Don't Short Change Yourself

I wonder sometimes if we have given short change to God? I wonder if we have over simplified him, if we have made him smaller to fit our picture, instead of growing ourselves to allow for the immensity of God.

I have come to believe that God can see beyond what our world judges as good and bad, 

he can see beyond the rich and poor, and he can see beyond the beautiful people and the marginalized and he can allow for all of us to be saved.

 

Many of us can’t get our head around nothing is impossible to God. We live in a world where we are reminded regularly

·       how we are not good enough

·       smart enough

·       generous enough

·       tough enough

We are reminded that we need to achieve and obtain and hoard our worldly goods so someone doesn’t take them away from us. Just look at the proliferation of the various storage facilities in our community.

We are focused on the immediate, because we have accepted our cultures attitude of what is good for me is good for me!

I spent most of my career in senior management role, trying to lead, manage, direct and  control the future of the business. I have discovered over the past few years that I control nothing and I never did. I have discovered that I need to focus on what God has called me to and I frankly need to let go. I have discovered that if I stay out of the way and cooperate with God, things seem to work out pretty well.

I see first hand every day that it is in the poor that God reveals

·       his compassion

·       his generosity

·       and his love for all of mankind.

You see those of us who are rich have too many distractions. We have desires that not in line with our following Christ and we are so caught up in our own world that we will have a hissy fit, if we miss a traffic light or can’t find a parking spot or life doesn’t go as we have planned.

We are afraid to contemplate on what God has called us to do, because we are concerned it will conflict with what we think we desire.

We are afraid, because we truly don’t trust that we can interpret what God wants us to do and we might make a mistake.

Minimizing ourselves and God, is not what we are called to do. 

 Prayer contemplation and action are what we are called to!

Growing our faith to encompass an all forgiving kind generous and loving God is what we are to expect!

Blogging it's new For Me

I have been struggling to begin this Blog, frankly because I am unsure what value it brings.

You may look at the title of the blog and think I am bragging. In reality I guess I am.

For over the past few years it has become increasingly clear to me that I am Blessed.

Those of you who know me can attest to this statement.

There are many reasons for this statement to be true. I have a wonderful fulfilling life.

I have many people in my life that I admire and recognize as those who make my life better.

Certainly Carol and my children and my grandchildren.

Son In Laws, Mother-in-laws, Sister-in-laws brother in laws are the most obvious gifts.

I have good friends that enrich my life more than they know.

I live a comfortable life and I enjoy many wonderful gifts.

But what has truly brought me clarity of how Blessed I am, is in my work.

I have been face to face with people whose lives are not nearly as Blessed as mine and I have come to know many of them, feel their pain and suffer their losses.

I have presided at or attended more funerals in the past few years than I care to remember. From my own Mothers whose funeral was both uplifting, rich and life inspiring to someone whom I didn’t know but came to know through their death.

But there is one particular item that I have come to realize and perhaps appreciate more and more each day.

I have learned and come to understand that during my whole life, every single moment of every day, throughout painful, hurtful and difficult times under all types of circumstances.

I AM LOVED!

Perhaps this is obvious to many of you and I am just slow on the uptake.

But I have met many people who cannot say that they feel Loved all of the time.

I know numerous people who have been abused by those who should have loved them.

They have been abandoned and thrown out into the street like garbage.

They have been treated worse than many animals and have been beaten down to the point where they can no longer feel Love.

They cannot allow themselves to be vulnerable to love because it hurts when it is withdrawn.

These are human beings, our brothers and sisters our friends.

These are people you may know or you may have experienced the same.

I have met numerous struggles in my life and I am sure I will face more.

But I assure you I have never for a moment felt that I wasn’t loved.

For that, and many other reasons, I am Blessed!

This is the season of Lent. It is supposed to be a time of reflection and connection with God. Traditionally it is a time of penance and sacrifice. Unfortunately people have lost the purpose of the penance and sacrifice. it is meant to help us focus on God. It is not an end unto itself.

Lent is just one period in our life where we can seek out the essence of our soul, where we can search for who we really are.

The only real access to who we really are, is through our personal relationship with God!

Only when we set aside time and allow ourselves to rest in God’s arms

·       can we find the safety,

·       the spaciousness,

·       and the scary freedom

·       to be who we are,

·       to be all that we are,

·       more than we are,

·       and less than we are.

Only when we live and see through God can “everything belong.” All other systems, outside God, depends on

·       exclusion,

·       expulsions,

·       punishment,

 and protection to find identity for their members

Our God is not a God of exclusion but a God of inclusion!!!

My Dad

This is a picture of my Dad and I. Dad has been gone for 18 years now. When Dad was 4 years old his father died suddenly and his Mother placed him and his brother and sisters in foster homes. 2 years later Dad's younger brother died on the way to school one morning. Mom was the only person who loved Dad and didn't abandon him. The day my sister Irene died dad took a stroke. This picture was a year after Irene died and and a year before Dad died. I love him more today than ever before. I only now have some appreciation for the difficulties and hardships he overcame in his life. I would be proud to be half the father to my children that he was to me.