Trust... it must guide our every thought and action and breath, our very life. It must not be us working for ourselves, but God working through us. We are his instruments. Can a cello or piano play itself? How glorious a melody our lives could be if only we would put it in the hands of the Musician and Composer of the universe.
"For I know the plans I have for you, says, the Lord... to give you a future and a hope." (Jeremiah 29:11)
Showing posts with label For my Jesus. Show all posts
Showing posts with label For my Jesus. Show all posts
Friday, December 18, 2009
Friday, December 11, 2009
Affections of the Soul...
This is a short one for today, but it is something that I need to be constantly asking in order to renew my determination to groggily force my tired self out of bed at 6:15 every morning, bury myself in a million layers and stumble out into 10 degree frostiness... to participate in one of the most incredible and yet profoundly overlooked things that man could ever do... to go to Mass.
“God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say “thank you?” (William A. Ward)
“God gave you a gift of 86,400 seconds today. Have you used one to say “thank you?” (William A. Ward)
Thursday, November 19, 2009
The Value of Work: Sinfulness to Sanctification
"For the LORD your God will bless you... in all the work of your hands, and your joy will be complete." ~ Deuteronomy 16:15
It all started in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve had just eaten the forbidden fruit. In His just wisdom, God said to Adam, "Cursed is the ground because of you... through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food... until you return to the ground." (Genesis 3:17) It may seem like this is just an evil curse from God, but what man did was the true wrong, and this was the means of redeeming it. In one bite, the perfection meant for man was shattered; his entire future, his very nature changed, broken. We went from walking with God in a beautiful garden, picking the fruits of God's love, to being destined to toil for all the rest of time. And yet God, as always, is infinitely forgiving, and through that toil-filled curse gave us the means of regaining one fragment of that unblemished relationship man once had with God.
A closer look into the nature of work will reveal to us how very merciful God is to even give us that. Work redeems us through the virtues that it requires. Strictly speaking, these would be the seven cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, temperance, courage, faith, hope, and charity. Work is the epitome of these disciplines, both for the body and mind. Work disciplines us to have the prudence to know what the right thing is, and through justice to act upon it. Temperance is achieved through self-control and going against the current of sinful desires, not losing yourself in what you want, but rather doing hard things and pushing through to the end. That is the very essence of true, hard, work. But all of this requires, while at the same time affirming courage. Work is hard, becoming a better person is hard, that is why God calls us to have, through this hardness, complete faith and hope in Him. And it is through all of these things that we can truly love God. Work is about love. God created us and gave us a paradise to live in out of love. But when we shattered that gift, he still loved us so much that he allowed us, through our well-deserved fate of work and toil, to piece together the fragments which we had broken, to love him.
"We see in work, in men’s noble creative toil, not only one of the highest human values, but also a sign of God’s Love for His creatures, and of men’s love for each other and for God: we see in work a means of perfection, a way to sanctity." ~ Saint Josemaria Escriva
~This topic is definitely something that I want to keep thinking and posting about, this is hopefully just the beginning. But I would love to know what your thoughts and/or questions might be on this. :)
It all started in the Garden of Eden. Adam and Eve had just eaten the forbidden fruit. In His just wisdom, God said to Adam, "Cursed is the ground because of you... through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food... until you return to the ground." (Genesis 3:17) It may seem like this is just an evil curse from God, but what man did was the true wrong, and this was the means of redeeming it. In one bite, the perfection meant for man was shattered; his entire future, his very nature changed, broken. We went from walking with God in a beautiful garden, picking the fruits of God's love, to being destined to toil for all the rest of time. And yet God, as always, is infinitely forgiving, and through that toil-filled curse gave us the means of regaining one fragment of that unblemished relationship man once had with God.
A closer look into the nature of work will reveal to us how very merciful God is to even give us that. Work redeems us through the virtues that it requires. Strictly speaking, these would be the seven cardinal virtues of prudence, justice, temperance, courage, faith, hope, and charity. Work is the epitome of these disciplines, both for the body and mind. Work disciplines us to have the prudence to know what the right thing is, and through justice to act upon it. Temperance is achieved through self-control and going against the current of sinful desires, not losing yourself in what you want, but rather doing hard things and pushing through to the end. That is the very essence of true, hard, work. But all of this requires, while at the same time affirming courage. Work is hard, becoming a better person is hard, that is why God calls us to have, through this hardness, complete faith and hope in Him. And it is through all of these things that we can truly love God. Work is about love. God created us and gave us a paradise to live in out of love. But when we shattered that gift, he still loved us so much that he allowed us, through our well-deserved fate of work and toil, to piece together the fragments which we had broken, to love him.
"We see in work, in men’s noble creative toil, not only one of the highest human values, but also a sign of God’s Love for His creatures, and of men’s love for each other and for God: we see in work a means of perfection, a way to sanctity." ~ Saint Josemaria Escriva
~This topic is definitely something that I want to keep thinking and posting about, this is hopefully just the beginning. But I would love to know what your thoughts and/or questions might be on this. :)
Saturday, January 5, 2008
Arms of Love
Arms of love:
I sing a simple song of love To my Savior,
to my Jesus. I'm grateful for the things You've done,
My loving Savior, my precious Jesus.
My heart is glad that You've called me Your own.
There's no place I'd rather be than In Your arms of love, In Your arms of love.
Holding me still, holding me near, In Your arms of love.
~Kutless
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