It's All About Trust

Relationships, no matter with whom are all about trust. "Do I trust you to do what you say?" Do I trust me to the person I claim?" Our difficulty with God comes down to trust. Do we believe that God will act in our lives like He has acted in the lives of others? How can we move forward on a plan laid out by God if we do not trust? It's impossible. In order to get to the place of trust, we must cultivate a relationship. We must nurture the ground and plant the right seeds. Sunlight and water are needed too. And every so often, we've got to get on our knees and pull the weeds. When we haven't been tending the soil correctly, we may have to leave the weeds in place and separate them out later.

Trusting God is not an overnight success of many of us. We've got to learn to communicate better. We have to say what we mean and mean what we say. We can't hide in the shadows hoping that God will do all the work for us. This relationship involves our action also.

I haven't been taking the time to chat with God. I've been running here and there, making time for all sorts of things. And you know what? I'm suffering. I haven't taken my seat in God's presence and I miss that. Life is out of balance. This trust is not just about God doing His part, it's about me doing mine. I pray that I become more trustworthy in my relationship with God. I'm thinking that will help me to be more trustworthy on the journey.

Let's get back to treating each other right. Let's get back to trust.

Is Your Faith Working?

In the Sept 09 issue of U.S. Catholic magazine are the results of a reader survey they did asking the question "Is your faith working?"

The title caused me to pause, wondering where they were going with this question. Then it inspired me to ask a different question, "Am I working my faith?" In my relationships with others am I relying on faith to guide me or am I leading with all my faults and hang-ups? Lately, I haven't been working my faith. I've been faithfully ignoring what God is asking of me. "Be quiet just a moment timone -- listen well, speak slowly. Don't allow your ego to get in the way. Respond with words of kindness and understanding." Do the things that come from working my faith. My faith is working. It is what helps me see my mistakes and my missteps. It is what gives me the courage to press forward each time I am attacked. Now working my faith is different. I haven't relied on what I've learned in my quiet time with God. I've rushed ahead of the plan causing set backs and re-routes.

Maybe I'm doing what I'm supposed to. Maybe working my faith is struggling through the moments of hardship relying solely on the hand of God, presented through others. Maybe working my faith is admitting that I don't have all the answers. Maybe working my faith is speaking the Truth no one wants to hear.

Is your faith working? Are you working your faith?

The 7 Deadly Sins

The Seven Deadly Sins:
Truth, if it becomes fanaticism.
Beauty, if it becomes vanity.
Love, if it becomes possessive.
Loyalty, if it becomes blind, careless trust.
Tolerance, if it becomes indifference.
Self-confidence, if it becomes arrogance.
Faith, if it becomes self-righteous.
By Ashley Cooper

I read this in a newsletter about wellness drawn to the title, wondering what kind of article this was going to be. Imagine my surprise when I saw the list of sins so different from the usual suspects. Ashley Cooper reminded me how easily we get caught up in doing Christ's work that we stop being Christ's work. So often we fall short in our ministry because it tends to focus on the work and not the creations. Numbers and bottom lines drive our response to those in need. Dressed up in "ministry" we stamp out another's existence all in the name of spreading the gospel. We gotta be careful. It's so easy to slip into darkness.

Where Did the Time Go?

I had every intention of writing at least once a week. What happened? I got wrapped up in many things and time escaped. Time, ever present and ever elusive, escaped from me. LOL. Most likely, I chose to do something else, for just a moment, with the intention of coming back to this. That ever happen to you? You get involved in something else and before you know it, you've "lost time."

I must say that during my time away from the blog, I have still been moving towards Christ's Peace.

The last few weeks have been really uplifting. I've been able to witness growth in faith among the young adults on whose behalf I minister. I facilitated a women's retreat in DC and was totally moved by God's show of strength and mercy through them. I'm learning to speak Truth more freely.

Where did the time go?

I didn't do all that I intended, yet the things I did, opened others to the love of Christ. So the time that escaped, found its way into the lives of others moving towards Christ's Peace.

Journey Interrupted

It's amazing how easily our journey toward God is interrupted. I mean temptation really gets in the way. There you are traveling at a really good pace, wind blowing gently against your face, bypassing things when all of a sudden something or someone interrupts your flow. Anger, Annoyance, Impatience, Disbelief, Amazement...

How can this be happening to me now? Okay, Okay. New lesson. New experience. Adjustment. Same journey different path. What was wrong with the other path? Why must I travel this one?

Here I am traveling at a much slower pace, the wind is harsh sometimes, and I'm not bypassing things like I used to. I notice others' pain. I see someone else's joy. I participate in life at this pace.

Journey Interrupted is God calling me to new life, God's way.