"Our return 'home' is to relate intimately in spirit with Love and also to become Love for others: compassionate, forgiving, creative, spirit-filled lovers in the best sense of the word."
Henri Nouwen, "Home Tonight"
It's fascinating to read about Jesus. It's wonderful to know Jesus personally. But the hardest part of being a follower of Jesus is to DO Jesus. To translate all you learn and study about Jesus into your own actions for the world. It's one of the biggest lessons I feel I'm still trying to grasp as I live on this planet. Being a lover of Jesus must show up in our actions with our fellow human beings or we just aren't--lovers of Jesus, I mean. In today's Gospel (Luke 9:51-56), Jesus and his disciples are passing through Samaria on their way to Jerusalem. They get a frosty reception from the locals. James and John, who Jesus nicknamed the "Sons of Thunder" ask if they can call down fire to destroy the city. Perhaps a wee bit of power has gone to their heads? But Jesus tells them, "no!" Anger and retaliation are not the answer here. Just shake it off and move on. That is a perfect example of doing Jesus--doing it Jesus' way. All day long, today, we are asked to do it like Jesus. Whether we are frustrated, angry, inconvenienced, in pain, or faced with others who drive us crazy, we are asked to do it like Jesus. And the recipe for that is above, by Henri Nouwen: Love for others: compassionate, forgiving, creative, spirit-filled lovers..." Love, heidi
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