Friday, March 6, 2009

Today’s text

Mark 8:34-38

[Jesus] called the people and his disciples to him and said, 'If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me. Anyone who wants to save his life will lose it; but anyone who loses his life for my sake, and for the sake of the gospel, will save it. What gain, then, is it for anyone to win the whole world and forfeit his life? And indeed what can anyone offer in exchange for his life? For if anyone in this sinful and adulterous generation is ashamed of me and of my words, the Son of man will also be ashamed of him when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels.

Reflection

I am not ashamed of you, Jesus, for you are the way of life, and I hunger for you fully to become my way, my walk and my journey.

You surrendered yourself to the holy purpose of God, the rule of compassion that you promised will appear and fill all that is.

Your soul was completely identified with God’s purpose in the world. Neither your heart nor mind turned right of left from this singular focus.

This is the way of life and freedom. This is how you free us from ourselves, our preoccupations with self and ease. You unite us with God’s purpose, first filling our lungs with the breath of your compassion that we know the mystery of your love.

Only then we can discover by fits and starts, almost in spite of ourselves, that our greatest joy and freedom is found in losing ourselves in your purpose, in giving ourselves to some expression of the work of your kingdom.

Only we must discover what it is to which our heart longs to be given. Just what is that brings joy and freedom to our souls when we surrender ourselves to it?

Where does a new self arise in us, liberated from self-loathing and condemnation, free from preoccupation with our performance, joyous, playful and far from the awful solemnity that weighs down the self and image we so carefully protect?

Given-ness to your labor, to those you love, is freedom. Only there do we discover the joy of true life, for those who loses their life for, Jesus, will find it.

Pr. David L. Miller