Forgot your password? Create an account
  • Increase font size
  • Default font size
  • Decrease font size
  • default color
  • green color
  • red color

MabuhayRadio

Saturday
May 26th
Home Sections The Daily B.R.E.A.D. June 15, 2009 - Monday Meditation (Seems Stupid?)
June 15, 2009 - Monday Meditation (Seems Stupid?) PDF Print E-mail
User Rating: / 0
PoorBest 
Sections - The Daily B.R.E.A.D.
Written by Bobot Apit   
Friday, 12 June 2009 03:07
In this Gospel Jesus is teaching Advanced Ethics -- not about war or law enforcement, but about – yes, LOVE.   It may be “street-smart,” it surely is “Christian” to meet evil and hostility with charity and forbearance.  I think Jesus teaches me today to recognize that every other human being belongs to our one “club.”  “Give to the one who asks you” is about the same as “Love one another as I have Loved you.”
 
2 Corinthians 6:1-10
Psalm 98:1, 2b, 3ab, 3cd-4

M atthew 5:38-42 "You have heard that it was said, `An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' (39( But I say to you, Do not resist one who is evil. But if any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also; (40) and if any one would sue you and take your coat, let him have your cloak as well; (41) and if any one forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles. (42) Give to him who begs from you, and do not refuse him who would borrow from you.
    

* Meditation by Mary Haynes Kuhlman

T oday’s Gospel yanked me back to a sentence that surprised me in prayer several times in recent weeks:  “God is really stupid.”  Wait, before you rush over here and toss me out as a heretic, let me explain that I first thought this in the joy of Easter.  I was struck by the enormous, overwhelming, unreasonable mercy of God in becoming one of us, Christ our Lord and yet our Brother, who died for us.  Well, what kind of a deal is that?  “God is really stupid,” it would seem, having His Son die to save us, considering our sins and follies (although we, human beings, are also pretty wonderful – we are as God made us, and sometimes we are even holy).  Anyway, God loves us, unreasonably, eternally.  And for us, being saved by the sacrifice of the Cross, being saved every day by the LOVE beyond our understanding– that’s the best deal ever!

A few times since Easter I have again been very conscious of God’s Love beyond reason. I’m reminded of the well-known saying from the Pensees by Blaise Pascal, 17th century mathematician, scientist and religious philosopher -- in one translation, “The heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing.”  (Some of us may remember that the Duchess of Windsor’s ghost-written memoir was titled The Heart Has Its Reasons.)  We know examples of this in human love; we praise and give thanks for the astonishing, unending compassionate Love of God.

Now in today’s Readings I say again: “God is really stupid.”  I mean again: God defies (transcends) human reason.  The first reading from Second Corinthians ends by listing facts showing the power of God defying human understanding. For example, “We are treated. . .  as dying and behold we live.”

Then in the Gospel Jesus teaches: “Offer no resistance to one who is evil.”  This strikes me at first as “really stupid.”  Surely one must always resist evil.  Our work in this world in some way must resist evil – for examples, a teacher resists the evils of ignorance and apathy; a nurse resists the evils of illness and disability.  We employ people to resist major evils like war and crime, in our Army, Navy or Air Force, in our police and sheriffs departments and similar public and private services.  Actually, since we have people officially trained to combat evil with force, the standard advice now that the experts give to the public is that when one is confronted by a criminal, one should not try to resist.   Jesus’s words here are street-smart!

Suddenly, as I was thinking over these readings, I experienced a tiny example of the folly of automatically responding with resistance. Hoping to maintain our health and strength by regular exercise, we belong to a private club with a three-lane indoor pool.  I was thinking about today’s Gospel passage as I swam laps.  As I turned at the deep end, I saw a man jump into “my” lane at the shallow end.   I first thought, “That’s rude, he should ask to share the lane.”  My first feelings were annoyance and some fear that he might swim into me – I don’t swim a neat straight line, so that whenever I share a lane, I have to concentrate on not crashing into another swimmer.  Luckily my second immediate reaction was “Of course he’s welcome – in fact, he’s entitled to share the pool -- I’ll just be careful,” and I started swimming slowly back towards him.  But the man merely dunked himself a couple of times and climbed out again.  He had been in the sauna and wanted to cool down a bit before entering the spa/whirlpool’s very warm water.  If my first reaction was “reasonable,” it was certainly lacking in the openness that came a few seconds later.

Thus, in this Gospel Jesus is teaching Advanced Ethics -- not about war or law enforcement, but about – yes, LOVE.   It may be “street-smart,” it surely is “Christian” to meet evil and hostility with charity and forbearance.  I think Jesus teaches me today to recognize that every other human being belongs to our one “club.”  “Give to the one who asks you” is about the same as “Love one another as I have Loved you.”
 

Supplementary Reading
Distractions

Turn to God…so that times of refreshing may come from the Lord. – Acts 3:19




I once asked Mother Teresa, "If God believes in us, why don't we believe in him?"

"Distractions," she replied.

Talk about distractions. You should see my mailbox. It's full. The junk mail is mixed in with bills to be paid, invitations to accept, letters from friends, thank-you notes, final notices for subscriptions, and political propaganda. And you never know when a letter with a check or a chance to win a million dollars will show up!

I talk about taking time for prayer and Bible reading—but I have to answer the mail. I absolutely can't ignore it. They might turn off my lights.

God doesn't send me checks or final notices. He's not in the stuff.

Distractions! Don't be so afraid of missing out on life that you miss the only thing that really matters. Take time for God.



* * *

Be intentional in your efforts to take time for God today. At the end of the day make a list of all the way you did that.Be intentional in your efforts to take time for God today. At the end of the day make a list of all the way you did that.

* * *
    

Note:  This excerpt was taken from the "Power for Life Daily Devotional"



GOD BLESS US ALL!

PRAY as if everything depended on HIM. ACT as if everything depended on YOU.



< Prev   Next >
Newer news items:
Older news items:
Last Updated on Sunday, 14 June 2009 05:10
 

Add your comment

Your name:
Your email:
Subject:
Comment (you may use HTML tags here):
MabuhayRadio Comments
Banner

Quote of the Day

"Ever wonder if illiterate people get the full effect of alphabet soup?"--John Mendoza

Pilipinas Tours