"Be still and know that I am God" (Ps. 46)

In today's first reading, Jonah 4: 1-11,  we learn that God, indeed, had mercy upon the Ninevites and, because they repented, did not carry out the threat that the city would be destroyed in 40 days.  Jonah says to God:  "I beseech you, Lord, is not this what I said while I was still in my own country? This is why I fled at first to Tarshish. I knew that you are a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger, rich in clemency, loathe to punish".  God did other things about which Jonah also got angry, "angry enough to die," Jonah says to God.

God is no different in how he deals with us today! God is "slow to anger, rich in clemency, loathe to punish" and so we wonder where God is as evil seems to triumph!  God, I believe, is giving people time to repent. He is in no hurry to punish! He will wait as long as he desires for us to turn from sinful ways and come back to Him to follow the Spirit's lead and accept His merciful love.

It is very obvious as we read and reflect upon Jonah 4: 1-11, that God is in charge of every detail of Jonah's life! God's control is obvious in the shade tree that sprung up to protect Jonah from the beating heat of the sun and, also, in the tree's demise, leaving Jonah to battle the sun's heat.  It was God who responded mercifully to the Ninevites, opposite what Jonah wanted God to do.

As with Jonah, God also takes control of every detail of our lives, using us as instruments in executing His plans, providing shade and protection for us when we need it, correcting us when we fail to understand that God's ways are not our ways and His thoughts not our thoughts!  Yes, God is at work even when things do not go the way we want them to go!

Lord, I ask forgiveness for the times, like Jonah, I got angry when you did not do things my way and challenged me to know that You are God and I am not!  Forgive me, Lord, when I dictate to You, telling You what to do, rather than seeking Your will! May I have a change of heart and mind to conform to Your ways, Your thoughts and Your will.  I ask this in Jesus' name. Amen!

"My Ways Are Not Your Ways; My Thoughts Are Not Your Thoughts"

Imagine yourself being frustrated with yourself for not doing something that you believe is important or not having the motivation you used to have,  not having the energy you would like to have because of advanced age or a chronic illness, and so on. And then imagine a conversation with the Lord that goes something like this:

You:  Lord, I am so frustrated with myself?

The Lord:  Why?

You: Because I am not spending enough time in prayer with you.

The Lord: Why is that important to you?

You: I want to grow in my relationship with You.

The Lord: Is that the only way?

You: No!

The Lord: Other ways are?

You: Doing Your Will.

Lord: "You want to be a super person. You are that but not in the ways you think! I do not measure success as you do. You want to accumulate points for what you perceive as great achievements, such as:

          I did my hour of prayer.
          I volunteered at the Senior Center.
          I got involved in the several events at the parish.
          I took my children/grandchildren to the park.
          I bought flowers for my wife/husband.
          I prepared meals for my family this weekend.
          I attended the parish retreat for Lenten preparation.
          I got "employee of the month award."

I don't count the hours you spend in prayer or any other "holy" activity. What I ask of you is to surrender your life to me moment by moment--the good and the bad, the successes and the failures, doing the best you can each day.  Give me all!

I don't need you to win awards. I will showcase you in my Heart. I love you more than you can imagine and I delight in you when:

           --you feel frustrated with yourself
           --you have no energy
          --you feel weighed down by illness or advanced age

I cherish you when:

          --your arms are heavy with fatigue and simply fall limp at your side
          --you feel discombobulated, confused, weak

Your weakness is My strength.  When you can hardly lift your arms, I let them rest on my lap. Today and every day, I only ask that you give me your time, your energy, your desires and efforts.  Give me the little you have, the energy you do not have, your fatigue, your efforts. I am at work in and through you at all times, especially when you think I am not there!  Giving yourself to me when you are at a low point praises me more than you will ever know.  Also, I want you to learn that I am God and you are not.  You are a human being--my work of art. I am putting fine lines into your personality to enhance the beauty of My Art piece that is you as my beloved.  It is not about your prowess. I am teaching you to glorify Me through Jesus, my Son. I am hiding you in Me. Cherish the hidden way of My love."
         

     

The Word dwells among Us

“…[T]he Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us and we saw his glory, the glory as of the Father’s only-begotten Son full of grace and truth” (Jn 1: 14).

Anywhere, any  place, in any circumstance, where love abides You are, Lord.  I may never know that  truth, if I never step off the world’s roller coaster of activity, chasing this object or that object.  Your presence is a quiet presence. Your power is a gentle power!  If I attack a situation like a bulldozer, with a demanding attitude that I am right and the other person is wrong; if I come out swinging at my “opponent,” real or imagined, I will not to attuned to God’s quiet power at work through gentleness and compassion, love, forgiveness, and understanding. Those ways of engagement, those ways of being present to others, are not God’s way.  When I am ranting and raving about the fiscal cliff, about anything, attacking one party and then another, attacking one person and then another,  I need to hear God’s declaration:  “… my thoughts are not your thoughts, ... so are my ways higher than your ways ... Isaiah 55:1.

 

Unless I stop to reflect on God’s dwelling among us and His way of bringing about our salvation (Jesus was not violent nor did he allow others to resort to violence on his behalf), I could easily go through this day and be among God’s own people who did not accept him (Jn1:11). Am I willing to humbly step back, powerlessly receive the power of a child of God (cf. Jn 1:12), not by human choice or by a human decision but by God’s choice (Jn 1:13).  Only then, like John, will I testify to the Light,  to the Word of God who dwells among us (Jn. 1:14)