Monday, August 18, 2008

Daily Office Reflection:Being Dead No More

Psalms 106:1-1-18 * 106:19-48; Judges 17:1-13; Acts 7:44-8:1a; John 5:19-29

I consider myself a pretty faithful person. Faithful to friends, to family, to my employer, to the Church, and to God. Nevertheless, that faithfulness does not mean that I never have doubts, or that I don't get depressed at times. Not clinically depressed, but just "down" about life sometimes. There are times when I can just come out of this kind of funk quickly and there are other times where a malaise sets in from which I have to affirmatively struggle my way out. There is no set trick that can lift that cloud from me: sometimes it is simply reading, other times it is a good workout, other times it is painting or some other creative endeavor, and at times it is simply being able to talk to a friend about that feeling. When I was younger, it was easy to forget about prayer when I was down in the dumps. Not so much now, although prayer is not a panacea for all things, it is a helpful tool in the arsenal.

When I come out the other side of that malaise, besides feeling better, I always feel much more alive. I think this is analogous to Jesus saying today I tell you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For having Jesus as our Savior, having him in our lives, a part of our lives, walking with us on the journey through this life, makes us dead no more. When we are alive with Christ, we are alive to new possibilities and new ways to see and interact with the world. Not everything is perfect, life will never be that. But having Christ in our life, with us on the journey, makes those dark moments and times an easier burden to live through and find our way to the other side.
jfd+

Copyright 2008, John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.

No comments:

Post a Comment