Becoming what we love

 I’m somebody who constantly wants to challenge himself, evolve, and grow. Because if you don’t, you fade. You become stagnant. –CM Punk

 

We have been through some unpleasant times over the past four years. What should have been repeated opportunities to work together and become stronger, instead devolved into a season of juvenile behaviors, of name-calling and trying to prove how right we are, and how wrong they are—even if it means lying as we do so.

It’s been harrowing, and it’s been ugly.

You remember that old saying: You are what you eat? In other words, eat healthy, become healthy. Eat junk. . . .

This theory applies to so much more than food. It applies to what we read, what we watch on television, whom we follow on Facebook. If we are not careful, in our efforts to discredit others, we become as nasty, ugly and angry as the one with whom we disagree.

Nothing good will ever come of such stuff. How can we become love, while preaching hatred? How can we hope to shine light in the world when our lips spew words of darkness? How can we emulate the Christ by mocking those whom he loves?

Lent is that season every year when we try, for forty days, to change our lives by giving something up. 

This year, I challenge you to give up unkind words, to strive to understand those who look and believe differently that you do. 

Change the world by changing yourself.

 

Monday Start the week with silence. Spend some time listening to God. What are you hearing that might be uncomfortable? Genesis 17:1-2

Tuesday What programs do you regularly watch on television? How do you receive these programs in your spirit (or do you)? Genesis 17:3-7

Wednesday Today, if you leave your house, be deliberate in speaking kind words to others. Listen and watch how they respond. Reflect on how being deliberately kind changes the way you feel. Psalm 22:23-26

Thursday Have you written a love letter lately? Offer written words of Love to someone you haven’t see for a while. Psalm 22:27-31

Friday Kindness and love extend to all of Creation. Do something kind for wildlife today. Be creative as you find ways to make the whole world a little kinder. Mark 8:31-38

Saturday As you pray for yourself today, offer your words to God. This week, have your kind words been stronger than your less kind words? Romans 4:13-15

Sunday Celebrate God’s grace. Remember: there is nothing you can do to make God love you any less (or more)! Romans 4:16-25


What’s dangerous is not to evolve. –Jeff Bezos

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Spiritual dehydration

  Inside myself is a place where I live all alone, and that is where I renew my springs that never dry up. –Pearl S. Buck   The past two years (at least) have been exhausting, haven’t they? We had a pandemic that physically left us anxious and afraid. Our churches, where we go for nourishment, were closed or online longer than we wanted—and even now, we are careful. Politically, we have been divided against one another, and those wounds are still bleeding in many cases. We need to take care of ourselves. And it’s never been more difficult. What to do? How do I make time in our busy schedules—for me ? The simple answer: Whatever it takes. Remember when we would fly to a vacation destination? How the flight attendant would remind us that if the cabin loses pressure, the oxygen masks would drop down out of the ceiling? And that before we offer to help anyone else, we need to have our own masks in place ? Good advice for life in general. Today: Pause. Take inventory ...
Read more

What are you waiting for?

  The waiting is the hardest part. –Tom Petty   We spend a lot of time waiting. Waiting for the coffee to finish dripping. Waiting for the light to turn green. Waiting for the next available agent. It’s inevitable, really. We cannot always be first, and if we aren’t first, we’ll have to wait. But I think the more important thing is to ask yourself: How am I at waiting? Do I find myself getting anxious and fidgety? Am I worrying about things not going the way I really need them to go? Is my attitude rubbing off on people around me? The best way to wait is not to worry where we are in line, or gripe about wasted time. The best way to wait—is to be right there , in the moment of waiting. The disciples waited in fear; we wait in hope. Why not use this waiting time to pray? Welcome God’s presence into your heart. Ask God to bring you into the moment. Inquire what God would ask of you in this moment . Thank God for wisdom, patience, humor. . . . Take a d-e...
Read more

Don't be afraid.

Living is a great deal more than simply not dying. It is carrying out a mission, committing oneself to fashion some meaning that will attain eternity. –Leonardo Boff When asked, “What are you afraid of?” we offer a myriad of answers: snakes, spiders, flying in an airplane. But when pressed, many people, believers and non-believers alike, will admit that the one thing they fear most, at the core of their being, is death. Most of us enjoy having control over our lives, and frankly, we have very little control over, or way of knowing, how or when our earthly journey will end. And we have even fewer concrete answers about what will happen next. We have the profession of our faith and the occasional “crossing-over” story—but. No wonder death is near the top of that list. But sometimes, as I look around, it seems like people are less fearful about dying—and more afraid of living. Really cutting loose and enjoying our time together as human beings privileged to live in God’s am...
Read more