Greetings!
Advent was in the air today -- I spotted Jesus several times during the course of my day...
I saw him in the smile of a blind patient who was blessed with the New Testament on cassette and a small tape player to listen to the cassettes when I visited this morning -- she was so thrilled -- her smile lit up the whole room!
I saw him when I placed the communion elements in the mouth of a young man dying of Parkinson's -- the unleavened bread and the fruit of the vine -- today just may have been his last Lord's Supper...
I saw him in a plain envelope I was given this morning that had a $20 bill sealed in it -- just a couple of hours after I had asked the Lord for some cash to buy a few groceries for BR -- guess Jesus wanted to do a modern day loaves and fishes thing...
I saw him in the hope that resurged in BR's eyes when I dropped by her run-down motel at the corner of Nebraska and MLK [not the better section of Tampa -- ha! ha!] and unloaded a couple of bags of groceries --I never knew how much a deli chicken meal could mean to a person in need -- she had been kicked out of her daughter's home ON THANKSGIVING DAY for eating to much food and not paying enough rent... WOW! The rejection had been overwhelming for BR -- a 49 year old grandma dying from cancer...
I saw Jesus today...
Over and over again...
Not in Bethlehem 2000 years ago but in inner city Tampa TODAY...
I was so surprised, BUT should I be?
Maybe Jesus is always coming to us again and again but I just don't make the space to see and experience him...
Maybe Advent happens all day every day...
When I am in tune with Jesus in spirit and truth!
From Rohr: "We have tried so hard to be OK, to affirm one another and give ourselves a positive personal regard. The self-esteem movement is a national business...If what I am seeing in the American Church is the fruit of all that stroking, I do NOT think it is working at all. In fact, it seems like these folks need a fix every few days. Many seem incapable of really grasping the good news, taking it into their hearts, standing with it and moving forward with it to lives of surrender, service and silence. Instead, it's a world of noise and weak identity, where we need constant reassurance, someone to be holding our hand all the time and telling us, 'You're good. God loves you.'"
Maybe we need to escape ourselves and find Jesus in the eyes and smiles of those we serve -- maybe our experience of God would be transformed IF it focused on GIVING and NOT just RECEIVING!
Maybe we should be like Jesus -- a person for others [as Bonhoeffer noted]...
Join me in the surprise of joy -- the experience of Jesus afresh -- as we serve someone tomorrow...
Blessings!
Guy
If I haven't told you lately -- HAPPY ADVENT!!!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment