This morning we read from Leviticus, hearing the rules to
keep the people holy; we read the urgings of Paul to the Thessalonians to act
as holy people. This week in the Rule
of Benedict we have begun to read about the Tools of Good Works – 73 tools to
use in our work for Christ. How we
behave should be an extension of our faith and our love of Christ. We are reminded to be guided be these rules
and live by these rules with the help of the community and the leadership of
the Abbot.
Our discussion this morning of the readings from scripture illuminated our the readings in
Benedict. Following the rule does not bring
us to Christ, but our love of Christ brings us to follow the rule so as to live
our faith. Our motivation should be for
Christ not ourselves or our own rewards.
“For where your treasure is, there your heart
will be also” (Matt 6:21)
We spoke of transparency;
our motives should be apparent. Our
hearts should be focused on Christ, and love of Christ should be visible in our
works. We are His people.
“How are you feeling/doing, today, Jack?”…. “I’m good, How ‘bout you?”…”Good !”
ReplyDeleteAnother knee jerk conversational salutation situation sallies forth in many languages millions of times daily in all parts of the world. Does it mean anything? Well, if you sought guidance from retired English Instructor, Beverly Olson, she might, correct by saying “You mean ‘well’, right? Not ‘good’”
Taking the situation at face value, though, if you are “good” then you are very “well” ….at least for the moment. And at the climax of our friend’s conversation what do they say? Normally, “Goodbye”
“Goodbye” translates to “God be with ye”. That being so then “Good”, the word by itself, means “God”.
So if we are made in the image of God then we are automatically good, right? Not so fast. Jesus admonished Peter in a Matthew passage – “Only God is good”
We can pray, earnestly correct our errant ways, and then continue to pray over and over for the will to follow Jesus Christ’s example. We cannot expect perfection but we can try to seek goodness/God in every move we make.
A simple bumper sticker message might be a good starting point—“Practice Random Acts of Kindness”.
From the Beginning to the End may we be good with God.