Ministry Musing

By Donna Kelly

Life today seems so full of anger, mistrust, and anxiety. Our country has become extremely polarized; we seem to be developing into a people who draw lines in the sand between “us” and “them” and refuse to welcome others who see things differently than we do. But even more concerning, we sometimes forget to love like Jesus has called us to. In Matthew 25, Jesus tells a story of how when we feed the hungry, give a drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, welcome the stranger, care for the sick or visit the prisoner, we are doing it to him, and when we refuse, we are also refusing him.

But sometimes we let feat overwhelm us and allow power, security, control and self-sufficiency to become our principal values and believe that our way or point of view is not only the best way, but the only way.

So how do we wipe out those lines in the sand, or our idea that those who hold a different opinion or value system are enemies? How can we mend broken hearts and lives and learn to live in harmony again? Well, in Matthew 5 Jesus challenges us, “I’m

telling you to love your enemies…Let them bring out the best in you, not the worst. When someone gives you a hard time, respond with the energies of prayer, for then you are working out of your trues selves, your God-given selves…You’re kingdom subjects.

Now live like it. Live out your God-created identity. Live generously and graciously toward others, the way God lives toward you.” (The Message)

This prayer of St. Francis of Assisi calls us to live as Jesus taught:

     Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.

     Where there is hatred, let me bring love.

     Where there is offence, let me bring pardon.

     Where there is discord, let me bring union.

     Where there is error, let me bring truth.

     Where there is doubt, let me bring faith.

     Where there is despair, let me bring hope.

     Where there is darkness, let me bring your light.

     Where there is sadness, let me bring joy.

     O Master, let me not seek as much to be consoled as to console,

     to be understood as to understand, to be loved as to love,

     for it is in giving that one receives, it is in self-forgetting that one finds,

     it is in pardoning that one is pardoned,

     it is in dying that one is raised to eternal life.

Donna Kelly

email Donna at: donna@sotpmail.com