Little Ole Me

Do you ever feel like "little ole me" doesn't really have anything to contribute when it comes to leading others to faith?

Do you feel like you just don't know enough, or have the right words to get your point across?

These thoughts came to me recently as I was reading through Paul's first letter to the Corinthians. In Chapter 12 he gives his beautiful description of what it means to be part of Christ's body and how every single one of us completes his body.

He says that "the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are all the more necessary."

When we reflect on this chapter, we can see that "God so constructed the body" so that there wouldn't be any division, and that we each should have concern for each other.

"If [one] part suffers, all the parts suffer with it; if one part is honored, all the parts share its joy."

And since we are all Christ's body (individually parts of it), Paul says, that means we each have different roles to fill.

So to my first point, never dismiss yourself as being unable to contribute to the building up of the kingdom, but strive to fulfill God's plans for you. For many of us, it might look like we cannot do very much, but we have to remember that in the scope of things, we are absolutely "necessary."

Janet Cassidy

Email me at:  jmctm2@gmail.com

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Will you be a stone-thrower? Coldplay and the couple

 

 

I read these words on a blog post:

"Instead of judging, the saints treated sinners like wounded members of their own body. They were grieved, not scandalized. They corrected with patience, not contempt. They understood that love covers a multitude of sins and that to despise one’s neighbor is to cut oneself off from the Body of Christ. ... And now, a little prayer from Ephrem the Syrian for you and me to make our own: 'If I have made fun of my brother’s sins when my own faults are countless … have mercy, my Lord and Creator, on me Thy wretched and unworthy servant.' Amen" (Matt Fradd, Pints with Aquinas)

Naturally, my mind jumped immediately to the scandal all over the news about the couple that were outed on the kiss cam for their adulterous relationship at the Coldplay concert recently.

Lots of people are mocking them now. They are the butt of jokes everywhere. I think the above quote is a good reminder for us about the sinfulness of our response to such a public display of "our brother's sins."

Have we forgotten that each of these people--and especially their families and friends--are paying a very public price for the display of their sin?

Is that something we should judge, just because our own sins have not been set on public display?

Leave them alone and let them figure out where to go from here, as they try to deal with the pain they have caused others in their life and try to figure out life moving forward.

And follow Jesus' admonition: 

"Let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”  John 8:7

Don't be a stone thrower; learn how to love the wounded.

Janet Cassidy

Email me at:  jmctm2@gmail.com

janetcassidy.com
https://www.facebook.com/reflectionsinfaith/
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Golfing Wisdom

 

 

 

It made the news recently when golfer extraordinaire, Scottie Scheffler, made this comment about golfing:

“This is not a fulfilling life. It’s fulfilling from the sense of accomplishment, but it’s not fulfilling from a sense of the deepest places of your heart,” he said. “There’s a lot of people that make it to what they thought was going to fulfill them in life, and you get there, you get to No. 1 in the world, and they’re like what’s the point? What is the point? Why do I want to win this tournament so bad? That’s something that I wrestle with on a daily basis.” (golf.com) 

Afterward he qualified it by saying how much he enjoys the game, etc., but his introspective moment didn't go unnoticed.

I was thinking about this because I'm guessing there are a lot of people who may share his perspective.

For those of you who may be feeling not-so-happy in life, even though you have many blessings and everything you ever dreamed of, I'd like to add a different perspective that may help turn things around.

Consider this: If we take our cues from the world--what our friends and family are doing (think fancy vacations, adventures, success, leisure)--we will likely often find ourselves coming up short, comparatively.

But if we take our cues from Jesus and how he lived his life, we will quickly see that his focus was on mission. He focused on love and forgiveness, mercy and salvation, and the poor.

We share in that. We must find our purpose in his way of life. It really is the only thing that can put joy back in our life.

If life has slowed down for you and left you feeling like Scottie at times, step up your time with God and reduce your time focused on anything else.

Maybe the time you have devoted to prayer was working for you in the past, but if joy is slipping away from you, that is a sure sign that you need to increase your time, listening, talking and praying to God. 

What may have worked before may simply not be enough to keep you happy today. Take this as a hint from God that you need to move closer to him, deeper into your relationship with him.

He's not going to leave you in this state, but you need to return to him with increased vigor. 

Take your cues from God. It is really the only place you will find true and lasting joy.

Janet Cassidy

Email me at:  jmctm2@gmail.com

janetcassidy.com
https://www.facebook.com/reflectionsinfaith/
https://www.youtube.com/@janetcassidy