Carla, you're lucky to have such a wise friend. What he expresses is exactly something I need to discover. Jesus' way is the lowly way--a way I don't particularly like to go, but nevertheless is the way to life. I think it was Mother Teresa who said: "God is not looking for us to do great things. He wants us to do small things with great love."
I remember a wise friend (initials CEM) once saying “My goal is to become the most ordinary Christian I can.” Not bad! And when I compare myself to Christ, I can’t help but place myself in that category of ordinariness. I’m reminded of Brother Lawrence whose sole desire was to please God and to hourly seek his presence through prayer and glorification no matter what the humble chores he was engaged in.
The Sermon on the Mount is hard only because life is hard. The Sermon on the Mount is all about life. It’s about the life of the individual, and the life of the community. It’s about the life of the community of disciples, and the life of the human community. It’s about life in the village and life on the planet. It’s not about life as mere survival, but about abundant life.
A friend of mine likes to say, “Life is hard. But life is harder when you’re dumb.” He could be summarizing Jesus’ closing words in the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 7:24-27).
You can also summarize those closing words this way: when the storm hits, if you were smart and listened to Jesus, you will have built your life on a firm foundation. Otherwise, all bets are off.
If life is hard, so what? The alternative to life is death.
Carla, you're lucky to have such a wise friend. What he expresses is exactly something I need to discover. Jesus' way is the lowly way--a way I don't particularly like to go, but nevertheless is the way to life. I think it was Mother Teresa who said: "God is not looking for us to do great things. He wants us to do small things with great love."
I remember a wise friend (initials CEM) once saying “My goal is to become the most ordinary Christian I can.” Not bad! And when I compare myself to Christ, I can’t help but place myself in that category of ordinariness. I’m reminded of Brother Lawrence whose sole desire was to please God and to hourly seek his presence through prayer and glorification no matter what the humble chores he was engaged in.
Carla
Sent from my iPhone
The Sermon on the Mount is hard only because life is hard. The Sermon on the Mount is all about life. It’s about the life of the individual, and the life of the community. It’s about the life of the community of disciples, and the life of the human community. It’s about life in the village and life on the planet. It’s not about life as mere survival, but about abundant life.
A friend of mine likes to say, “Life is hard. But life is harder when you’re dumb.” He could be summarizing Jesus’ closing words in the Sermon on the Mount (Mt 7:24-27).
You can also summarize those closing words this way: when the storm hits, if you were smart and listened to Jesus, you will have built your life on a firm foundation. Otherwise, all bets are off.
If life is hard, so what? The alternative to life is death.