Reflections on Psalm 130

"For with Yahweh is faithful love
with him is generous ransom;
and he will ransom Israel
from all its sins."

There si nothing greater than the love of God. God's love will take away my sins, will liberate me from fear and oppression. All I have to do is call on God and embrace God's ways, the ways of love, and I will be set free. I see the face of God in everyone I meet. There are some people who exude love constantly, freely and easily - Sara Wilkie, Michael Jones, but the fact is that the love of God is present in everyone and comes out at various points in time at various ways through acts of kindness and goodness.

God's love is with me always and my mission is to access it, let it fill me and infuse me, then spread it out to the world in joyful ways. This is why I exist.

Reflections on Psalm 130

"If you kept a record of our sins
Lord, who could stand their ground?
But with you is forgiveness,
that you might be revered."

I am blessed because I know I am forgiven. My humanness is forgiven and I am able to continue to grow and change and unfold in the lov eof God because I have the promise of a new day and a new beginning. I hope I am forgiven by family, friends, and all people, but I know I am forgiven, always, by God. God knows my heart annd knows my intentions and actions and the gulf between the two. I am accountable most to God. I am am faithful, loving and true to the word of God, I will serve my family, friends, and all other people well.]

Likewise, God's forgiveness is a model for my own forgiveness toward family, friends and all people. It is so easy to hold grudges, to remember the hurts. God's forgiving nature and love reminds me to let go of those hurts, forgive all their humanness and look forward to the promise of a new day. I am blessed more when I forgive others than when they forgive me. I am able to actively love, and give when I forgive.

Reflections on Lam 3: 21-26

'Yahweh is all I have' I say to myself
'and so I shall put my hope in him'

At the end of the day I know that I exist to serve the will of God. I know that this is what I rely on to sustain me and give my life meaning - that this is the need/desire/commandment to love. I think, I exist, therefore I love.

Now, my challenge is to do this every day with kindness and patience and without judgment. That is tricky. I think I get better as I get older and wiser, but it sure is still tricky :-)

Reflections on Lam 3: 21-26

"Surely Yahweh's mercies are not over,
his deeds of faithful love not exhausted;
every morning they are renewed;
great is his faithfulness.

There is no end to the love of God. There is only an end to my ability to accept God's love and live it, spreading it to others. However, I constantly have the ability to renew myself in God's love and continue the will of God, which is to bring that love to everyone I meet. Absolutely everyone, without condition, especially the people who hate me, despise me, mock me, ridicule me, challenge me, and generally make my life difficult. This is a pretty difficult challenge, but people do it every day and I can do it too.

Reflections on Lk 18: 9-14

"I thank you, God, that I am not grasping, unjust, and adulterous like everyone else, and particularly that I am not like this tax collector here."

I constantly compare myself to others. Who they are, what they do and what they have. I am constantly making value judgements about others peoples' behavior and motives and comparing it to my own. This is not only unhealthy, but inhibits my ability to form true relationships with others based on love, care, and mutual respect.

Lord, I pray that you help me to lower my gaze and open my heart. That you allow me to serve without judgement and to offer myself as a friend and support to others in the way the tax collector offered his prayer to you. May I live as one who loves and gives without condition or judgement.

Reflections on Lk 18: 9-14

"He spoke the following parable to some people who prided themselves on being upright and despised everyone else."

I have fallen into the trap, into the false sense of security of despising everyone else. I have fallen into the trap of believing that t I am better than others, that I am superior to others, That if I only "bring people along" than they'll finally see things my way and I'll get what I want.

Jesus, let me be more compassionate, more sympathetic, more empathetic. St. Francis, help me to understand rather than be understood. Help me to care about others, not use others as tools for my own selfish ends, for my own gain. Help me remember that the glory of all good things goes to God, that I am an agent of the Lord, and that I claim no independent validation for my good works, short of doing the will of God and justifying the glory of God.

Reflections on Lk 18: 9-14

I have very much been the Pharisee in this parable. I haev battled asuperiority complex my entire life. I continue to struggle to reach out to all people, in my private and public life, without condescending. I need to only remember the love Jesus teaches when I think about how I ought to treat people. I realize, too, that superiority is really insecurity, and that real, true superiority is available to me only when I love God and love my fellow human beings. I have something to learn from everyone with whom I interact. Everyone and everything have something to teach me if I just listen.