Mea culpa and voting with your feet
Why was the chicken looking forward to heaven?
Because he could finally cross the road without anyone questioning his motives.
Are we really looking forward to heaven? The closer I get to that time the more concerned I become about what I have not finished doing in this world. Don’t get me wrong, I pray with confidence; it’s just that there is so much more to do and pray for.
I pray for family members and parishioners I love but who have lost interest in Sunday worship. To them I extend the invitation: what are you waiting for?
What are we waiting for? I’m a sinner like the rest of you; better at it than some. But I pray with confidence. The thing about prayer is to keep showing up. And be committed. Make up your mind to follow Jesus.
The world promises so much and creates such tempting distractions – like a big, juicy, garlic sausage. Money and pleasure! Success!
Like St Peter, I deny the Lord when the devil tempts me. Of course I’ll never do it again. And the Lord takes me back, just as he took Peter back and Thomas the doubter and the disciples who ran away from him. And Jesus chooses us sinners.
Vote with your feet. Come back to the Lord again and again. Jesus is still asking us, “Do you love me? Do you love me? Do you love me?” (John 21:17). Make the choice now; you’ll want to in the end. It will take practice to get it right, so get started. I know. I’m still trying.
Go back to the Lord on Sunday morning. Don’t even wait for Sunday. Say thanks today. Start with your thank you before meals. Start with your morning thank you. Every day alive is a gift and a blessing. And if you have good health, give an extra bound of thanks.
Take a deep breath! Smell the roses. See the blue sky and the glorious rays of the sun. And say thank you for your eyes.
And come back to the Lord. I know, I have to do that as often as I fail. I cross myself three times, a habit I learned from the Orthodox and Ukrainian Catholics. And then I walk the walk on the path that follows Jesus.
Oh, sinnerman where you gonna run to?
Oh, sinnerman where you gonna run to?
Sinnerman where you gonna run to?
…
All on that day
Well the rock wouldn’t hide him; the river wouldn’t hide him; the sea wouldn’t hide him, so in the end he ran to the Lord and said, “Don’t you know I need you Lord?” The good news is that the Lord is waiting for us. The Lord is always open to help us.
In the end grace will prevail. Know it! “I have read the last page of the bible. It is going to turn out all right,” Billy Graham said.
“The great mystery of life is not unanswered prayer; it’s unfinished prayer.” (on-line source). We need to keep showing up. We are an unfinished work; a form on canvas. It is almost an embarrassment to look at now, but give the Artist a chance. Keep showing up.
“God uses men who are weak and feeble enough to lean on him.” (Hudson Taylor). God reaches out to us, as he did to Peter trying to walk on the water, and says, “Why did you doubt?” (Matthew 14: 22).
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