Psalms 78:1-39 * 78:40-72; Esther 5:1-14, or Judith 8:9-17, 9:1,7-10; Acts 18:12-28; Luke 5:15-22Our senior warden likes to remind us that he is a pleaser: that he likes to please people. He tells us that being the middle child in his family he has always been the peacemaker and that has morphed into wanting to please people. Being a middle child myself, I can understand those sentiments and that drive.
As a child I loved when I did something correctly and my parents told me they were pleased. To some extent, that is still true today in both my personal and my professional life. Good job! Well done! I am pleased with what you have accomplished. Those are all words that strike a chord deep within me and provides me with some strength to continue on. I wonder what Jesus felt like when this disembodied voice from heaven spoke to him saying well done, I am pleased with you my son. After all, Jesus was fully human as well as fully divine, he must have felt some pleasure deep within him. A clicking into place for him that he was doing the correct thing, that he was starting on the correct path: being the embodiment of God's love for the world. Wouldn't it be lovely if we all had that re-enforcement in our lives? We can and we do: we just don't always know it or recognize it.
jfd+
Copyright 2008, John F. Dwyer. All Rights Reserved.
John, thanks for these daily reflections; they are wonderful and earthy and deep and just great! I hope to see you soon. (I also love the Trotter Bowl pic!)
ReplyDeletePeace,
Peter Carey+