NEW BEGINNINGS

NEW BEGINNINGS

And, suddenly you know:  It's time to start something new and trust the magic of beginnings."    --Meister Eckhart

No one likes change. That is a given.  People remain in homes, in jobs, in relationships long after they found any happiness in them because they are afraid to change. What could happen? What if the result is worse than what I have now?  There is no way to guarantee a good result, so I will stay right here.  So be it.

In spiritual matters, however, changing is required.  The freshness of new thought and seeing our relationship with God in new ways can only be good.  As we grow in life so should we grow in faith and spirituality.  We can’t come to God as we did when we were children, because we aren’t children. 

Jesus first 30 years on earth are a mystery since no record exists to explain his life through that time.  What we do know, however, is the man he became. He once mentioned that when a mother gives birth, she forgets the pain of childbirth in her joy of seeing her newborn.  How would He know that unless he witnessed it?  He lived an ordinary life with his parents in his hometown where he learned to understand people and the issues that plague them.    He learned to be compassionate, patient, understanding and gentle.  All of those traits were developed during that mysterious time.  When he finally emerged, he was totally ready.  Oh yes, he could have been born with all those things in place, but we aren’t, so He couldn’t either.

As Philip Yancey pointed out, He knew what it was to be a human being. The miracles that Jesus performed sometimes got in the way of his goal to show us what it is to be human in the way God wills.  Because they are spectacular, they could overshadow the lessons Jesus wanted us to learn.  So, look at the other stories; Jesus singling out Zaccheus, letting the woman wash his feet in public, saving the girl from stoning, striking up the conversation with the Samaritan woman or choosing Matthew, the tax collector, the odd man out, to be a disciple.  All were surprising but not miraculous.  It was the day-to-day interaction with the people that drew the true believers and it was those actions and words that made disciples out of so many. And so it can be with us.  It is absolutely essential that we get to know Jesus the man.  It is his human example that leads us.  It is all there in the Gospels, which should be read from beginning to end, not chopped up into daily readings, but like a great novel, read as a whole. There will be lines in there you may never have heard before. There is so much to learn, which needs to be talked about, questioned, and researched, until it becomes clear who Jesus is and how we can be like Him.  

BLESSINGS,

CAROL LEMELIN OPA