Myriad Dimensions of Love

Only in the imagination does love promise happiness forever. Through experience, we discover the myriad dimensions of love. Sometimes love is joy. Sometimes passion. Sometimes moments of serenity amongst the laughter and sadness. Generally, love is soft. But it also may sting. Love is forever changing, perhaps a smile will slow our pace one minute, but a sign of danger may push us to act, to respond, to make a decision the next.

All that love is, there's much it is not. Love is not shaming. Nor is it punishing. Love does not gloat, criticize, degrade, or diminish. At times we think we're filled with love and yet we selfishly serve our needs before another's. And when we truly express our love to another, there's no mistaking the warm glow that fills the body.

How simple to be a giver of love and yet how forgetful we are when the opportunities arise.

I Found the Answer in My Room

When I woke up this morning, I asked myself, 

"What is life about?"

I found the answer in my room.

The fan said, "Be cool."
The roof said, "Aim high."
The window said, "See the world!"
The clock said, "Every minute is precious."
The mirror said, "Reflect before you act."
The calendar said, "Be up to date."
The door said, "Push hard for your goals."
The floor said, "Kneel down and pray."

He Already Knows

A priest was teaching his weekly Bible class, and he asked the members how they'd introduce themselves to the Lord when they got to heaven. The first one said, “Lord, I'm Joan. I was married for 47 years, I raised three wonderful children, and I always baked the cupcakes for school. That's who I am.”

Another said, “Lord, I'm George. I was the biggest contractor in the county Almost all of my buildings were good and I tried to watch out for the little guys. That's who I am.”

And another said, “I'm Harry. I was the school janitor all my life. Kept the place real clean, and was never mean to the kids either. That's who I am, Lord.”

And so it went till finally it was the turn of the oldest man in the group. He spoke very softly: “I won't need to introduce myself,” he said . “The Lord already knows who I am."

Allow the Holy Spirit

Of course, the greatest victory that the Spirit can give us is victory over ourselves. If we could be changed within, if all those destructive thoughts and habits within could somehow be dispelled, then we could handle our circumstances. Then we would be powerful indeed.

Dwight L. Moody once demonstrated the principle like this: "Tell me," he said to his audience, "how can I get the air out of the tumbler I have in my hand?" One man said, "Suck it out with a pump." The evangelist replied, "That would create a vacuum and shatter it. Finally, after many futile suggestions, Moody picked up a pitcher and filled the glass with water. "There," he said, "all the air is now removed." He then explained that victory for the child of God does not come by working hard to eliminate destructive thoughts and habits, but rather by allowing the Holy Spirit to take full possession.

So what are you troubled about? The future? God has it under His control. The past? Our sins have been thrown into the deepest regions of the sea by the death of Christ on the cross never to be retrieved. The present? There is a power that is available to all who would call on His name.

Feast of the Transfiguration

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Transfiguration and commemorate the 45th anniversary of the death of St Pope Paul VI. When Pope Paul VI died in 1978, I remember thinking how appropriate it was that he went to heaven on the Feast of the Transfiguration. I imagined a transfigured Holy Father wearing radiant white robes standing before St. Peter and quoting from St. Paul: “I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith. From now on the crown of righteousness awaits me, which the Lord, the just judge, will award to me on that day, and not only to me, but to all who have longed for his appearance” (2nd Timothy 4:7-8)

Most Christians I know yearn for transforming mountaintop experiences. Like Moses, Elijah, Peter, James and John we long to see God face to face. We want to hear God's voice. We want to be near Jesus and experience the serenity of His presence. And like Peter, we want the experience to last forever. Sadly, for most of us, mountaintop experiences are fleeting. They are glorious moments that seem to evaporate as we descend the mountain. Just as Moses, Elijah and Jesus could not stay on the mountaintop forever; neither can we. Jesus' mission was not to sit on the mountain in all his glory like a wise sage imparting wisdom to those who climbed up to see him. Jesus had to come down to live among, teach and heal the people who ultimately would crucify him. That is how he secured our salvation.

It is important for us to go to the mountaintop, to stop, to pray, to seek God's face and to hear God's voice. However, we must remember that mountaintop experiences are not an end. We go to the mountain seeking our own transfiguration so that we can return to our daily lives and be a transforming presence to others. We go to the mountaintop to draw strength from God so that we can accompany Jesus and all our suffering sisters and brothers on the Way of the Cross.

Father of our Lord Jesus Christ,

it is wonderful for us to be here

in the presence of your beloved Son.

Let his radiant face give us light and peace.

May the light of his transfigured face

shine on all of us and give us courage,

that we too may become lights to one another,

until we may enter your everlasting light.

We ask you this through Christ our Lord. 

Amen.

Mistakes

A humorous story has it that a newly appointed young clergyman was contacted by a local funeral director to hold a graveside service at a small country cemetery in mid-western USA. There was to be no funeral, just a graveside service, because the deceased had no family and had outlived her friends.

The young pastor started early to the cemetery, but soon became lost. After making several wrong turns, he finally arrived a half-hour late. The hearse was nowhere in sight and cemetery workers were relaxing under a nearby tree, eating their lunch.

The pastor went to the open grave and found that the vault lid was already in place. He took out a prayer book and read a few paragraphs. As he returned to his car, he overheard one of the workers say, “Maybe we’d better tell him it’s a septic tank.”

Why is it we make our biggest mistakes in public? And some people can’t avoid it. Former hockey goalie Jacques Plante wonders, “How would you like a job where, if you made a mistake, a big, red light goes on and 18,000 people boo?”

But we should never give up our right to be wrong. Good judgment comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgment. It is your right to be wrong. “No (one) ever became great or good except through many and great mistakes,” said William E. Gladstone. Great mistakes are opportunities for great learning. And great learning makes for great living.

Now, that’s something I can get into. I don’t need to be a great person, just one who believes that his life is worth living well. And if that means I need to make some magnificent mistakes along the way, I’ll take that on as part of the price to pay.

You and I have a right to be wrong. And if we are to move toward great living, we might even have a duty to make great mistakes. Sometimes we can laugh them off. Certainly we can learn from them. And always, let’s just make sure the next mistake is one we haven’t made before.

Thy Will

As the day goes on, we can pause where situations must be met and decisions made, and renew the simple request: Thy will, not mine, be done.

Just saying it over and over will often enable us to clear a channel choked up with anger, fear, frustration, or misunderstanding, and permit us to return to the surest help of all – our search for God’s will, not our own, in the moment of stress.​