Engulf Me LORD in Your Grace

Sometimes I just need to be overtaken by God to get an understanding of what He wants me to do. Sometimes nothing makes any sense unless She just engulfs me in Her Grace. I like control. I like to know what's going to happen before I even make a move. That type of control can leave a person paralyzed because we can't know the outcome until we act. That's why I need God to engulf me in His Grace and weaken my resistance to Her will. I may want to be in control though I know that my control is full of chaos and misinformation. God's Grace helps me to let go and allow God to have control. And Oh... is life so much better when I give in to God's Will.

Engulf me LORD in Your Grace. Weaken my resistance to Your WILL.

This Has Gotta Stop

As much as I try, I don't seem to post at least once a week as I would like. I have a running list of topics to write about, but just don't seem to be making it happen. This has gotta stop.
The piece of paper where these topics reside is getting crowded.
For those of you who follow my journey to peace, please know that my absence on the blog does not mean I've made it to peace. Quite the opposite. As of late, I've found myself so far from peace it's disheartening. Would you believe that my studies this semester have helped me? I wouldn't have thought so. The more reading I've done, the more peaceful I've become. BTW, just finished The Shack by William Paul Young on mP3. Great read (listen). I'll be reading it again in January as I take the Tolton Scholars on a journey through it in February. At that point I'm sure I'll be blogging some of the discussions. So for now you have plenty of time to get it and read it so you're better able to join in on the discussion.

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.