Imagine
dropping a shaker of salt and God says, “Pick a grain of salt, any grain.”
No
matter what grain of salt you choose, God says, "I am there."
Then,
God says, “Pick a place, a situation, a circumstance in which you might find
yourself.”
No
matter what you choose, God says
That should make us weak in the knees.
We
come to crossroads, places, situations, and circumstance on a daily basis. There
we must make a choice that points us in our life direction. What direction do you
choose? Remember, no matter how small (grain of salt) or how large (life
direction), God is there.
Each
and every life has a direction. God is there as we make our choice and choose our
direction. One brings us closer to God. The others lead us away. Those are
choices we make every day in wisdom or folly.
Choices
that St. Paul warned the Ephesians about, “Watch carefully how you live, not as
foolish persons but as wise.”
Friends,
we are made by God for good things. Those are choices made in wisdom. We do bad
things. Those are choices made in foolishness. Even those who are supposed to
be our shepherds and leaders live in folly.
In
good choices or in bad choices, God is there, wholly present in each breath,
each thought and feeling, each turn of our head. And, God is always inviting us
to reflect on the choices and direction of our life. God is present, no matter
what choice you make. Even if the choice is not God’s will, even if the choice
is sin.
St.
Paul continued his warning do not make bad choices. “Do not continue in
ignorance, but try to understand what the will of the Lord is. Do not get drunk
on wine and live in wickedness, but be filled with the Spirit.”
Bishop,
priest, deacon, or layperson, sin is focus only on our self, our ego. That
ego-self is a small and restricted place with no room for anyone else or for
God. We don’t see God in our life or put God in our choices or see God in
anything. That is what the devil wants. That is where evil thrives in the
absence of God when we focus only on ourselves and the folly it brings.
Knowing
God requires closeness. Having a true relationship with God through Christ is transformational.
For some, the ego-self is the only intimacy we know. The ego only seeks
closeness with self-thoughts, self-needs, and self-desires. We come to resemble
that which we know. . .
Those
living totally in the foolishness magnified by the ego-self encourage by evil,
only know self; forgetting God, forgetting Christ. That has happened to so many
in the Church.
Focus
on the self-ego and not on Christ gets us all in trouble. We make unwise and
foolish choices. We begin to lose our Christ-self. We begin to lose the Christ
in us and the Christ we see in others.
Our
center becomes shaky, not because we don’t believe but because our belief lacks
depth and strength that depth brings.
Many
are shaky. Many will fall. Many have fallen.
That
is why Jesus said to the crowds: "I am the living
bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever;
and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world."
Don’t
settle for anything less than the truth of your Christ-self. We cannot know our
Christ-self unless we make the choice to know Christ in an intimate way. That
intimacy is transformational.
Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood remains in me and I in
him. Just as the living Father sent me and I have life because of the Father,
so also the one who feeds on me will have life because of me.
It
is a choice that brings us to prayer, to praise, to thanksgiving. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. We begin to
know our Christ-self. Wisdom has built her house….
Forsake foolishness
that you may live…. Friends
live with the wisdom of awareness to see in each little thing, every place, every
situation, and each circumstance God’s presence. Live so others recognize God’s
presence in their lives, through our lives.
You keep him in
perfect peace whose mind stays on you. (Is 26:3) Life has direction,
what direction will you choose - wisdom or folly?
Remember,
we are made by God for good things. Go and do them. Be good, be holy and preach
the Gospel in every choice you make, the way you live and the way you love one
another. Amen.
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