On loving Others

        The Lord wants us to see him in every fellow human being so that we may treat all with love and respect. I got on this because I saw how easily old folks got ignored by others. It is Jesus' commandment that we love our neighbor as ourselves. One caution though: we love others, but not be attached to them, for we attach ourselves to God alone.

Unbelievers Give Reasons

         Many people are not ready for Jesus, the most basic reason being not ready to give themselves up yet. In two cases I ran into, the reasons given me were not what I had expected. 

         Case one ~ the person told me that he was a businessman and he's afraid that should he accept Jesus, he'd have to cease being dishonest in his dealings with others, and that would make it hard for him to conduct his business. Here's an honest answer, but his decision made me lose all my respect for him. 

         Case two ~ I was to give the person some literature or simple prayer cards. He didn't want to take any because he said that should he find the material uninteresting, he would have difficulty in dumping any of it ~ apparently, he associated the material with God and felt that discarding it might offend him. Here's a person believing that God might be real, but didn't want have anything to do with him. He's not quite being logical, but there's hope for him. 

            Since God simplifies us, unbelievers are more complicated than believers.    

Sure Protection

        We may feel pretty secure inside our own home, but looking down from an airplane, you see only the roof of our house over our head. Seeing the earth from the satellite further shows how exposed and vulnerable our earth is in the vast space. Physically, we have little protection. However, spiritually, things are definite. God sees our hearts clearly. When we stay away from him, we can lose his protection; but if we remain with him, we have complete protection. 

Muddy Thinking

        News today: Virginia's same-sex marriage ban has been ruled unconstitutional by a federal judge. My thoughts. God made man and woman for the purpose of procreation ~ that's why marriage is reserved for the union between a man and a woman and considered a sacrament in the Church. To think that God also sanctions other types of "marriages" is muddy thinking. Pro-abortion people are also muddy thinkers. They question that life begins at conception. I question, if not, how you can explain the growth of an infant in the mother's womb from the very beginning. They argue that the fetus is not a person or don't want to acknowledge that abortion is murder, but hiding behind words and legalities does not alter the truth. Considering that the infant is a part of the mother's body is another example of muddy thinking. The muddiest thinking of all has to be thinking that we can look away from God, deviate from his intended purposes, and still be all right. 

Full Surrender

        Giving our will to God is surrendering to him, but we can specifically surrender all the things difficult for us to control too ~ for example, impatience, anger, unforgivingness, our hang-ups, obsessions, prejudices, painful memories and even disturbing dreams. When we're willing to let them go, the Lord removes them from us.

God's Perspective Considered

        For God, there is no beginning, no end, for he is eternal. As I once blogged, view God as light and Einstein's theory of relativity shows that he must remain the same forever, be all over the universe at the same time, and for whom time stops. All this amazingly makes perfect sense. Therefore, it's a "mistake" to view Jesus' first coming into the world as something that happened 2,000 years ago and his second coming as something that might not happen for a long time from now. With God's perspective in mind, we might as well compress the events of the whole Biblical history, creation, man's fall, the Incarnation of Jesus, his Crucifixion, Resurrection, Ascension, and yes, the final judgment too, all into the present moment. Then we can respond to the Lord more urgently as we should.       

For God's Glory

        We want to be as holy as possible, shining the brightest in the world. Yes, we want to be the best ~ elitist you could even say. Why? Because God deserves it. No, we don't do it for our own sake. If others show up holier and shining brighter, we cheer. All for God's glory!

Best Trip Ever!

        I heard this morning that one person chose to go on a certain expensive trip because it's a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Then I thought that choosing to follow Jesus is also once in a lifetime in the sense that you get that opportunity only in your one lifetime. Since I choose to follow Jesus, my trip will be one-way and end in heaven, leaving me there to enjoy the Lord for all eternity! It's my prayer that all of us on earth will plan for this trip before going on any other trips.  

Wonderful Attitude

           This morning on Nation Public Radio, I heard about the sisters of Benedictines of Mary, Queen of the Apostles, for the first time. They are topping the Billboard classical charts with their albums of sacred music. Mother Cecilia, prioress of the abbey and the group's music arranger, was being interviewed on air. She talked about how her exposure to sacred music lifted her spirit to God, and made her think on eternal things, up out of the petty things of life. "Eternal things" ~ I immediately wondered how much time do we spend thinking on eternal things in place of the petty things of life. At the end, Mother Cecilia impressed me by saying, "The CDs are something God has allowed to happen. It's a wonderful thing insofar as it brings souls closer to God, and in the meantime helps us pay our debt, but other than that, life just flows along at the priory just the same way it did before. And that's the way we love it; that's the way we want. No tours, no concerts, you know? Just simple monastic life." Elsewhere I also read that earlier last year when one of the albums topped the charts for weeks, the sisters couldn't care less. Mother Cecilia said, "These CDs are absolutely non-essential to our life of prayer. It we hadn't recorded, or if we don't record again, it really wouldn't have any bearing, any effect on our life." What a wonderful attitude ~ dwelling on what's eternal and being detached from all that's temporal! 

       I'd also like to add that Mother Cecilia was a gifted French horn player of the Columbus Symphony, Columbus, MO, before she joined the Benedictines of Mary order. When that happened, people thought she was throwing her life away, wasting her talents. I like her thoughts expressed here too: "The funny thing with God is, when you give him everything, he takes that offering seriously, and he does as he promises: He gives a hundredfold." Amen. 

Wonderful Christian Life

        We can take advantage of every life situation to get close to God. Each situation provides us with opportunities to love, obey, honor, and glorify God, storing up treasures in heaven, and to shine as light of the world, drawing others to Christ. What wonderful living! How blessed are we to be able to serve God and enter heaven later! To make the most of our Christian life, aim for total union with God. 

Obedience and Peace

        After over nine weeks, my cough still hasn't completely left me. My doctor finally prescribed an antibiotic for me to take. Knowing that I am in God's hands no matter what, I see no point in worrying or projecting what might happen to me, and I remain peaceful. Rebelling against God always robs one of inner peace. Obedience (trust in this case) and peace go hand in hand with each other.

The Adoption Process

        Jesus looms large, challenging us to decide if he is true God or not. Once we believe that he is, we are challenged to decide if we are willing to surrender to him completely or not. To me, these are invigorating challenges, tests to meet in the adoption process of becoming sons and daughters of God the Father.

God, Our Standard

        What's beautiful to us may repel God, and what's pleasing to God may not attract us. But we can be sure that what's beautiful to God must be the truly beautiful and what's ugly to him, the truly ugly.

How to Overcome Sin

        The best way to overcome sin is to surrender to Christ. As a matter of fact, it is the only way!

Why We Need God

        Today's Communion experience. After receiving the Lord in the Holy Eucharist, I knew that God is the only one who can make us holy.

A Useful Tip

        I was with someone who I felt was somewhat stuffy and snobbish and disagreed with his view on a certain matter, and I aired my contrary view. As a result, the disagreement got a little heated. Later I saw my mistake this way. Probably most of us have heard the saying "Hate the sin and not the sinner." Applying this in my case, I should have made the distinction between a person's attitude and the person. It's so easy to identify the view expressed by the person with the person. Keeping this in mind, I would have had a civilized discussion or exchange without getting emotional. This tip should also prove useful in any evangelization effort.  

Following God's Will Clarified

        It doesn't mean that we sit around and do nothing, waiting for some special sign from God. On the contrary, we remain alert and active, always acting sensibly, prayerfully, and without ego. This last italicized condition distinguishes "following God's will." 

Finding a Shepherd

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 6, when Jesus saw the vast crowd following him, his heart was moved with pity for them, for they were like sheep without a shepherd; and he began to teach them many things. My last post can relate to this. Choosing to follow our own passion is choosing to remain lost without a shepherd to guide us, while choosing to follow God's will is choosing to follow Christ as our shepherd, who is the way, the truth, and the life (John 14.6).