"Our task is not one of producing persuasive propaganda; Christianity shows its greatness when it is hated by the world."
— St. Ignatius of Antioch
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
Quote of the Day: From the Mouth of a Martyr
"Our task is not one of producing persuasive propaganda; Christianity shows its greatness when it is hated by the world."
— St. Ignatius of Antioch
Monday, September 15, 2014
Quote of the Day - The Journey
"People often think of Christian morality as a kind of bargain in which God says, ‘If you keep a lot of rules I’ll reward you, and if you don’t I’ll do the other thing.’ I do not think that is the best way of looking at it. I would much rather say that every time you make a choice you are turning the central part of you, the part of you that chooses, into something a little different from what it was before. And taking your life as a whole, with all your innumerable choices, all your life long you are slowly turning this central thing either into a heavenly creature or into a hellish creature: either into a creature that is in harmony with God, and with other creatures, and with itself, or else into one that is in a state of war and hatred with God, and with its fellow-creatures, and with itself. To be the one kind of creature is heaven: that is, it is joy and peace and knowledge and power. To be the other means madness, horror, idiocy, rage, impotence, and eternal loneliness. Each of us at this moment is progressing to the one state or the other."— C. S. Lewis
Thursday, September 11, 2014
Meditations and Musings
We have started a family prayer table. It's long overdue and has truly been a blessing. After a hectic day, we now have a time to gather in quiet, light a candle, read the Bible, and pray together. It may not happen as often as I'd like, but when it does, it really is a blessing.
Last night, we reviewed the 10 Commandments, and then read about Judgement day. You'd think my kids had never heard about it before. And they were listening! And SHOCKED!!! What does this mean??? "If you do unto the least of my brethren, you do unto me?"
I told them "Some day, you ALONE will stand before Jesus, and He will ask you how you lived out His love to the world."
Colby asked, "Well? What am I supposed to say? What's the answer?"
Me: "You won't have to say anything. He already knows. There is no right answer. He sees your heart, He sees how much you love Him, and those around you."
Colby: "So, what I do to people here it does to Jesus?"
Me: "Yes. However you treat your brother or your sister, or the kid at school.... it's as if you were doing it to Jesus. Think about that. And every time you hurt your brother or your sister or someone else... Jesus takes that on Himself, too." All three kids were very quiet with that. That's a whole new way of looking at things.
Colby: "If I have just a little bit of love in my heart, is that enough that I can live in Heaven with Jesus?"
Me: ""It's not a test with a passing grade, Colby. You can't just 'sneak by just enough'. No matter how hard you try, you will never have enough love on your own to be able to be in the presence of almighty God. Jesus knows that. That's why He died for us. So that when we fall short, He takes that part of you on Himself. So, He takes your bad, you take His good, and it transforms you. It's called Sanctification. Making us Holy. Our job is to be open to that, and follow where Jesus leads us. He wants us with Him. We just have to stop resisting."
And then we went into an analogy, about how life, THIS life that we're leading right now... it's like we're in the womb. We're being formed, shaped, prepared, for a bigger, greater life. Some people just don't know it, and try to stay in the womb forever, and focus only on the womb, because they don't know about the world full of life and light and sounds and experiences outside of it. They can't imagine, even though there are glimpses of the world outside, even from inside the womb. They can hear their mother's voice, they can feel her touch, they are fed with her blood, through her body. We can know God in similar ways, if we pay attention. And just as a baby can't grow outside of the mother's womb, so we can't prepare ourselves for Heaven without the sustenance and grace that comes from God Himself.
Colby: "What happens to those babies who die before they're born? Do they go to Heaven?"
Me: "No one knows for absolutely sure, because the Bible doesn't talk about it. But we know that Jesus loves children, and that God is merciful, so we have every hope that they do. You have at least five brothers and sisters in Heaven, you know. Can you imagine if we had eight children in this family?"
Reagan: "My sister is in Heaven! The one that was with me!"
Me: "Yup. And you'll get to meet her someday! Won't that be wonderful?"
And then we prayed together. And all the fear of this scary world disappeared, and we were at peace.
Thank you, Lord, for this family, this home. Blessings. We've got some.
Last night, we reviewed the 10 Commandments, and then read about Judgement day. You'd think my kids had never heard about it before. And they were listening! And SHOCKED!!! What does this mean??? "If you do unto the least of my brethren, you do unto me?"
I told them "Some day, you ALONE will stand before Jesus, and He will ask you how you lived out His love to the world."
Colby asked, "Well? What am I supposed to say? What's the answer?"
Me: "You won't have to say anything. He already knows. There is no right answer. He sees your heart, He sees how much you love Him, and those around you."
Colby: "So, what I do to people here it does to Jesus?"
Me: "Yes. However you treat your brother or your sister, or the kid at school.... it's as if you were doing it to Jesus. Think about that. And every time you hurt your brother or your sister or someone else... Jesus takes that on Himself, too." All three kids were very quiet with that. That's a whole new way of looking at things.
Colby: "If I have just a little bit of love in my heart, is that enough that I can live in Heaven with Jesus?"
Me: ""It's not a test with a passing grade, Colby. You can't just 'sneak by just enough'. No matter how hard you try, you will never have enough love on your own to be able to be in the presence of almighty God. Jesus knows that. That's why He died for us. So that when we fall short, He takes that part of you on Himself. So, He takes your bad, you take His good, and it transforms you. It's called Sanctification. Making us Holy. Our job is to be open to that, and follow where Jesus leads us. He wants us with Him. We just have to stop resisting."
And then we went into an analogy, about how life, THIS life that we're leading right now... it's like we're in the womb. We're being formed, shaped, prepared, for a bigger, greater life. Some people just don't know it, and try to stay in the womb forever, and focus only on the womb, because they don't know about the world full of life and light and sounds and experiences outside of it. They can't imagine, even though there are glimpses of the world outside, even from inside the womb. They can hear their mother's voice, they can feel her touch, they are fed with her blood, through her body. We can know God in similar ways, if we pay attention. And just as a baby can't grow outside of the mother's womb, so we can't prepare ourselves for Heaven without the sustenance and grace that comes from God Himself.
Colby: "What happens to those babies who die before they're born? Do they go to Heaven?"
Me: "No one knows for absolutely sure, because the Bible doesn't talk about it. But we know that Jesus loves children, and that God is merciful, so we have every hope that they do. You have at least five brothers and sisters in Heaven, you know. Can you imagine if we had eight children in this family?"
Reagan: "My sister is in Heaven! The one that was with me!"
Me: "Yup. And you'll get to meet her someday! Won't that be wonderful?"
And then we prayed together. And all the fear of this scary world disappeared, and we were at peace.
Thank you, Lord, for this family, this home. Blessings. We've got some.
Thought of The Day, circa 200 AD
"Some people who think themselves naturally gifted don’t want to touch either philosophy or logic. They don’t even want to learn natural science. They demand bare faith alone—as if they wanted to harvest grapes right away without putting any work into the vine. We must prune, dig, trellis, and do all the other work. I think you’ll agree the pruning knife, the pickaxe, and the farmer’s tools are necessary for growing grapevines, so that they will produce edible fruit. And as in farming, so in medicine: the one who has learned something is the one who has practiced the various lessons, so that he can cultivate or heal. And here, too, I say you’re truly educated if you bring everything to bear on the truth. Taking what’s useful from geometry, music, grammar, and philosophy itself, you guard the Faith from assault."
— St. Clement of Alexandria
Sunday, September 7, 2014
And one More Quote of the Day, because it's Apropros
“Jesus promised his disciples three things—that they would be completely fearless, absurdly happy, and in constant trouble.”
G. K. Chesterton
G. K. Chesterton
Monday, September 1, 2014
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