"As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon Peter and his brother Andrew. 'Come, follow me,' Jesus said, 'and I will make you fishers of men.'
Going on from there, he saw two brothers, James, son of Zebedee and his brother John. . . . Jesus called them, and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him." [Matthew 4:12-21]
Imagine that; hearing the invitation of Jesus, immediately dropping one's livelihood and even leaving one's father and following him?
We might say, Okay, things were different then. What was the hard life of being a fisherman, compared to following Jesus, becoming one of his apostles?
Even today, though, we are called to follow Jesus, his Way, his Truth. But HOW?
Maybe you will be called to refrain from gossiping, to refuse the temptation of judging others? Maybe you will be called to maintain your integrity on the job, while all around you others are siphoning off office supplies for themselves, or fudging their time cards? Maybe you will be called to offer the olive branch of peace to your brother or sister, when you were not the one to start the fight or to let the battle descend into verbal abuse?
Maybe you will be called to refuse to take sides in a couple's ugly separation or divorce? Maybe you will be called to love even the most hateful people in your life, even though they refused to stand in the receiving line at your wedding, because you married a Catholic?
Maybe you will be called to be faithful to God's Way, over your parents' way?
Are you willing to choose God over your parents? And how immediately, how unhesitatingly, would you be able you make this choice?
It is hard to be a Christian. It requires sometimes radical choices, as radical as dropping one's net, leaving behind one's father's ways, and putting Jesus first!
(c) The Spiritual Devotional 2011. All Rights Reserved.
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Saturday, January 22, 2011
The Word
"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the word was God." [John 1:1]
This sentence is one of the most famous in the Bible. It begins John's version of the Creation. Notice that in John's version, the Word comes before the heavens, the stars and the earth which God reportedly made first in Genesis 1:1. Over the centuries, people have speculated that the Word means, God's law, or a rational universe, or Jesus.
Have you seen the interview with Maya Angelou that recently aired on the Oprah Winfrey Network? Maya quotes, "In the beginning was the Word." To her, "Words are Things, that permeate the walls, the wallpaper, the furniture, the carpets." They can wound your soul, they can break your spirit.
When Maya was six, her mother's boyfriend molested her. She told someone who did this to her. The man was arrested. The next thing she knew, the police came to her house and reported that the man had died from being kicked.
Maya "knew", in her child's logic, that her words had killed this man. She stopped speaking.
When I was about ten, I stopped speaking, a conscious choice that lasted for about five years. I had given up on humanity, literally given up on people and on their human-ness, their ability to reassure me, to console me, understand me, tend to my needs. I absented myself from human contact by withdrawing into silence.
But my verbal development did not lag. I sat in my room reading voraciously. Like Maya, when I speak, it is as if you are "hearing" a book.
God is The Master of Irony. He is the source of our Redemption, our second chances. I did begin to speak again. Now I have this forum, a place where together, we can communicate, pray, reflect, meditate!
God, let my words be ones of hope, not despair; of love, not hate; of peace, not strife; of courage, not fear! For the Word is with You. The Word IS you! My words are precious gifts, like jewels. Let me bestow them carefully, lovingly.
(c) The Spiritual Devotional 2011. All Rights Reserved.
This sentence is one of the most famous in the Bible. It begins John's version of the Creation. Notice that in John's version, the Word comes before the heavens, the stars and the earth which God reportedly made first in Genesis 1:1. Over the centuries, people have speculated that the Word means, God's law, or a rational universe, or Jesus.
Have you seen the interview with Maya Angelou that recently aired on the Oprah Winfrey Network? Maya quotes, "In the beginning was the Word." To her, "Words are Things, that permeate the walls, the wallpaper, the furniture, the carpets." They can wound your soul, they can break your spirit.
When Maya was six, her mother's boyfriend molested her. She told someone who did this to her. The man was arrested. The next thing she knew, the police came to her house and reported that the man had died from being kicked.
Maya "knew", in her child's logic, that her words had killed this man. She stopped speaking.
When I was about ten, I stopped speaking, a conscious choice that lasted for about five years. I had given up on humanity, literally given up on people and on their human-ness, their ability to reassure me, to console me, understand me, tend to my needs. I absented myself from human contact by withdrawing into silence.
But my verbal development did not lag. I sat in my room reading voraciously. Like Maya, when I speak, it is as if you are "hearing" a book.
God is The Master of Irony. He is the source of our Redemption, our second chances. I did begin to speak again. Now I have this forum, a place where together, we can communicate, pray, reflect, meditate!
God, let my words be ones of hope, not despair; of love, not hate; of peace, not strife; of courage, not fear! For the Word is with You. The Word IS you! My words are precious gifts, like jewels. Let me bestow them carefully, lovingly.
(c) The Spiritual Devotional 2011. All Rights Reserved.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Martin Luther King
This year is the 20th anniversary of the celebration of Martin Luther King Day as a national holiday.
I truly hope that Martin Luther King Day does not become another holiday like Veteran's Day which has become a day to shop the pre-season sales for winter coats. Or like Presidents' Day, which has become a day to shop for mattresses and new cars.
Martin Luther King was from an upper middle class family. But, being a black man, he had to ride in the back of the bus.
He was educated at Morehouse College. But he could not sit at the lunch counter at Woolworth's and be served a sandwich and a cup of coffee.
He was a minister of his own church in Atlanta. But for protesting segregation, he received death threats and was once stabbed in the chest. This, before he was assassinated in Memphis.
As a clergy member, he knew that he was right as a matter of Scripture. God shows no partiality (Romans 2:11).
He knew as a matter of the Constitution that "all men are created equal".
In matters of the heart, he said, "If I am stopped, this movement will not stop, because God is with the movement."
He also said "We have no alternative but to protest." He declared that he would not be patient with "anything less than freedom and justice."
God, grant me the vision to discern the Truth, and the COURAGE to speak the Truth. Let me never shrink from fighting for freedom for all of Your children!
[For further reflection on the significance of the life of Martin Luther King, read my January 16, 2012 posting entitled, "Remembering Martin Luther King".]
(c) The Spiritual Devotional 2011. All Rights Reserved.
I truly hope that Martin Luther King Day does not become another holiday like Veteran's Day which has become a day to shop the pre-season sales for winter coats. Or like Presidents' Day, which has become a day to shop for mattresses and new cars.
Martin Luther King was from an upper middle class family. But, being a black man, he had to ride in the back of the bus.
He was educated at Morehouse College. But he could not sit at the lunch counter at Woolworth's and be served a sandwich and a cup of coffee.
He was a minister of his own church in Atlanta. But for protesting segregation, he received death threats and was once stabbed in the chest. This, before he was assassinated in Memphis.
As a clergy member, he knew that he was right as a matter of Scripture. God shows no partiality (Romans 2:11).
He knew as a matter of the Constitution that "all men are created equal".
In matters of the heart, he said, "If I am stopped, this movement will not stop, because God is with the movement."
He also said "We have no alternative but to protest." He declared that he would not be patient with "anything less than freedom and justice."
God, grant me the vision to discern the Truth, and the COURAGE to speak the Truth. Let me never shrink from fighting for freedom for all of Your children!
[For further reflection on the significance of the life of Martin Luther King, read my January 16, 2012 posting entitled, "Remembering Martin Luther King".]
(c) The Spiritual Devotional 2011. All Rights Reserved.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Called To Be Holy
"Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. . . ." 1 Corinthians:1-3
As I read the above Scripture, I hope with all my heart, at first, that it is someone extraordinary like Paul, who is called to be holy! Surely, God, you do not mean ME?!!
How can I be holy? I get angry with my son; when my faith seems to evaporate, I fall into fear and despair; sometimes I tell "little white lies" and I try to justify that by saying I am only trying to spare someone's feelings. If someone is evil against me, I want to lash back, to do it right back to them.
Fr. Richard Rohr says, "Jesus does not define holiness as separation from evil, as much as absorption and transformation of it. [Rohr, Fr. Richard, http://www.cacradicalgrace.org/]
When I look back at my difficult life growing up, I realize that I DID absorb evil! In my circumstances, as the baby in the family, I could not fight back against the mistreatment and trauma by utilizing brute force. I had no power. In my childish mind, it seemed the best equation to counter all the negative forces coming at me was to reflect back love, humility, peace. It seemed to me that if I countered all the negatives with more anger, I would become bitter and angry inside, I would perhaps unleash an even greater family conflict and I would not survive.
What started out as a strategy of self-preservation became an outlook of love! I decided as a matter of affirmation that I would not let strife, anger, hatred etc. overtake me and rule my heart.
Years later, I discovered that this attitude is the basis of the Prayer of St. Francis: "Make me a channel of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me bring your love. . . ."
And this is what Jesus embodied. The greatest single weapon against all the evil in the world is not the firepower of war or hate, or anger or blackmail or persecution or physical assault or pride etc.
The greatest weapons against evil are peace, acceptance, forgiveness, tolerance, humility and even joy!
In other words, LOVE.
(c) The Spiritual Devotional 2011. All Rights Reserved.
As I read the above Scripture, I hope with all my heart, at first, that it is someone extraordinary like Paul, who is called to be holy! Surely, God, you do not mean ME?!!
How can I be holy? I get angry with my son; when my faith seems to evaporate, I fall into fear and despair; sometimes I tell "little white lies" and I try to justify that by saying I am only trying to spare someone's feelings. If someone is evil against me, I want to lash back, to do it right back to them.
Fr. Richard Rohr says, "Jesus does not define holiness as separation from evil, as much as absorption and transformation of it. [Rohr, Fr. Richard, http://www.cacradicalgrace.org/]
When I look back at my difficult life growing up, I realize that I DID absorb evil! In my circumstances, as the baby in the family, I could not fight back against the mistreatment and trauma by utilizing brute force. I had no power. In my childish mind, it seemed the best equation to counter all the negative forces coming at me was to reflect back love, humility, peace. It seemed to me that if I countered all the negatives with more anger, I would become bitter and angry inside, I would perhaps unleash an even greater family conflict and I would not survive.
What started out as a strategy of self-preservation became an outlook of love! I decided as a matter of affirmation that I would not let strife, anger, hatred etc. overtake me and rule my heart.
Years later, I discovered that this attitude is the basis of the Prayer of St. Francis: "Make me a channel of your peace. Where there is hatred, let me bring your love. . . ."
And this is what Jesus embodied. The greatest single weapon against all the evil in the world is not the firepower of war or hate, or anger or blackmail or persecution or physical assault or pride etc.
The greatest weapons against evil are peace, acceptance, forgiveness, tolerance, humility and even joy!
In other words, LOVE.
(c) The Spiritual Devotional 2011. All Rights Reserved.
Thursday, January 13, 2011
The Power of Friendship
In the news today, Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, shot in the head by a gunman in Tuscon on January 8, 2010, has made remarkable strides. In her hospital room, her husband held her hand. Her friends, two Congresswomen, were visiting her. They encouraged her, 'C'mon, Gabby, you can do this!' They reminisced about going out for pizza together and vacationing in New England last summer.
Gradually, Rep. Giffords opened one eye. Amazed at what they saw, her friends and husband urged her to give them a thumbs up if she understood what they were saying. She lifted her entire arm!
Rep. Giffords' doctor diagnosed this amazing progress as the result of The Power of Friendship.
Or how about Ted Williams, the man with The Golden Voice. The back story on that is that a reporter had seen him on the street, holding a sign. The reporter passed by. But, troubled by what he saw-- and intrigued-- he went back! The reporter downloaded video to YouTube. Now Ted Williams has a place to live, job offers are streaming in and he is getting the help he needs for substance abuse.
I come from a dysfunctional family. How many times have I felt alone and in despair?!!!
When I was away at school, I was the victim of a horrendous crime. I almost died that day, but for whatever reason, I am still here!
I had no family helping me to recover from my wounds and get the help I so desperately needed. I cried out to God, "I will never again trust human beings! The only Person in my life is You!" Soon I got my answer to this plea. My classmates mobilized to help. I slept on their couches or on mattresses thrown on the floor. They gave me meals and shared their class notes. I graduated top half of my class! God would not let me be alone. He would not let me fail.
When I moved into my current neighborhood, a neighbor would say hello to me every day when she saw me. I was shy and deeply wounded from my past traumas. It had become far safer for me to be invisible. Who WAS this woman and why was she bothering me?! I barely acknowledged her. I wasn't being rude. I was scared.
But she persisted and finally I said hello back. She is now one of my best friends. She would not give up on me.
This is the Power of Friendship, the power to transform others, to save others. Really, this is the Power of Love.
What does it take to tap into this Power? Start by saying hello. . . .
(c) The Spiritual Devotional 2011. All Rights Reserved.
Gradually, Rep. Giffords opened one eye. Amazed at what they saw, her friends and husband urged her to give them a thumbs up if she understood what they were saying. She lifted her entire arm!
Rep. Giffords' doctor diagnosed this amazing progress as the result of The Power of Friendship.
Or how about Ted Williams, the man with The Golden Voice. The back story on that is that a reporter had seen him on the street, holding a sign. The reporter passed by. But, troubled by what he saw-- and intrigued-- he went back! The reporter downloaded video to YouTube. Now Ted Williams has a place to live, job offers are streaming in and he is getting the help he needs for substance abuse.
I come from a dysfunctional family. How many times have I felt alone and in despair?!!!
When I was away at school, I was the victim of a horrendous crime. I almost died that day, but for whatever reason, I am still here!
I had no family helping me to recover from my wounds and get the help I so desperately needed. I cried out to God, "I will never again trust human beings! The only Person in my life is You!" Soon I got my answer to this plea. My classmates mobilized to help. I slept on their couches or on mattresses thrown on the floor. They gave me meals and shared their class notes. I graduated top half of my class! God would not let me be alone. He would not let me fail.
When I moved into my current neighborhood, a neighbor would say hello to me every day when she saw me. I was shy and deeply wounded from my past traumas. It had become far safer for me to be invisible. Who WAS this woman and why was she bothering me?! I barely acknowledged her. I wasn't being rude. I was scared.
But she persisted and finally I said hello back. She is now one of my best friends. She would not give up on me.
This is the Power of Friendship, the power to transform others, to save others. Really, this is the Power of Love.
What does it take to tap into this Power? Start by saying hello. . . .
(c) The Spiritual Devotional 2011. All Rights Reserved.
Wednesday, January 12, 2011
Haiti Remembered
On January 12, 2010, a 7.0 magnitude earthquake hit Haiti. That was one year ago today.
I did a double take when I read that it has been only one year since the devastation hit. Doesn't it seem that the earthquake happened much longer ago? Maybe it's because Haiti has been the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere for most of its history.
Every school child has been taught that in 1492, Christopher Columbus discovered America. I did not realize that in 1492, he also discovered Haiti!
Columbus claimed it for Spain, but at various times, Haiti has been under the control of the French, who imported 1/3d of all African slaves to work its plantations; and even for a time under the control of the United States, mostly to impose financial stability in order to recover on bad debt. Only in recent time has Haiti been independent. And they have struggled mightily.
Do you ask, in this time of terrorism, poverty and shocking crime in our own country, WHY should we help Haiti?! Do you feel "guilted" into helping?
Jesus said, Whatever you do unto the least of my brothers, you do unto me.
Can we now enter Haiti, not out of self interest as the Western nations historically did? Not out of "survivor guilt"?
Now: Can we enter Haiti simply out of love for humankind?
(c) The Spiritual Devotional 2011. All Rights Reserved.
I did a double take when I read that it has been only one year since the devastation hit. Doesn't it seem that the earthquake happened much longer ago? Maybe it's because Haiti has been the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere for most of its history.
Every school child has been taught that in 1492, Christopher Columbus discovered America. I did not realize that in 1492, he also discovered Haiti!
Columbus claimed it for Spain, but at various times, Haiti has been under the control of the French, who imported 1/3d of all African slaves to work its plantations; and even for a time under the control of the United States, mostly to impose financial stability in order to recover on bad debt. Only in recent time has Haiti been independent. And they have struggled mightily.
Do you ask, in this time of terrorism, poverty and shocking crime in our own country, WHY should we help Haiti?! Do you feel "guilted" into helping?
Jesus said, Whatever you do unto the least of my brothers, you do unto me.
Can we now enter Haiti, not out of self interest as the Western nations historically did? Not out of "survivor guilt"?
Now: Can we enter Haiti simply out of love for humankind?
(c) The Spiritual Devotional 2011. All Rights Reserved.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Prayers for Tucson
On January 8, 2011, Congressional Representative Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona was shot in the head by a young man. Six others were shot and killed by this man, including a nine year old girl who went to the supermarket "Town Meeting" to witness politics in action.
There has been heated debate in Arizona over immigration reform. In March of this year, a glass window to Giffords' office was smashed in an act of vandalism, after passage of the Federal healthcare reform law which Rep. Giffords supported.
Her Republican challenger in the last election was quoted at a fundraiser as urging his followers to remove Giffords from office by joining him in firing an M-16 rifle (!!!)
I am ashamed to say that one of my first questions was, Is this Rep. Giffords a Republican or a Democrat?
DOES IT MATTER? As Rep. Boehner was quoted as saying, This is an attack on us all.
In this, one of the freest countries in the world, a healthy debate is welcomed. But I did not think we would ever again engage in what amounts to a war over caring for The Least Among Us.
In case you are quick to pass judgment, or to try to guess which side I am on, there are also reports that this shooter is struggling with mental instability.
Do we have it in our hearts to forgive his mental anguish?
A dear friend reminds me that there is a huge difference between justice (needing to be right) and mercy (showing compassion).
God, I pray for an abundance of compassion all around.
(c) The Spiritual Devotional 2011. All Rights Reserved.
There has been heated debate in Arizona over immigration reform. In March of this year, a glass window to Giffords' office was smashed in an act of vandalism, after passage of the Federal healthcare reform law which Rep. Giffords supported.
Her Republican challenger in the last election was quoted at a fundraiser as urging his followers to remove Giffords from office by joining him in firing an M-16 rifle (!!!)
I am ashamed to say that one of my first questions was, Is this Rep. Giffords a Republican or a Democrat?
DOES IT MATTER? As Rep. Boehner was quoted as saying, This is an attack on us all.
In this, one of the freest countries in the world, a healthy debate is welcomed. But I did not think we would ever again engage in what amounts to a war over caring for The Least Among Us.
In case you are quick to pass judgment, or to try to guess which side I am on, there are also reports that this shooter is struggling with mental instability.
Do we have it in our hearts to forgive his mental anguish?
A dear friend reminds me that there is a huge difference between justice (needing to be right) and mercy (showing compassion).
God, I pray for an abundance of compassion all around.
(c) The Spiritual Devotional 2011. All Rights Reserved.
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