Wednesday, June 10, 2009

On Growing Weary

May I never forget the real purpose of life.

In the words of Jesus, these are the greatest commandments, "'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments." (St. Matthew 22:37-40)

But sometimes we grow weary. St. Paul must've known that the rocks of disappointment, grief and disillusionment weigh us down as we collect them through life. That's why he asks us to remain steadfast in our role as people of good works. "Let us not become weary in doing good," he tells us in Galatians 6:9, "for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." God is with us. Always.

In that spirit, I offer the following poem I found in a tiny corner of cyperspace. I wish I knew the author. It reminds me of a friend's email sign-off: MTPOCDU. I asked him one day what it meant. His answer: May the peace of Christ disturb us.

May God bless you with discomfort
At easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships
So that you may live deep within your heart.
May God bless you with anger
At injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people,
So that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.
May God bless you with tears
To shed for those who suffer pain, rejection, hunger and war,
So that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and
To turn their pain into joy.
And may God bless you with enough foolishness
To believe that you can make a difference in the world,
So that you can do what others claim cannot be done
To bring justice and kindness to all our children and the poor.
Amen

4 comments:

Anne said...

good food for thought.
You are a chef in more than one way.

Esther said...

And you have a clever way with words! ;)

Rick Mullen said...

I heard a wise man say that we should not worry to much over quoting someone else, but rather we should put their "truth" into our hearts; and let it change who we are.
I think that is your/our blogging. Sharing bits of what we pick up, and who we are; with others that may need what we have. And to remind us of who we are.
You do it so well;
God Bless..

Esther said...

Rick, I like what you say here! I also like to think of blogging as sharing bits of who we are and - mostly - who God is in us. Thanks for the nice comment! :)

PS You better get busy blogging!