Greetings!
How did your celebration of personal weakness go for you today???
Pretty uncomfortable???
Me too, but...
I received a gift this afternoon from one of my patients who is dying of cancer -- she is enjoying what she believes to be her sister from MA last visit with her...
They played cards on Monday night until "way past our bedtime" -- "I really overdid it -- I almost could not get out of bed this morning -- I was so tired..."
"But it was a great decision -- it was worth it -- the interaction was well worth the fatigue that followed -- plus I beat her badly!"
AJ [her initials] has embraced her weakness, limits and finitude -- as a gift -- through her battle with cancer [and a difficult life]...
She gave me hope today -- in my aging process, I too have the opportunity to embrace my weakness, finitude and limits -- a gift of wisdom / aging gracefully...
Before we prayed and thanked God for his blessings -- yes, even the gift of our frail and fragile humanity -- we read the words of Jesus from 2 Corinthians 12.9...
"My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in your weakness..."
When my weakness opens me to the strength of Jesus -- that is when I am strongest!
Moving on to Tuesday...
In my younger and more arrogant days, I was quick [and severe] in my chastisement of those "simpletons" of faith [according to my judgment] who were always talking about the second coming of Christ.
And singing about it...
And shouting about it...
And testifying about it...
NOT ME -- they were the ones with the theological "problems"...
Escapists!
Pie in the sky extremists!
Run away from today and hide in the "blessed hope" of the future...
I am rethinking now...
The blessed hope is really quite blessed!
The older I get the more blessed it gets!
I cannot celebrate his first Advent without joyful expectation of his Second Coming...
I am feeling a deep love for his appearing...
Henri Nouwen: "We should desire not only the first coming of Christ in his lowly human gentleness but also his second coming as the judge of our lives..."
And I would add, the judge of all culture and history...
The second coming epitomizes HOPE for me at this stage in my journey...
What does Jesus' coming again mean to you tonight???
Richard Rohr [on the "virtue of obedience"]: "I do think that all Christians have to practice saying YES before they dare to say NO..."
Tomorrow, let's do the right things because of our DESIRE to say YES to God -- not because we OUGHT to be good and holy [or else!!!]...
I am ending my night -- on the porch -- a cool wind blowing -- a glass of wine in hand -- opening my heart to meditate on what it means to say a BIG YES to God...
What will saying YES to God "look like" as I walk through Wednesday???
Wish you were here feeling the moment with me...
Shalom...
guy
I am also meditating on how my very own dog would draw me closer to God...
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