The heart of worship

Today's gospel reading is so powerful, and in a world where so many things bombard a person (not only the TV and Internet, but sometimes friends, acquaintances, enemies, family members too) its inevitable we sometimes fall short (of expectations), or fall apart.

Jesus said,
(paraphrased) There is absolutely no reason to be fearful and no need to rehearse what you might say.
“I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute.”

That's really powerful and meaningful to me. Think about it: if his words are true, there is so much that we are holding on to, our baggage, our burdens, that doesn't need to be hanging around.

I believe he speaks from the heart of Wisdom, that he himself wants to give each of us this wisdom if only we ask, and trust.

on facebook

the web of connections meant for communication can also draw us into its snare and entangle us in hopeless anxiety, leaving us to struggle out of the mire, ironically filled with images of smiles.

I watched a podcast today by Hillsong. A pastor was talking about using what we have in our hands to bring alive what we have in our hearts. He said one reason we sometimes only look at a distant dream and detest what we already have is because what we have reminds us of...us. The present drudgery may be too much a reflection of ourselves, and we prefer the hopefulness of the designs in our hearts.

Yet, what we have in our hands now are also gifts from God to treasure, so that we use them to journey towards the goal, the calling and purpose, we were made for.

the shepherd and the blur-sotong sheep

hey hey, I'm back, after 11 months.
I just felt I had something to say out loud, something to...share?

Such as...have you ever wondered if some people in 'the crowd', frequently referred to in the Gospels as the multitudes standing in wide open spaces, following Jesus around, crossing rivers and lakes to catch sight of him, waiting around for bread and fish....had it ever crossed your mind that some of them actually felt insulted when Jesus went away on his own to pray, and said to their friends, "What a selfish man! Only thinking about himself, when so many people are waiting for him"? And the friends would agree...

And then they would turn around and go back to their own, old lives. Could Jesus really have let them go? You mean, he actually put prayer (and time-out) above their salvation, their healing?

This got me thinking (because all along I had thought, believed, there must be some way to keep everyone satisfied) that it's just not possible to split yourself (or your soul, unlike Lord Voldemort) into many many pieces and give everyone something.

I mean, if he did not work that miracle of pleasing the masses, there must be some reason...

Maybe because human need is so varied, and human desire is just insatiable.

And maybe I was looking at it the wrong way all along. It's not that he placed himself (solitude) above others (their healing); in order to place them above himself, he had to give God the highest place, and constantly go back to converse in the silence. Or else Jesus would have burnt out with exhaustion, dissolved in self-pity and cried out in disillusionment.

I sense I'm going through one hell'va lesson.

Amen.

PS Hallo again to whoever is reading this!