Love God...

"Jesus said, 'If you bring your gift to the altar, and there recall that your brother has anything against you, leave your gift there at the altar, go first and be reconciled with your brother...'"

Matthew 5:23-24

 

This scripture brings home the point that we cannot love God in a vacuum.  It's never about just God and us, but about God, the rest of humanity and us.  What we are given from God must be shared with others. Our worship of God must have hands and feet in our world today.  Jesus told Peter, "Tend my sheep," to finish Peter's sentence, "Yes, Lord, you know I love you..." (John 21:15-19). And that, to me, is the hard part. God and I would be just fine without the interruption of the rest of the world! But it sure doesn't work that way, does it?  My love for God must show in this world, through my love for God's people.  Love God. Love God's peeps.  That could be a bumper sticker!  Love, heidi

Oh, there will be no Heidi-Grams next week, as I am off to retreat and then Spiritual Direction school.  Prayers for you all!

The gift of Just This

"Just this."

Fr. Richard Rohr, "In the Beginning..."

 

I have relished a set of CD's of talks by Fr. Richard Rohr and Pastor Rob Bell called "In the Beginning..." As I was driving through a most beautiful place earlier this week, Fr. Richard was explaining about "Just This."  Living in the present moment means realizing that where I am, what's going on right now, what I am attending to at this moment, is Just This.  I need to be fully present in this time and space, not back last week, when my feelings got hurt, or two years from now and what may be happening then.  What I have today, right now, is Just This.  I was looking at the breath-taking scenery and loving my Just This of that time.  And it was good.  I am one who certainly gets caught up in the past and in the future.  I can wallow around in past hurts or spend way too much time anticipating what's coming up. So, I am very grateful for this valuable lesson of Just This.  Today, as we go through our nearly-summer Wednesday, let's stop periodically and just grasp the Just This of the moment.  Let's realize that, at that instant, God is loving us beyond measure and that moment is a special gift, just for us.  Blessings on all of your Just This moments today...love, heidi

Who lights your lamp?

"An authentic discipleship will get the Gospel message across without self-promotion."

Abbot Jerome Kodell, "Give Us This Day"

 

Jesus says in today's Gospel, "...your light must shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father (Matthew 5:16).  There is such a fine line between doing good things, others seeing them, glorifying God and others admiring YOU. Just a few days ago, Jesus, in Mark 12:38, chastised the scribes for going around in their long robes, flaunting their righteousness before others.  The difference is clear to me after reflecting a bit on it.  The scribes were just soaking in the admiration of others because of their high position, long robes and tassels. The glory was theirs. What Abbot Jerome gives us is exactly the formula:  Be authentic. Live the Gospel. Give the glory to God.  What does that look like on a beautiful Tuesday morning?  To me, it means; Step out of the way and let God work.  Any good we do is God working through us, so make sure God gets the kudos, Kiddos. Blessings on your shining Tuesday!  Love, heidi

God is enough...

"Let nothing disturb you,

nothing distress you.

While all things fade away,

God is unchanging.

Be patient; for with God in your heart,

nothing is lacking.

God is enough."

Prayer of St. Teresa of Avila

 

This was the hymn on Pray-As-You-Go this morning and it struck me as fitting perfectly with our first reading today, "For as Christ's sufferings overflow to us..." (2 Corinthians 1:1-7). Stuff is gonna happen.  Bad times are inevitable.  It is not going to be smooth sailing from here on in.  Why would we think it would be when our Jesus suffered immeasurably?  But the bottom line is that God is with us. God loves us. God is enough.  If we can just keep that in our hearts and minds, we can relish the comfort God intends for us.  It's a June Monday; time to relax and let God be God.  Love, heidi