an easy one, by no means, but we need to be open to all that he is offering.  Rather than kick and scream at him, how about remaining silent and listening?  We can only wander for so long in our own ways before we reach a test.  Let's let Jesus guide our lives.

 

Day 015: The Good News

Jesus answered and said to them, "Go and tell John the things which you hear and see. The blind see and the lame walk; the lepers are cleansed and the deaf hear; the dead are raised up and the poor have the gospel preached to them.  And blessed is he who is not offended because of Me."  Matthew 10:5-6

When Jesus was carrying out his ministry, there were many people who were wondering what was going on.  People wanted guidance, and Jesus reassured them in this way.

Each time I read this, I hear Jesus speaking in a way that is very excited but poignant at the same time.  It's intense.  He raises his hands as he's listing out what's going on.  He's saying that so much is changing.  And that's a good thing.

Any reading through the gospels reveals that there were many outcasts in Jewish society.  If one wants to read more about that, just go to Leviticus to read about how many more people are supposed to be put off to the side in order to sustain the early Jewish society.  The blind and lame were just that, sitting off to the sides.  The lepers were people you wouldn't look at, because your parents told you that their sins brought them there.  The deaf were people who served no purpose.  The dead were eternal, and the poor didn't deserve the gospel.

Jesus came into the world in order to bring together all of the outcasts!  Jesus came to overthrow all the corruption that society had condoned, and Jesus came to bring wisdom and discernment to everybody.  Jesus is here to change all of our lives, and blessed are we who are not offended because of him.

Blessed are we who are not offended because: the poor can have houses; the sick have doctors and healthcare; those who look different aren't ostracized; God's mercy extends to everybody, even those we don't like; our prejudices are proven wrong; God's love reaches to the heavens and God's faithfulness stretches to the skies; God's love extends to all colors, races, sexual orientations, genders, gender expressions; God calls all the faithful.

Jesus made us think in ways that are still difficult for us to comprehend, but he understands that and is willing to work with us, to change us, and bring us closer, so that we may all walk together, in the same direction, hand in hand, with one accord, in the Spirit.

Day 005: Truth Abounds

"God by wisdom founded the earth and prepared the heavens with discernment. With perception the depths were broken up, and the clouds flowed with dew."               Proverbs 3:21-22

I adore reading the Scriptures that are usually bunched up and called "Wisdom Literature" because of the way they make me think.  I can't take anything just for its face value, but at the same time I can't forget the value of the words.

Of course, what comes to mind is the opening of John's Gospel, which states that the Word, or Reason (which is an older meaning of the word logos), was present in the very beginning.  And that then brings about the idea that Jesus has always been around.  Going even further, I can also say that this passage from Proverbs explains that Jesus is Wisdom, Discernment, and Perception.

A few years ago, when I was starting out in my creative writing program at the University of Houston, I learned some major guidelines for writing poetry.  The two that were always passed around were, "Avoid cliches", and, "Avoid abstractions."  Taking these two to mind would help any poet avoid writing a poem that belonged in a Hallmark card (two words that meant that one's writing was not worth reading).  Avoiding abstraction, though, meant to avoid words that encompassed the world in a concept, such as wisdom, discernment, or perception.  Does this sentence really mean anything: "The wisdom of discernment is the beginning of perception"?  I find that each word is just too broad.

However, the best poetry would be whenever we students could find a way to incorporate such great terms into concrete ideas so that we could understand them better.  By wisdom, God founded the earth.  God prepared the heavens with discernment.  With perception God broke up the depths.  In keeping with the words of Proverbs, I can see that the writer is trying to tell me something, that there is wisdom, discernment, and perception all around me.

After reading this, I understand that God has prepared a world for me that will teach me in so many different ways.  Just as nature inspired the Romantic poets and urban life the Beats, there are so many more aspects that can teach me and everyone.  The only thing left to do is to seek it out, to trust in God with all my heart and not exalt my own wisdom (Proverbs 3:5).

The Gospel Centered Life

"But speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ." (Ephesians 4:15)
Here's the simple message from Paul, this time, which calls us to love.  The only way we can grow into Christ is through love.  It's simple because the only way we learn anything is through careful practice.  As a musician, I feel like I know this all too well.  For starters, one must practice so much to be good. However, mindlessly spending hours on things only makes a habit, as opposed to perfection.  My teacher always says that I must focus whenever I practice.  Therefore, playing through the things I'm good at only reinforces the things I'm good at, and, consequently, makes everything else glaringly bad.  However, when I focus on a certain issue for a given amount of time, I make my playing all the better.  In the same way, the only way we can make our lives closer to the Gospel is by living in love.  However, we cannot just practice loving those we already love or those who already love us back.  We must practice loving those who may not be easy to love.  We must love those who have hurt us.  We must love those who preach against us.  We must love those who don't understand us.  By practicing what Jesus already did and what God teaches us daily, we will live a truly gospel centered life.

Different Forms

"The Lord is full of compassion and mercy, slow to anger and of great kindness." (Psalm 103:8)
Today's commemoration is for Luke, the evangelist.  Luke's work shows us God's compassion, for God gave Luke such an important mission: to spread the gospel as a gentile.  There are no limits to God's will: whatever God wants happens.  We should go by that example and listen to what God has in store for each one of us.  At the same time, we must respect those who have these missions.  We may not like that a certain person may not look a certain way but preach the good news.  We may not be used to somebody who lives a certain way to give us the message.  We must accept God's message, for in its different forms it teaches us.