- Deuteronomy 30: 10-14
- Psalms 69: 14, 17, 30-31, 33-34, 36, 37
- Colossians 1: 15-20
- Luke 10: 25-37
- Heart knowledge
- We have all had that disturbing experience of knowing something in our minds, but not feeling it in our hearts. Perhaps its some standard of excellence in your work, some morale principle that you remember well but are unable to summon the courage to follow, some teaching that you remember distinctly, but no longer know whether you can live that.
- Which of the two is more likely to be closest to God: your mind or your heart?
- Think of a time when your heart has led your mind to a new closeness to God?
- Think now of a time when your mind summoned your heart back to God?
- What causes that distance between your mind and your heart?
- God hears the poor
- Looking around the room at my Confirmation students one evening I reflected on the advantages that they had. Many were from middle to upper-middle class homes, every one of them had a cell phone better than mine, they all had good educational opportunities in front of them. But they were poor in the sense that they often lacked a good moral compass, were very confused about their values, and overall, poorly equipped to enter adulthood.
- Who are some of the poor in your life?
- What makes them poor?
- Why do you think that God hears their prayers?
- How can we be the answer to those prayers?
- In what way are you poor?
- My all in all
- We sometimes feel overwhelmed by all of the demands on our time, our attention, our emotions, and we might sigh and say "I'm not sure how much longer I can hold it all together."
- Do you think that God ever feels that way?
- What role do you think God plays in "holding it all together" across the cosmos?
- Do you think that God is like a top executive at a corporation: He just pays attention to the big stuff, or does He deal with the small stuff too?
- Is your life big stuff or small stuff to God?
- How might all of us help in that process of "holding it all together?"
- Our God of Mercy
- I think that one of the great tragedies of modern life is that we let it all get away from us instead of savoring, pondering, meditating on events as they occur.
- Think of a time that someone hurt you, by something they did, said, an attitude that you picked up from them, ...
- Why does that still bother you? Remember, you're the one who was quick to remember that.
- Have you ever thought to intentionally, deliberately, forgive them?
- Why or why not?
- If you have forgiven them, or you did forgive them, how would that bring you closer to Jesus?
- Is it worth the risk?
- Preparation for Reconciliation:
- How can I make God more accessible to someone in my life?
- Where in my life do I need to turn to God more, trust more, live more?
- How is God holding me together that I have not appreciated?
- Who are the poor in my life?
One Day At a Time
The spear of the Roman guard made a wet sucking sound as it came out of His side.
Blood and water ran down His inert form.
No movement rebelled at the raw intrusion,
No nerves fired in response to that deadly thrust.
He just hung there, with nothing left now.
But exhaustion and grief hanging from him
Like a dark cloak from His broken shoulders.
And that sight brought back memories.
Memories of an awful day on my way from Jerusalem to Jericho.
There, baking in the merciless sun,
Spent, bleeding, broken, discarded like an old cloak.
He lay there, without a friend in the world.
I was in a hurry,
On my way to close a deal for some prize olives.
But the blood, the gore, the helplessness spoke to me
And I knew that scene would haunt me if I did nothing.
So, more out of self interest than anything else,
I touched him, found life still throbbing in his veins,
And realized I had little time to save the both of us.
Fortunately, my donkey did not balk at such a messy burden.
Looking up to Him on that awful tree,
I asked myself if I could have somehow spared Him
Shown mercy when He needed it most
Eased His loneliness, soothed His sorrow.
About all that I could think to do
Was to be sure to pack another flagon of oil
Another skin of wine
For the next battered, crushed unfortunate that I came across on the road.
Shalom!
Blood and water ran down His inert form.
No movement rebelled at the raw intrusion,
No nerves fired in response to that deadly thrust.
He just hung there, with nothing left now.
But exhaustion and grief hanging from him
Like a dark cloak from His broken shoulders.
And that sight brought back memories.
Memories of an awful day on my way from Jerusalem to Jericho.
There, baking in the merciless sun,
Spent, bleeding, broken, discarded like an old cloak.
He lay there, without a friend in the world.
I was in a hurry,
On my way to close a deal for some prize olives.
But the blood, the gore, the helplessness spoke to me
And I knew that scene would haunt me if I did nothing.
So, more out of self interest than anything else,
I touched him, found life still throbbing in his veins,
And realized I had little time to save the both of us.
Fortunately, my donkey did not balk at such a messy burden.
Looking up to Him on that awful tree,
I asked myself if I could have somehow spared Him
Shown mercy when He needed it most
Eased His loneliness, soothed His sorrow.
About all that I could think to do
Was to be sure to pack another flagon of oil
Another skin of wine
For the next battered, crushed unfortunate that I came across on the road.
Shalom!
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