Loading...Dear Friends in Christ,
Do you look at a glass as half empty or half full? When I was a kid, we could only get one television station, so we watched whatever was on. Sunday morning and afternoon were filled with educational and motivational shows like "Industry on Parade," "Bishop Fulton Sheen," and Norman Vincent Peale's "The Power of Positive Thinking." I usually was on the floor playing with my cars or reading something. Even though I was not an active listener, some of those programs must have sunk in. I have always tried to think positively about people and things. I have counseled people to expect the best, but prepare for the worst in every situation. Being a Christian means expecting the best of everyone. To treat everyone as we want to be treated. It is very difficult to do. It is something that we have to work on every day.
I read somewhere that we are in captivity, a spiritual captivity. A spiritual captivity tempts us to cling to the past and to complain about the present instead of moving into the future with confidence. The author continues with a series of thought provoking questions: What would it be like if just one person instead of complaining about things that are not perfect in the church or at home or at work instead claimed the promises of God and praised God for all the good things that he is working on in our midst even now? What would it be like if we, instead of moaning about how 1 out of 3 marriages fail, we thanked God for how 2 out of 3 work? Or instead of getting agitated about how few people helped out when asked to help out, we got excited about how many people help out all the time, often without being asked? Or, instead of complaining about all the bad news that we can so easily complain about, we spoke of the good things that God is doing in lives all around us, all the time.
What would it be like, what would our church be like and eventually our whole community be like, if instead of sweating about the little stuff that goes wrong, we really got hold of the promises of God, and looked to the light instead of the darkness, and began delighting in all the little stuff that goes right as signs of God's faithfulness towards us and towards the world he has made?
In this post-Christian world, I bemoan the fact that the love that Jesus taught is not in favor anymore. I'm afraid that too many of us who call ourselves Christians do not practice what Jesus preached. Jesus said not to judge others, and we spend most of our time doing just that. Jesus said to love one another unconditionally, and we spend too much of our energy hating those who are different from us. Jesus only got angry when he was dealing with the good church people of his day. Jesus was killed by good church people; slavery was condoned by good church people; good church people looked the other way when six million people were killed before and during World War II.
Going to church, memorizing scripture, singing praises does not make us Christians. The is only half of it. The other half is what we do when we are not in church. Jesus said we are to feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, care for the sick, and to love one another. That is positive action. Is your glass half full or half empty? Or is it full of love for God and for all of his children?
In Christ's Love,
Father Russ
