The desire to be well...

"One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him, 'Do you want to be well?'"

John 5:5-6

 

I have to admit that all the readings about water today (especially Ezekiel 47:1-9, 12) made me a bit nervous, just recently experiencing flood waters in my own home! But this Gospel touched on something else this morning as I read it.  The man lying by the pool of Bethesda for thirty-eight years reminds me of someone being stuck in the muck.  I'm sure I've had grudges that have lasted at least thirty-eight years, probably even longer! It's so easy for us to get stuck in a hurt or grudge and then just stay there.  It feeds something in us somehow, but that something isn't a healthy critter at all. On the surface it may seem odd that Jesus asks the guy, "Do you want to be well?"  But, in reality, do we want to let go of the unsavory little illness that we cling to? Do we want to forgive the past hurt? The whatever-it-was we enjoy wallowing in?  Is there a real desire in us to climb off the mat and wade into the healing waters? Jesus invites us to do just that, and this Year of Mercy seems like a perfect time to do it!  Love, heidi

Un-justly judging?

"Two people went up to the temple area to pray; one was a Pharisee and the other was a tax collector. The Pharisee took up his position and spoke this prayer to himself, 'O God, I thank you that I am not like the rest of humanity...'"

Luke 18:11

 

As I prayed with this Gospel over the weekend (it was actually Saturday's Gospel) I realized something, possibly, worth sharing.  The Pharisee's prayer was really quite cringe-worthy, indeed. But I think if we step back and look at it, the real problem with the prayer is that the Pharisee compared himself to his fellow pray-er in the first place.  We all do it--it's human nature to compare ourselves with others.  We either see others as further ahead, up the ladder, or we see others behind us and that gives us a puffed up feeling--don't we love that?  Sure we do! We're human! But comparing ourselves to others is really a form of un-just judging.  We are either unfairly judging others or unfairly judging ourselves...neither are what God wants for us.  We may be shocked by the Pharisee's puffed up prayer; Jesus was known for using shockingly obvious examples for simpler truths. But what we can learn from this is not to compare ourselves to anyone else.  To keep our prayerful eyes on God, like the humble tax collector, and say honestly, "O God, be merciful to me, a sinner, no better or worse than anyone else. (v. 13, but I added the last part.)  Blessings on your March Monday! Love, heidi

The First and Second...are One

"The second is this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself..."

Mark 12:31

 

The connectedness of the First Great Commandment--"You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and with all your strength" (v. 30) and the Second (above) jumped right out at me this morning. What I realize is that the love of God is necessary for us to even begin to love one another.  We cannot love others unless we tap into the deep pool of God's love in the first place.  I feel completely incapable of loving on my own.  The circle of me loving God and then God giving me all I need to love others is very visual in my mind.  I need God to help me love others, but God also needs me to put action to that love so that others experience it. It's all the same Love.  This is a lot to take in on a Friday, my Friends!  I hope to set aside time this weekend to sit with God and really pray about how I can be more open for God to love through me. I can get so in the way of that, myself.  Blessings on your mid-Lent weekend...after this, we'll be on the downhill side, inching toward Easter! Love, heidi

The voice of love...

"If today you hear God's voice, harden not your hearts."

Psalm 95:8

 

As often as I have heard (and even sung) this Psalm, today was the first time I really considered this: it presumes we hear with our hearts.  Actually, we hear with our ears, but respond with our hearts.  So, eventually, our hearts need to be open and pliable to respond to God's voice, not hard and closed off. Just hearing the voice of God with our ears won't cut it, because God's voice always calls us to action. God's voice calls us to mercy and forgiveness, love and compassion, justice and peace.  God's voice calls us to serve others, not just considering our own interests or well-being.  God's voice is often very hard to hear because it makes us look beyond ourselves into the bigger universe.  God's voice points out to us that it is not about us.  And that may be a difficult song for us to hear.  So, if today you hear God's voice to love the difficult ones, to forgive the bitter hurt, to reach out to the one who is suffering, harden not your heart.  It's God's voice you are hearing and it is a voice of pure Love.  Love, heidi

The law of Love...

  "Jesus said to his disciples, 'Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets...'"

Matthew 5:17

 

As often as Jesus called the scribes and Pharisees to task for their misunderstanding  and misuse of the law, he understood that the laws of Moses were there to help people live together in peace.  I remember a homily likening the laws to the structures of a huge suspended bridge, that one was very grateful to see holding the bridge up!  They were necessary for people to live and work together, caring for each other and not mistreating one another.  Jesus knew that these commandments were necessary for the people and he sure didn't want to topple that underpinning structure.  But Jesus also knew the Spirit of the law and he was able to condense the commandments into two Great Commandments: loving God and loving each other..  Gracious God, you give us all the tools we need to live with each other peacefully.  And that is, simply, living the law of love.  Please help us to love better every single day!    Love, heidi

Another chance to bear fruit!

"Sir, leave it (the fig tree) for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; it may bear fruit in the future.."

Luke 13:8-9

 

We had the Gospel of the non-productive fig tree on Saturday evening and, let me tell ya, it was a relief to me! The week had ended with me feeling quite inept in my job.  Not necessarily the mechanics of the job, but what I am learning is the real purpose of my job: to love others.  I had loved dismally. There, I said it.  There was the lady who called at 4:45 on Friday afternoon, needing me immediately.  I didn't love her well at all.  And the lady with less-than-perfect hygiene earlier in the week.  I couldn't even begin to love her.  It's a grace that I can recognize these failures in myself. But, an even greater grace is the fact that I will have another chance with both of them this week! Just like the fig tree, given another chance to produce by the gardener in this Gospel, God cultivated me over the weekend and now, with God's grace I can love better.  Thank you, Great Cultivator! Love, heidi