Losing Our Religion

"What good is it, my brothers and sisters, if someone says he has Faith but does not have works? Can that Faith save him? If a brother or sister has nothing to wear and has no food for the day, and one of you says to them, "Go in peace, keep warm, and eat well," but you do not give them the necessities of the body, what good is it? So also Faith itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
Indeed, someone might say, "You have Faith and I have works." Demonstrate your Faith to me without works, and I will demonstrate my Faith to you FROM my works." -[ James 2: 14-18].


America is losing its religion. Marriage is down 36% since 1960. Secularism [people claiming no religious denomination and attending worship as little as once per year] is now 59%, up from 38% in 1972-1976. [Source: Charles Murray, author of "Coming Apart."]

Frankly, America-- in dropping its religion-- is flaunting a nakedness that is all too obvious.

I cringe when people tell me that the Bible is obsolete . . . .This Scripture in James points to a heated argument that is just as relevant today as it was 2,000 years ago. I have have known more than a few friends and co-workers who say, 'You can be a good person and be an atheist.' This is exactly like the person in this Scripture who says, "You have Faith and I have works."

I grew up in a household of no Faith and no charity. My family members would say, "Let those poor people get jobs. They don't WANT to work!" When I would suggest that we had enough money to give to charity, all members of my family would shout me down in unison, " WE don't GIVE the money away!!"

But, it is not all as simple as telling a guy to get a job.  Father Gregory Boyle, a priest who works in one of the most violent sections of Los Angeles, wrote a book called, "Tattoos on the Heart". He writes, "Part of the spirit dies a little, each time it's asked to carry more than its weight in terror, violence, and betrayal. . . It is a toxic shame, a global failure of the whole self."  And yet, we dare to demand that these wounded souls, who cannot even take care of themselves, go out and get and keep a job? HOW is this even possible?

My family, without Faith, had no compassion. I believe that you CAN have some compassion as a non-believer. But that faithless compassion is not deeply grounded in the poignant expressions of Jesus.

It is Jesus who says, "Love your neighbor as yourself."- [Mark 12:31].  What this means, quite simply, is that we are responsible  for each other!

It is Jesus who says, "A new command I give you:  Love one another, as I have loved you." How big is this Love? -- even to the point of a harrowing death FOR us humans, who are by very definition faulty and broken.

Not long after I began delving into Scripture in a serious way, I came across Matthew 25:31-46: "Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are family members, you did it to me. Depart from me, into the eternal fire, for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me."

And so, every time my family did not comfort my tears, but blamed me for them; every time my family did not feed me when I was hungry; every time I was thirsty for their love, but they denied me; every time I was cold and they denied me a sweater and told me that I was not cold; every time my pained, lost eyes gazed out at them from my prison of fear, but they did not comfort me --- THESE they did TO Jesus.

My aunt --and godmother-- used to say to me, " But, you are their daughter!"--This all makes me think of Mother Teresa saying, 'Don't we know that we all belong to each other?'

And so, I watch a candidate for President declaring that he will build walls to keep "those people" out. I watch a candidate saying that "those people" are all rapists and murderers and drug dealers. All the while, I hear the cries of the refugees calling, "WHY are we being treated this way?" And, I think -- How has our world become so very cruel? Beyond our saying, "Let them get jobs", are we now saying, "Let them perish"? Far from being an esoteric, archaic theological argument, this is about as real as it gets. .  .

Without our Faith and our knowledge of Scripture, we cannot possibly know how very personal this all is. Abandoning the poor, the refugee, the victims of gang culture, the sick and hungry, means abandoning Jesus -- and all of humanity.

Martin Luther King, Jr. said in the 1960's: "Injustice is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." And-- "The poor in our countries have been shut out of our kids and driven fro the mainstream of our societies because we have allowed them to become invisible."

I was once Invisible. I would not dare to do that to another human being. Being invisible is a slow kind of agonizing death.

How shallow is our Faith? How deep is our callousness?

[Related Posting: "Show Me Your Faith", Sept. 16, 2012; "The Least Among Us', November 18, 2011.]

(c) Spiritual Devotional 2015. All Rights Reserved.

The Blossoming Desert

"Thus says the Lord: Say to those whose hearts are frightened: Be strong, fear not! Here is your God, He comes with vindication; with divine recompense He comes to save you. Then will the eyes of the blind be opened, the ears of the deaf be cleared; then will the lame leap like a stag, then the tongue of the mute will sing. Streams will burst forth in the desert, and rivers in the steppe. The burning sands will become pools, and the thirsty ground, springs of water." --[Isaiah 35: 4- 7A].


I grew up in a staunchly anti-religion, anti-Catholic household. My parents were horrified when I married a Catholic man; just as disgusted as if I had declared that I wanted to marry a drug dealer or a man who beat me.

My life changed suddenly, the day my father passed away without warning, without even any prior illness. So much for doctors and diagnoses, treatments and second opinions. Was life really that abrupt? As soon as my father died, I had to move my frail, ill mother near to me. My mother, the Catholic-hater was IN my house.

My life had gone upside down. White was black, day was night, everything I had thought was true was a Lie.

I went to my pastor to seek help. We talked about my converting, since there was only one thing I knew for certain -- I HAD to draw closer to God.

And yet, the very idea of converting, right under the nose of my sacrilegious mother, totally terrified me!

I remember all this, because Isaiah 35: 4 was the exact Scripture that my pastor gave me to reflect upon: "Be strong, fear not! Here is your God."

I have to smile, looking back at all this; because, I had lived this Scripture. I guess I had always been too busy trying to raise myself up and avoid trauma; that, I had never had the luxury to reflect upon how God had saved me.

I spent a lot of time in the parish chapel during conversion, looking back upon my life, and pondering those times when God had quietly entered in and lifted me up.

I realized that my family was like the Pharisees in the story of Jesus healing the man who was born blind. My family judged others, denied the very existence of God, called believers as much as superstitious fools, and scoffed at the weak.

Jesus concludes in John 9: 39: "For judgment, I have come into the world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind."

My family was spiritually blind, but I saw. I SAW, as plain as day, that blacks were not throw-aways, but folks with dignity and soul. I SAW that the poor were not stupid or hapless, but just struggling with some awful twists of bad fortune. I saw these as plain as day. Was this God's Grace, that helped me to see ?

Whatever I said, mostly my family ignored it or laughed it off. I suggested that we give to charity and was mocked: " We don't GIVE our money away!"

My family and I developed a "mutual deafness". They did not listen to me; and I could no longer "hear" or take in their insults-- the daily verbal assaults from a sibling about how ugly I was; my sibling hitting me and my mother telling me that I needed to stop getting black-eyes, because I was embarrassing her. I lived either at school or holed up in my room. I lived in the Silence.

All, all were hemming me in. I was shutting down. I blocked out the world. I stopped speaking. I was mute.

One day, though, I was invited to sing in the church choir. I thought this was a coincidence. I thought it was because the minister was only desperate to fill slots in the choir stall.

I may have largely stopped speaking, and stopped "hearing" the ugliness around me. But, I began to sing in rehearsal. I sang in my room. I sang in the shower. I sang walking or biking to school. I could not stop hearing this music.

I sang "The First Noel". I sang "The Doxology". I sang "Faith of Our Fathers." I proudly sang in church.

All that singing made me feel like dancing. I took ballet classes. I danced all the way down the front hall of my grandparents' house. I performed water ballet at the lake. I leapt and twirled around my neighbors' expansive front lawn. In my imagination, I was a leaping unicorn, a glimmering white horse. I skipped to school.

Where my heart had been dry as a desert, God was sparking a tiny rivulet inside me. I was blossoming, despite my harsh environment.

My God had placed a glowing ember of courage in my heart. I WOULD praise him, in my singing, in my dance. I would see the Truth of who the weak and the lame and the blind really were.

And in truly seeing the weak and the lame and the blind, I would myself be healed. I would be strong.

(c) Spiritual Devotional 2015. All Rights Reserved.

Inside Out

"When the Pharisees with some scribes gathered around Jesus, they observed that some of his disciples ate their meals with unclean, that is, unwashed, hands. --For the Pharisees, and, in fact, all Jews, do not eat without carefully washing their hands, keeping the tradition of the elders.  . . And there are many other things that they have traditionally observed, the purification of cups and jugs and kettles and beds. -- So the Pharisees and scribes questioned him, 'Why do your disciples not follow the tradition of the elders but instead eat a meal with unclean hands?' He responded, 'Well did Isaiah prophesy about you hypocrites, as it is written: ' This people honors me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; . . You disregard God's commandment but cling to human tradition.'
Jesus summoned the crowd again and said to them, 'Hear me, all of you, and understand. Nothing that enters one from outside can defile that person; but the things that come out from within are what defile. From within people, from their hearts, come evil thoughts, unchastity, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, licentiousness, envy, blasphemy, arrogance, folly. All these evils come from within and they defile." --[Mark 7:1-8, 14-15, 21-23].


The Israelites, through Moses, received a litany of laws-- even beyond The Ten Commandments --
from the Lord their God. These laws protected them, and rightly so. "The Law of Moses was given to the Israelites when they were still a band of ex-slaves struggling to survive." -
[christianbiblereference.org.]

When Jesus came, He came with one New Commandment, to love one another. As St. Paul explains, in Galatians, "Now before faith came, we were held captive under the law. . So then, the law was our guardian until Christ came.. . But now that Faith has come, we are no longer subject to a disciplinarian, for in Christ Jesus you are all children of God." -[Galatians 3: 23-26].

So many times, I think that we have totally forgotten this one simple lesson, that we are ALL children of God.  In fact, Mother Teresa used to say, " If we have no peace, it is because we have forgotten that we belong to each other."

I found this out the hard way. When I was a girl, my own brother used to call me ugly every day, in excruciating detail. I was "Crooked Teeth", because I needed braces to straighten my teeth. I was "Pimple Face", because of my teen acne. I was "Eagle Beak", because of my aquiline nose. I was "The Brain", reduced to only one bodily organ, because I was a good student.

I used to get so angry at all these names. I was not so much angry because these accusations were true. I was angry because there was nothing I could do about them.

It seemed quintessentially unfair to tear me apart over something I WAS, rather than something I DID.  I vowed, through clenched teeth and tears and anger, to never pick on anyone, or judge anyone, over something they could not help. If I have done wrong, correct me. If it is about the superficial -- my nose, my skin color, my gender-- respect me, or leave me alone.

We live in a world, STILL, that runs by human rules. We "cling to human tradition." We latch onto appearances, but we forget what is in the heart.

We fear the black man, especially if he wears a hooded sweatshirt.

We revere the tall, white man with good, thick hair.

We assume women, especially attractive ones with full, flowing hair, are actually dumb.

Women paint their nails with polish, and apply makeup endlessly. But our polish contains toxic substances not regulated by the FDA, and our lipstick contains lead. We persist, thinking the cosmetics give us a big advantage in how people regard us.

Men exercise feverishly, building impressive muscles, believing this formula for strength will make them more attractive, socially and in the workplace.

I once knew a guy who just could NOT get a promotion. His work was flawless, his attendance perfect.. Men who had been employed well after him were getting promotions before him. The Truth: He was short-- and not all that handsome. What a shame.

Some folks insist that the Bible is not relevant today. Actually, we are fighting the same battles today, as Jesus did in Biblical times.

We have our biases still about what practices are "acceptable", about what practices will "protect" us, and will allow us to thrive -- the designer clothes, the fancy imported car, the handsome children, the huge mansion, the "right education", the executive title.

But, Jesus does not care about human convention.

We all have the capacity to burnish ourselves on the outside, but to give in to evil, greed, malice, deceit, envy, blasphemy, folly on the inside. We can have a beautiful exterior package, but a rotten core. Jesus makes his disdain clear, 'You hypocrites are far from me.'

Jesus turns our world on its head-- He turns us inside out, to reveal our hearts. He wants to know, not how much convention do we have on the Outside, but how much Love do we have on the Inside?

[Related Postings: "Clinging To Human Rules", Sept. 4, 2012; "The ABC's of Love",  April 27, 2013.]

(c) Spiritual Devotional 2015. All Rights Reserved.

Husbands and Wives

" Brothers and sisters: Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is head of his wife, just as Christ is head of the church, he himself the savior of the body. As the church is subordinate to Christ, so wives should be subordinate to their husbands in everything.
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and handed Himself over to her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath water with the Word, that He might present to Himself the church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. So also, husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one hates his own flesh but rather nourishes and cherishes it, even as Christ does the church, because we are members of His body. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a great mystery, but I speak in reference to Christ and the church." --[ Ephesians 5: 21-32].



There is a dangerous trend today of folks taking a few particular Biblical verses out of context, and using those isolated words to reject the whole of the Catholic/Christian church. The deacon who taught my Biblical School class last year used to say, "Learn and understand what the Catholic Church teaches, before you reject Her."

BEFORE we even get to the part where this Scripture that says, "Wives should be subordinate to their husbands", the very first command in this Scripture states: "Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ."   What this means to me is, in everyday relationships, and in marital relationships, forget the power struggle! So husbands, this statement, that wives should be subordinate to you, does not mean you have won some sort of battle of the sexes.

This Scripture goes on to say that the husband is head of his wife, just as Christ is head of the Church; BUT, that the husband must love his wife just as much as he loves his own body. In other words, the wife and husband are as one body.

And, the Scripture says, the husband loves his wife, even as Christ loved the Church and handed Himself over for to sanctify her. A husband's love for his wife is to be so deep that he sacrifices himself in body for her, keeps her in splendor, without spot or blemish, keeps her holy, and nourishes and cherishes her.

With husband is like Jesus, and the wife like the Church, is there anything that "Jesus" will not do for His "Church"?  No, Jesus is even willing to suffer and die for Her. Because Jesus and the Church are One.

The husband is so in communion with the wife, that he even leaves behind his own father and mother, and becomes one flesh with his wife.

There is a great mystery in this union, something so unexplainable, so perfect, so holy and sacred -- that we call it the Sacrament of Marriage. Being so holy and sacred, there is nothing that can separate such a husband and wife, not even death.

This is why the "casual hook-up" is so anathema to Christians. Saying, "I will live with you, but only until the rent gets too high for me, or until you will stop leaving your socks on the floor" -- won't cut it.

My own family called themselves Christian, but did not understand marriage. I remember when I went home to tell my mother that I was going to marry my soul mate, and my parents were horrified --because he is Catholic. They said, "Can't you marry someone else? Why don't you date others?"- and, "You cannot marry a Catholic because, then, you can never get a divorce."  My mother even asked me to "explain" what I saw in him?

At the time, I thought that would be like trying to explain the punch line to a joke. But it is even more deep and ephemeral than that. WHAT do I see in him? -- It is nothing in particular. It is everything.

It is like trying to explain the relationship between Jesus and the Church. It is like trying to explain God. You cannot. Can you?

How can I explain how I know exactly when my husband needs another cup of coffee? I hand him the cup and he stares at me, astonished, saying, "HOW did you know?"   How can I explain how, when I walk in feeling defeated, my husband says to me, "You need a hug!" How can I explain how I will hand my husband a tissue, even before he sneezes?

We have been married so long and are in such communion, that we look at spouses who live and work and travel apart, and we shake our heads. Neither one of us could live very long without the other. The times when we have been forced apart by circumstances have felt to me like I had had my right arm cut off.

It is beyond me how or why people criticize that. Isn't that what we humans long for our whole lives, to be in unconditional, spiritual and eternal commitment with someone? The only thing better than that is to be in communion with God.

In fact, just as husbands and wives are one body, so are Jesus and the Church. All of these relationships-- husband/wife, Jesus/Church--  point our way to God --- which is why, the mystical relationship between a husband and wife is a little bit of Heaven on earth.

(c) Spiritual Devotional 2015. All Rights Reserved.

Bread Is Life

" Brothers and sisters: Watch carefully how you live, not as foolish persons but as wise, making the most of the opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore, do  not continue in ignorance, but try to understand what is the will of the Lord. And do not get drunk on wine, in which lies debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and playing to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks always and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God the Father.' --[Ephesians 5: 15-20.]

Paul preached in Ephesus, a place where early Christians were working in great diligence to spread The Word and show their love of Christ. But, Paul chides Christians in Ephesus: " But I have this against you, that you have abandoned the Love you had at first." -[Revelation 2:4].

I have worked very hard to be a good Christian. My Faith has unfolded like a beautiful flower, budding up, then slowly unfurling in splendor.

This process has captivated some. Christian friends have said that I am "transforming before their very eyes."  I smile more, I am more confident, I even experience Joy now!

But, this "born-again" process - and it IS a process-- is painstaking and even painful. I tend to think of being "born-again" as going through a birth tunnel, except we are adults, and we can feel every bit of pain. Certainly, I don't understand how anyone could go through this process alone, without Faith and without God!

This process goes through stages. I remember when a dear friend gave me my first Bible, when I was already an adult, married and a mother. So many of the things that my family had taught me, that I had this nagging feeling were wrong, wrong and more wrong -- were corrected simply and beautifully in Scripture.

I was told as a child to wear only certain colors- - I read Matthew 6: 28, wide-eyed, soothing me with the words, " Why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow."

I was told that we alone as humans are responsible for ourselves. That People who think there IS a God to rely on are weak and useless. I read Matthew 10: 29 with a softened heart: "Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the gound outside your Father's care"

I used to read Scripture so eagerly. I could not get enough of the Truth. I so desperately wanted to set my thinking right. I used to hide my Bible under my desk at work, and if I was having a bad moment, I would read and memorize certain passages.

 I used to go to the chapel daily and sit before the Tabernacle, pouring out my troubles to the Lord and praising Him for all the blessings in my life.

It is not as if I feel that I am complete in my Faith now. Far from it.

But, I am in a different stage now. I am a "doing Christian." Whereas I started out as a "being Christian". I now run around diligently, helping others, writing about the Word, serving at my church.

All of this is good, very good. But the message to Ephesus in Revelation 2 really resonates with me. It is as if that burning Love that I had at first, as a Christian, has faded.

There is a tendency in all of us Christians today, to be indifferent. This is the greatest danger to our Church today!

We DO mostly the right things. But how often do I slow down to simply thank God, to ask for His Counsel, to "try to understand what is the will of the Lord"?  --[Ephesians 5].

The Bread of Life is not "being diligent". In a way, it is even more than simply believing. Both of these -- Faith and diligence-- can easily wear thin!

The Bread of Life is to seek Jesus. To love Him with all of our hearts and minds and souls.

The Bread of Life is to watch carefully how we live, seeking the Spirit, which advocates what Jesus taught us -- joy, patience, self-control, kindness, peace, goodness, generosity, modesty, faithfulness, charity, gentleness.

{I notice that these are states of Being, not acts of doing!}

The Bread of Life means "not continuing in ignorance", not being afraid to delve into the Bible to learn the Truth about how to be modest, peaceful, patient, etc.

The Bread of Life means giving thanks, always, for what you DO have, not complaining about what you don't have!

The Bread of Life is Jesus Himself. Seek Him.

Banish The Fury

" Brothers and sisters:  Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, with which you were sealed for the day of redemption. All bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, and reviling must be removed from you, along with all malice. And be kind to one another, compassionate, forgiving one another as God has forgiven you in Christ. So, be imitators of God, as beloved children, and live in love, as Christ loved us and handed Himself over for us, as a sacrificial offering to God." -- [Ephesians 4:20 - 5:2].

I once told the story of my cruel childhood to a priest. He shook his head grimly, at the litany of abuses-- black eyes; mysterious infections for which I was blamed; the times starting at age five when I had to find food on my own because my father said to my mother, "Do NOT feed her"; the times my mother told me to stop crying or she would give me something TO cry about, so I stopped speaking up when others hurt me; the time when I was about four when I nearly drowned in a neighbor's pool, and I KNEW it was happening as I watched my air bubbles floating up and away.

The priest said to me, "But WHERE is the anger?"

I did used to get angry when I was two and three. When I was two, I had taken my brother's verbal abuse all day long. Finally, around late afternoon, I threw a wooden bowl of nuts at his head. I froze, as the nuts scattered all over the tile floor and the bowl clattered down and bounced. But the adults laughed. I began to think of anger as my secret weapon, something that I could get away with, even with adults in attendance.

But, very quickly, this impulsive strategy began to backfire. When I was about age three, if my brother was mean to me, I would stomp my feet, and cry and scream. He thought that was hilarious, so he would torment me all the more. The neighborhood kids would witness this, and they would laugh as well. Soon, it became a game for them all, to escalate the torment until I would run screaming, all the way home.

Gradually, I learned that the abuse and the torment were about the abuser. The anger was about ME--- and I was finding, sadly, that my anger would not stop the abuse.

Over the years in that home, I started to shut down various "systems" -- experimenting with not showing anger, not feeling any emotion, not sleeping so that I could remain vigilant, not speaking, and finally not eating.

But the hoped-for result never came to pass-- the abuse never went away. I became a "ghost".

I decided that I would spend as much time, elsewhere, as I could -- in school, at the neighbor's house, at dance lessons, in my room reading. OR, I would do what I could to make things more peaceful in our home -- setting the table, sewing and mending, weeding the garden.

By the time I was thirteen, I was saving my money to get out. By the time I was 18, I decided to leave an "escape kit" at a girlfriend's house. I had substituted strategy for anger.

I would certainly never recommend abuse as a good way to wean yourself off Anger. It is way too harsh a path.

But by and large, I do not get "screaming angry" any longer. Oh, when I was a new and inexperienced mother, I would shout at my toddler son. Everything as a mom seemed so urgent and dangerous. One day, I shouted at my son, and then, after I had calmed down, I asked him if he had heard what I was saying. He said, "No, Mommy. All I heard was the shouting."

I have never forgotten that.

We must leave aside all bitterness, fury, anger, shouting, malice and reviling.  The more we shout and blame and hate, the more our critical message of love and compassion becomes lost.

I never wasted my time descending into hatred for my family. Their souls were already deadened.  That would only kill my own soul, as well. I did the best I could to stay calm and loving. Then I left home. Today, I work to uplift and advocate for the poor and the forgotten. I am not angry, I am resolved.

St. Paul wrote these words centuries ago. They are as relevant today as when they were written. If we wallow in anger and hatred, then anger and hatred win. Nothing ever gets fixed. No Love ever reigns supreme. Compassion dies on the vine.

Be kind to one another. Compassionate. Forgive one another. Be beloved children. Live in Love.

Anger reinforces evil. Love conquers all.

(c) Spiritual Devotional 2015. All Rights Reserved.

Bread Is Not Power

" Jesus said, 'Do not work for food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life.'  So, the crowd said to Him, 'What can we do to accomplish the works of God?' Jesus said to them, 'This is the work of God, that you believe in the One He sent.'  So they said to Him, 'What sign can you do, that we may see and believe in You? What can You do?'  Jesus said, 'My Father gives you the true bread from Heaven. For the bread of God is that which comes down from Heaven and gives life to the world.'  So they said to Him, 'Sir, give us this bread always.'  Jesus said to them, 'I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst.' " --[ John 6: 24-35].

In the Old Testament, God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. The Lord told Moses, 'If you love me, you will follow my Commandments.'  Pages upon pages of more detailed rules were delineated in Leviticus and Deuteronomy.  It has been estimated that there are 613 commandments in all.

When Jesus came, the crowd in this passage asked, 'What can we DO to accomplish the works of God?'

We see the roots of this anxiety over work, and our temptations towards status from achievements, early in Jesus' ministry. In Matthew 4: 8, " the devil took Jesus to a very high mountain and showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. 'All this I will give You', he said, 'if you will bow down and worship me.' Jesus said, 'Away from me Satan! For it is written, 'Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only.' "

I was raised in a family that believed that following certain rules would ensure success and wealth. I was to eat only nutritious food,  never sugar or salt, to make me stronger.  I was to attend certain schools. I was to achieve only top grades. If I received an A-, my mother would say, "Next time, it WILL be an A".

I was to wear my hair a certain way, not too long and not too short. I was to wear only "power colors" such as red and blue. Brown was for losers, yellow was for cowards.

My father truly believed that he was better than the neighbors because his lawn was greener and thicker, and our home was better maintained. He believed that he was better than the neighbor who sold hardware out of the trunk of his car, or the neighbor who painted houses for a living. After all, my father WAS a banker, wasn't that a whole lot more prestigious?

But it did not take long for me to become deeply suspicious of power. I was the baby and the only daughter in the family. But I had no power. Some days, I went to school with black eyes. Some afternoons, my brother booby-trapped my room with raw eggs in shell. Most nights, I stayed up until
everyone was asleep, to keep myself safe in my bed.

After awhile, I no longer wanted what my family could DO. I wanted how they could love. And yet, they did not love.

When I left home, for university, I was beginning to realize that works, or power, were things that could easily be abused.  Power could become a means of aggrandizing oneself to the detriment, and even to the harm, of others. Worshipping one's own works could mean jealousy, bitter factions, intolerance, abuse and cruelty.

In university, I read "To The Lighthouse", by Virginia Woolf. The section entitled  "Time Passes" changed my perceptions utterly. This middle section of the book details the gradual erosion and ultimate destruction of a home, simply by inexorable decay from the passage of time.

I saw with dismay that nothing that man can do or produce will last forever. Our works, our power, are ultimately power-LESS.

Virginia Woolf seeks something that can be lasting. She finds this in Art.

I find this in Love. The work of God IS Love, through our belief in the One whom God sent to us. His Son.

Today, I work for God, and I work to give His Love to others. I find that I finally have power, but it is way more power than I could ever have myself. I know full well that it is God's power! I am only borrowing it.

Two friends, who were formerly Lost Boys, ask me to help them in their ministry to their village back home. I say, "God, You better send someone with the knowledge of what to do." In short order, I meet  a woman who has started her own foundation. She is willing to teach my friends what they need to know.

My donation basket at my church, where women donate hand-made hats and scarves for the homeless, is empty. I say, "God, how can I get more items for the shelter? They really need a way to stay warm in winter."  The next time I check, the basket is full!

Is something mystical happening? I believe so. I believe in the power of  Jesus and His Love, to give life to the world.

I believe that Jesus is the bread of life, and that whoever comes to Him will never hunger and will never thirst.

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