Monday, July 26, 2010

On The Edge Of Good And Evil






Good and Evil are sometimes so close that we have a hard time knowing what to do in life. We can only seek and trust God to show us the way to go. A close friend's daughter is on a missionary visit to an African country. Obviously, she is exposed to many things she is not used to seeing in America. On her blog (click on this posting title above) she tells about little children with bowls or containers being all around the markets and other public places begging. The containers are used to hold the money they beg for on behalf of Islamic leaders and teachers to whom their parents have given them. The leaders exist on this money collected and if a child comes back to them with no money, they are severely beaten and not fed. My friend's daughter choses to give money to each child that asks. Her goodness overcomes the evil, in that the children will be saved from beatings and starvation. So it is in our lives in this World. We are constantly challenged as to how to react to things around us. We are in conflict to judge or not to judge, complain or not complain, help or not help, forgive or not forgive, sin or not sin, give or not give. This human predicament is only resolved through a close relationship with God in our daily living. He will guide us if we allow him to do so. This is our ultimate choice: to trust Him or not trust Him.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

COACH GOD


In reading quotes from Thomas Merton recently (click on title above to view), I was reminded of the simple fact that God is inside of me in my spirit. As my creator, he is intimately with me and interested in me. He loves me as a work that he intentionally created. The "free will" that He gave me upon my creation allows Him to stay on the sideline while I play the game of life. Like most sideline coaches He runs out on the field sometimes in enthusiasm or dismay. I must learn to understand His joy and His dismay and react properly to both. As He continues to coach me through His Spirit like a worldly coach, I must seek to understand what He envisions for me in the game of my life. For me to reach my potential is important to God, my coach. He sent His Son to help me know the rules of the life game and the way it should be played. If I ignore the fact that I can't play the game without His coaching, then I am alone and out of my league. There will be no championships. Unlike our worldly coaches, God resides in us and leaving the locker room doesn't separate us from Him. God is a package deal in that He is also our Cheerleader.