March 28, 2007
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Quote for the Week: Do you have faith in God? If you do, lay it down then as a basis for all your behavior. With it, face everything that comes your way in this life–be it joy or grief. Do not allow your faith to change every day according to the vicissitudes of this life. Do not let success increase your faith in God, neither let failure or loss or illness weaken or undermine it. Have you accepted to live with God? Put, then, all your trust in Him at once. Never try to recant or regress in the least. Keep faithful to Him even unto death. Matthew the Poor, Orthodox Prayer Life, The Interior Way
Scripture for the Week: “My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.” 2 Colossians 2:2-3
Question for the Week: God’s faithfulness to His children is constant. It is inconceivable that He might be more faithful at one point in our lives than at another. As humans, we lack that same constancy. As I near the completion of Great Lent and approach Holy Week, where is my faithfulness to God? If I were to show it on a graph, would it be climbing upward, holding steady at a healthy level, descending, or falling off the chart altogether? What do I think I need in order to get it where it needs to be?
Thought for the Week: I was living in Los Angeles when the 1984 Olympics occurred. I remember the excitement of attending some of the track events, and like most Los Angelinos, I was captivated enough to follow the televised events as well. I remember most distinctly the women’s marathon that year. I sat transfixed watching the runners come in toward the finish and was focused on one runner in particular. She was just yards away from the finish. Her eyes were glazed over, her feet seemed to be moving on some convoluted type of autopilot as she arduously moved herself forward, and then her legs seemed to turn to rubber and she collapsed to the ground. Her head lifted toward the finish, exhaustion enveloping every fiber of her body, and yet she struggled for the strength to raise herself from her prone position. Slowly, painfully, she rose… staggering first in one direction and then the other. She no longer seemed to have any concept of who or where she was… yet, step by step, she continued toward the finish line. You could see her coach calling encouragement to her, and I wanted so badly to come alongside her and help her… I felt as if my own heart were bursting. My eyes stung with tears watching this display of determination as she crossed the line and collapsed into the arms of her waiting coach. I think of this woman and reflect on this image as we, too, complete our Lenten marathon and the finish line is within our sights. Let us encourage one another to complete this race with excellence, with fervor, with determination, and with the exhilaration of those who run the race with the type of victory in our sights that glorifies God.
Lenten Recipes for the week – Let’s try a few new recipes cooking with PotatoesLet us do all things with faith and great love.
Comments (1)
Lisa, thank you so much for your sweet words and saying you will pray for my dad. I appreciate that!