A CONSTANT STATE OF WONDER

A CONSTANT STATE OF WONDER

There are many things in this world that produce the state of wonder.  For example, infants leave me speechless as they show their personalities almost from the moment of birth.  A three-month-old baby is laughing.  You wonder, how does he know what’s funny?  Then there are wonders of modern medicine.  Doctors can reverse HIV in infants while they are still in the womb!  Then there is technology, the best example being that NASA sent a rover they named Oppy (Short for Opportunity) to Mars in 2004 for what they thought would be 90 days of sending back data. The wonder is that Oppy died in February 2019. Because it was so much a part of their lives, the research team wept at its demise. These are just samples of the wonders on earth. 

There is also a spiritual state of wonder, but this is one  that should not be. 

People go through life wondering, “Why did God do this?”or “Why didn’t God do this? What is God’s will for me?”Life is random at best, and trying to figure out what God wants while at the same time trying to deal with life, is very difficult. That probably isn’t God’s will. 

I don’t think God ever intended for us to be in a constant state of wondering what He is up to.  From the time God first spoke to humans, he was quite clear about what he wants from us.  He scolded them for sacrificing animals, telling them he wanted only that they love one another.  He said we would not find him in violent weather, but in a whisper.  He scolded them for making reverence for the Sabbath a chore. He said that man was not made for the Sabbath, but the Sabbath was made for man.

Then he came himself in the person of Jesus.  He repeated all those things and more, and by example showed us how God wants us to live. It may be that the simplicity of it is too much for people.  If God ever did speak to the world out loud, I think he might ask, “What part of love one another don’t you get?”

Instead of worrying about what God is thinking, we would all be better off if we simply trusted his presence.  The knowledge of the presence of God makes it possible to bear the burdens.  They are not going to be any less painful, but you will have the strength you need to cope, simply because you are fully aware that God cares.  God gave us free will. We can’t want to be free to live our lives as we see fit, and at the same time expect God to solve our problems for us. 

King David, whose relationship with God was rock solid despite his failures, wrote in Psalm 139: “You have probed me, you know me.  You encircle me and rest your hand upon me. Your right hand guides me and holds me fast.”

God is not deaf to us, and as Jesus said, “God knows what you need, before you ask.”  

Trust in Him. That is where peace lies.  That’s the true wonder. 

Blessings

Carol Lemelin OPA

THE GREAT HEART OF GOD

THE GREAT HEART OF GOD

When people feel lonely and unsure of themselves, it is often because they do not believe deeply enough that God fully understands them. Paul writes that if we love fully, we will understand as we are fully understood. John’s words are very important, too: God loved us before we were ever able to love him. This is what must enter our small hearts, and what we must hold on to: the love of the Great Heart, which understands us fully.  J. Heinrich Arnold

I love the image of God as the Great Heart.  Jesus actually revealed the heart of God in the story of the Prodigal son.  The father in that story stands in for God as he paces back and forth day after day, watching the road for the sight of his son returning home.  When that day finally comes, he abandons all dignity and runs to hold his lost child in his arms. He embraces him, forgiving everything. 

The elder son, however, was blinded by jealously and could not see the greatness of his father’s love encompassing them both without favoritism. Sadly, many people side with the elder brother.  They, like him, fail to understand that the compassion and love of God encompasses everyone. There is complete understanding of each of us and as St. Paul tells, nothing can separate us from the love of God, not even ourselves.

In 1942 I was six years old. I woke one morning and it as very dark and the house was very quiet. My parent’s room was empty. I crept down the stairs, but the living room was dark, too.  Even though I thought I heard a noise from the kitchen, I was afraid, so I sat on the top step and waited.  All of a sudden a light went on and my uncle John came into the room with a towel over his trousers for an apron and a spatula in his hand. “Good Mornin’, Carol Ann.” He said.  “Mommy and Daddy went to the hospital to get the baby, and I’m making a stupendous breakfast just for you!”   The relief I felt was huge and the sense of absolute safety this uncle of mine provided has lived in my memory all these years. He was a person with a big heart. There are many of them in the world, and they, unbeknownst to themselves, reveal the Great Heart of God, because all good comes from there.  

This is how we should image God.  Even with all the testimony of Jesus, for many people, God still remains an angry, judgmental figure, waiting to pounce when we fail.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  God has spoken words of comfort and assurance from the beginning, but has been drowned out by the insistence of the human race to fashion a God who reflects them. It is time for us to put an end to this and to reflect the Great Heart of God for all to see. 

Blessings,

Carol Lemelin, OPA

SAFE?

SAFE?

Every once in a while, I hear or read something that startles me because I never thought of it before or it never occurred to me to see in a different light.  That happened this week when I read Pope Francis’ remark about gossip. 

He says, “Gossip is the terrorism of the Christian community.”  Those are strong words, which indicate how deeply he feels about that subject.  

In the current atmosphere of immigrant discrimination, churches are being called 

Sanctuary sites. Where people are safe.  What the Pope suggests is that our churches should also be sanctuaries from gossip, back-biting, criticism, tale-telling, unkindness, and grudges. It is supposed to be a place where the presence of Christ is not just in the tabernacle, but also in the people.  A place where people are safe. 

The more I think about this, the more my conscience stings. This behavior is practically the national pastime.  The idea that the church is a place of safety in this regard is very likely unheard of anywhere.  Is it a sign that our complacency with our Christianity is unfounded? 

Do we reflect Jesus? Jesus confounded all the religious authorities by talking to, touching, loving, and healing everyone without discrimination.  When he was rejected, he simply moved on.  He did not waste time in regrets or stewing over slights, but looked forward and continued his mission.  He was commissioned to bring to the world the truth about God.  God is ever loving, ever patient, ever forgiving.  That was his all-consuming passion. Shouldn’t it be ours as well? 

The earliest Christian communities, beset on all sides by enemies, they came together in pure joy of sharing their love of Jesus. So what happened?  Why isn’t there one Christian Community instead of thousands?  Perhaps we need to start over.  Perhaps we need to model our church community on that of the earliest believers. They thought he was coming back, but we know He has not left us, which means He is present!  How would we behave if Jesus were visible?  There would be no question about our church being a safe place. As it is God’s will that all the good that is done, must be done by us, we have little choice but to try to make that dream come true. 

“The eyes of love will perhaps be able to see how Christ himself departs, quietly and invisibly, from the sanctuary... The singing will continue to resound, the clouds of incense will arise, and the faithful will be overcome by the ecstatic beauty of the services. But Christ will go out onto the church steps and mingle with the crowd: the poor, the lepers, the desperate, the embittered, the holy fools. Christ will go out into the streets, the prisons, the low haunts and dives. Again and again.”  Mother Maria Skobtsova

Blessings, 

Carol Lemelin, OPA