SUGGESTED READING: MARK 4: 35-41
As members of our Christian
Community we must always remember to greet each other with love, admiration,
and true friendship. We should never take our relationships for granted.
Everyone is as important to the survival and continuation of our community and
when one brother leaves, the whole body feels the loss. While here, all members
should contribute their presence and make their presence known so as to
experience fully Jesus Christ in their lives. At the same time, through
individual members, others will be able to experience Christ. Faith can be a
very personal thing but there is also a public aspect to it. All of us are
constantly on display as we serve at witnesses to the Living Gospel and do
Jesus’ work here on this earth.
All around us the world
serves as evidence to God’s greatness. Being a part of His creation means that
we are sharers in this. We too become great when we recognize and accept God
into our lives. Being guided by His love will allow us to be transformed into a
new creation where whatever we said and did previously is forgotten. It becomes
more exhilarating when we understand that this is not a onetime event but something
that occurs continuously when we actually listen to what God is telling us and
allow him to show us the way. This can be difficult at first but becomes easier
when we practice our faith and live it. This is what God wants for us. He wants
us to live our lives with Him and for Him. How can we not do this when he is
indeed our father and the one who loves us beyond any comprehension of love
that we have ever had.
One of the things that
constantly get in the way of our relationship with God is the way that we
minimize Him. Almost everyone in the world will acknowledge that there is a God
yet the majority of peoples still refuse to allow this testament to have the
impact that it should have. If God is amongst us, should we not react to His
presence? Should we not surrender to His will instead of struggling to dismiss
Him? There is an irony here. Even the most devout Christian will ignore God and
instead choose to exercise his or her own will above His. This is part of our
fallen nature and something that must be overcome in order to deepen our
understanding and love for Him. Then we can be truly free to experience our
lives correctly.
The Gospel Reading today
reflects just how foolish we can be. The disciples, who already had witnessed
the many miracles and wonders with Jesus, were still lacking in their full
understanding of who Jesus was and what he could do. In their humanness, they
minimized him and their experiences with him. Being confronted with their
impending doom, the disciples were overcome with great fear. They immediately
lost all trust in Jesus and rebuked him. They brought him down to a most human
level; judging him in their own terms for not sharing in their fears and
accusing him of having no concern for their safety. Instead of turning to him,
they turned away. Instead of running to him for safety they were baffled by his
apparent indifference. Christ is not indifferent. Christ is always with us.
When we recognize this, every obstacle and every fear can be dismissed as
easily as when Christ calmed the sea. He is that great. It is up to us to
recognize that greatness and love.
Deacon Tom
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