The Giftedness of Life and Every Day, May 1, 2005
A new month, with Spring bursting everywhere. I was blessed yesterday to witness another wedding at our chapel here. Happy couple, happy day for so many who loved them.
Increasingly, at three score and sixteen years, I am humbled and enormously grateful at the many opportunities I have had, for loving, for growth, for awareness, for challenge and for living more fully.
What an incredible blessing life itself is. We cannot do anything to earn or deserve it, but here it is, in our hands every day, like the sun rising, energy, light and love to give away.
I used to think of love as a quantity. I had so much but only so much. So I had to be careful about how much I gave to others. Whenever I gave there was less to give. Now I think of love as a quality. The more loving I am, the more I have to give.
We are so easily distracted by modern life, its comforts and new technologies. Most of us too easily live on the surface of things, simply reacting, consuming, hanging out and messing around. We don't take time to step back and really reflect on the blessedness of our lives, our freedoms, our opportunities, or on those whose opportunites and privileges are less than our own. Our undeserved gifts. To live in this country at this time in history? Wow!
What shall I do with all that has been given to me? Grow in awareness and try to give something back, so that the world might be a little better for someone else. We live in such a crazy, unpredictable, chaotic world where anything can happen at any time to anyone. The burning question for many is simply: "How shall I cope today with what is on my plate?"
"You are confused about what has gone wrong, and how to set it right?" the prophet asks. "Then listen. This is what Yahweh asks of you, only this: to act justly, to love tenderly, and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8)
Discussion?
Increasingly, at three score and sixteen years, I am humbled and enormously grateful at the many opportunities I have had, for loving, for growth, for awareness, for challenge and for living more fully.
What an incredible blessing life itself is. We cannot do anything to earn or deserve it, but here it is, in our hands every day, like the sun rising, energy, light and love to give away.
I used to think of love as a quantity. I had so much but only so much. So I had to be careful about how much I gave to others. Whenever I gave there was less to give. Now I think of love as a quality. The more loving I am, the more I have to give.
We are so easily distracted by modern life, its comforts and new technologies. Most of us too easily live on the surface of things, simply reacting, consuming, hanging out and messing around. We don't take time to step back and really reflect on the blessedness of our lives, our freedoms, our opportunities, or on those whose opportunites and privileges are less than our own. Our undeserved gifts. To live in this country at this time in history? Wow!
What shall I do with all that has been given to me? Grow in awareness and try to give something back, so that the world might be a little better for someone else. We live in such a crazy, unpredictable, chaotic world where anything can happen at any time to anyone. The burning question for many is simply: "How shall I cope today with what is on my plate?"
"You are confused about what has gone wrong, and how to set it right?" the prophet asks. "Then listen. This is what Yahweh asks of you, only this: to act justly, to love tenderly, and to walk humbly with your God." (Micah 6:8)
Discussion?
posted by Paschal Baute | 5:36 AM
|
0 comments
