Marvelous!

I will thank you because I am marvelously made; *
your works are wonderful, and I know it well.       Psalm 139: 13

S.L. Lowry

Can we thank God for being marvelously made? It’s hard for most of us. Prayers are generally petitionary, and thanksgivings often remain unsaid.  It is challenging to thank God simply for oneself. To wonder with awe at the very being of ourselves: that we respire automatically, that we communicate with one another, that our minds can perceive colors and solve problems.

Try it. Just thank God for you. For you are marvelously made. Thank God for the miracle of you, in spite of all the complaints you may have about the shape of your eyes or the color of your hair.  Leave the complaints for another day.

I will thank you, God, for I am marvelously made.    

Where is God?

What wrong did your ancestors find in me that they went far from me,

and went after worthless things, and became worthless themselves?

They did not say, "Where is the Lord?”

The priests did not say, "Where is the Lord?"            Jeremiah 2: 5-6,8

Searching                        Agostino Arrivabene

Are we guilty of this?  Jeremiah accused the people of Judah of wandering far from God and not even noticing. Neither the priests nor the laity asked,               “Where is the Lord?” And therein lies the problem.

As we seek to follow Christ, it is important that we become bearers of the question, “Where is the Lord?”  Where is the Lord in the midst of our triumphs? Our tragedies? In the midst of everyday life? For it is in asking the question that we become more attuned to the presence of the Holy One.

This week, as you interact with the world and with your co-workers or partners, ask yourself, “Where is God in this?” In being intentional, we discover how close God really is. 

Standing Tall

Now Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the sabbath. And just then there appeared a woman with a spirit that had crippled her for eighteen years. She was bent over and was quite unable to stand up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, "Woman, you are set free from your ailment." When he laid his hands on her, immediately she stood up straight and began praising God.         Luke 13:10-13     

Farmers at Work                                                 Georges Seurat

On Sunday, we will encounter the passage of the woman who has been bent over for eighteen years. She comes to the synagogue to worship, encounters Jesus, and is healed. This is one of Jesus’ lesser known miracles, but a miracle nonetheless. 

How old were you eighteen years ago? Do the math. Imagine being in some sort of pain for that long. Pain that crushes you to the point of bending you in half. And while the woman's pain is of a physical nature, your pain may be psychological. Or spiritual. Pain we carry around with us (whatever the kind) will ultimately cause us to bend. Our pains weigh us down and less able to become what God dreams for us. 

What causes you to bend? What are you carrying with you that weighs you down? Guilt? Grief? Broken relationships? Lay these burdens at the foot of the cross and allow God to carry them for you. 

And stand tall.  

Reflection and Hope

What more was there to do for my vineyard that I have not done in it?

When I expected it to yield grapes, why did it yield wild grapes?

And now I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard.

I will remove its hedge, and it shall be devoured;

I will break down its wall, and it shall be trampled down.   Isaiah 5: 4-5

Harvest             Duc De Berry    Samur, France

 

The prophet Isaiah tells the tale of his friend who worked hard at planting a new vineyard:: tilling the soil, removing the stones, planting the vines…. But, alas, when the vines finally started producing fruit, they did not produce the luscious, sweet grapes his friend had envisioned; it produced sour, wild grapes. So, vengefully, he vowed to tear it down, to let it be trampled and ultimately, be destroyed.

Life is full of disappointments. Our children may not turn out the way we hoped, or our career paths may have swerved of the beaten track. Our fortunes may have grown and then waned out of existence.  And our health, similarly. How do we deal with disappointment in our lives? How do we respond to unmet expectations?

We have two choices. We can trample down and destroy all that we have strived for, and reap bitterness and regret all our days, or we can turn and reflect and try to understand what happened, and learn from the experience. Bitterness and regret? Or reflection and hope? Where in your life do you harbor pain and bitterness? What does it cost you? And how might you leave that path behind and choose the better way?

I lift up my prayers. 

Treasure

“For where your treasure is, there your heat will be also.” Luke 12: 34

Sri Chimoy - c. 2005

Have you ever purchased something – a new car or a new brand of shoes -- and suddenly start noticing a lot more of that particular brand?  Once you’ve spent your money on a BMW or on Birkenstocks, you start seeing BMWs or Birkenstocks everywhere.  Our hearts and minds are hard wired to respond that way. I remember my first car was an Opel Kadett – never a lot of those around – but whenever I saw one, I felt like pulling the other one over and inviting the driver over for a cup of coffee.

So it is with wherever we place our treasure.  If we start donating more money to the poor, for example, we will soon start noticing the plight of the poor more acutely. If we spend a lot of our discretionary income on concert tickets, chances are, we’ll start listening to music more attentively. On designer clothes? Designer clothes.

To really discover what we treasure and where our hearts lie, we need only take a look at our credit card statements or at our checkbook registers. Where does our money go? This is what Jesus is asking his disciples this week.  Where are our hearts? On what do we spend our time, our talent, and our treasure?