Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.
-Matthew 5:4
Jalauddin Rumi, a Persian mystical poet, wrote:
I saw grief drinking a cup of sorrow and called out, 'It tastes sweet, does it not?' 'You've caught me,' grief answered, 'and you've ruined my business, how can I sell sorrow when you know it's a blessing?'
The short answer is you can't. Jesus was driving at a very important lesson about life-grieving is a part of life. Someone said that the falls of our life provide us with the energy to propel ourselves to a higher level. That's what Jesus was saying about grief-don't get lost in it, don't pretend loss does not affect you-grieve so that you can find the comfort needed so that you can move forward.
How many times in your life have dark times of despair, such as some kind of accident, an illness, a financial disaster, a breakup in a relationship, a fire or flood, or a death propelled you into the stages of anguish, anger, denial, and then grief? Like most of us, you sink into sorrow and feel the need to tell everyone about your misfortune. Ultimately, after a long period of time you begin to rise above it and reach the state of acceptance.
There is something to learn right here, right now in the middle of sorrow. You can take this lesson and taste the sweet certainty in the mystery. You don't have to pretend that the tragedy is to be liked or welcomed, only to vow to use it to generate the energy to move to a higher place in your life. Only then will you find in sorrow a blessedness that by the grace of God brings comfort and hope.
Prayer
Heavenly Father, help me to place in your arms the grief of my moment or of my past that I may find in the bitterness of it all the sweet comfort of your grace through Jesus the Christ. Amen.
Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana
Monday, February 21, 2011
Monday, February 14, 2011
The Greatest of These Is Love
And now these three remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.
-1 Corinthians 13:13
This line from, perhaps, one of the best loved and read passages in scriptures speaks of an incredible force. Though 1 Corinthians 13 is read at many weddings, the love of which it speaks is not romantic love or friendship love but selfless, sacrificial love. It is the kind of love that God has for you and me, and the kind of love we aspire to have for humanity.
About this love the Jesuit philosopher Pierre Teilhard De Chardin wrote: Someday, after we have mastered the winds, the waves, the tide and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love.
Imagine, no one has seen wind but we do see its effects. We see how it powers windmills that convert the wind to energy. We don't see gravity, but we see its effects. Though we see the waves of water and the tide as it goes in and out, we don't see all that creates them. In a sense we don't see love in a person's heart, but sure can see its effects.
We are moving toward harnessing more and more of these natural inexhaustible energies for good. Why can we not do the same with this sacrificial love of which Paul wrote and Jesus spoke? We can and we have-though we struggle to sustain it. I've seen the energy of this love harnessed and turned loose to heal another person broken by life's tragedies. I've seen the energy of this love harnessed and loosed to reconcile people at odds with a wrong decision or misspoken word. I've seen the energy of this love harnessed and loosed when a couple whose marriage has been strained by broken faith work to bring it back together.
All it takes is a decision of the mind and hearts to unleash the power of God's Spirit in our souls and make possible meeting the very challenge we face in our life today. The beauty of it is that it can all begin with a simple prayer.
Prayer
God of love, reign in my heart this day. Enable me to face with the power of your sacrificial love the barriers that may separate me from another. Enable me by the power of your sacrificial love to let go of the hurts I have been carrying for too long. Unleash in me that same power to love which was in Christ Jesus, in whose name I pray. Amen.
C. Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana
-1 Corinthians 13:13
This line from, perhaps, one of the best loved and read passages in scriptures speaks of an incredible force. Though 1 Corinthians 13 is read at many weddings, the love of which it speaks is not romantic love or friendship love but selfless, sacrificial love. It is the kind of love that God has for you and me, and the kind of love we aspire to have for humanity.
About this love the Jesuit philosopher Pierre Teilhard De Chardin wrote: Someday, after we have mastered the winds, the waves, the tide and gravity, we shall harness for God the energies of love.
Imagine, no one has seen wind but we do see its effects. We see how it powers windmills that convert the wind to energy. We don't see gravity, but we see its effects. Though we see the waves of water and the tide as it goes in and out, we don't see all that creates them. In a sense we don't see love in a person's heart, but sure can see its effects.
We are moving toward harnessing more and more of these natural inexhaustible energies for good. Why can we not do the same with this sacrificial love of which Paul wrote and Jesus spoke? We can and we have-though we struggle to sustain it. I've seen the energy of this love harnessed and turned loose to heal another person broken by life's tragedies. I've seen the energy of this love harnessed and loosed to reconcile people at odds with a wrong decision or misspoken word. I've seen the energy of this love harnessed and loosed when a couple whose marriage has been strained by broken faith work to bring it back together.
All it takes is a decision of the mind and hearts to unleash the power of God's Spirit in our souls and make possible meeting the very challenge we face in our life today. The beauty of it is that it can all begin with a simple prayer.
Prayer
God of love, reign in my heart this day. Enable me to face with the power of your sacrificial love the barriers that may separate me from another. Enable me by the power of your sacrificial love to let go of the hurts I have been carrying for too long. Unleash in me that same power to love which was in Christ Jesus, in whose name I pray. Amen.
C. Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana
Monday, February 7, 2011
Benefitting from Regrets
Someone has said that a life with no regrets is no life at all. I think what they were saying is that regrets go with a person who seeks to live as much in the moment as possible. I believe that is why Jesus spent so much time with Peter. Peter was a man of the moment. Such was the case when he tried to walk on the water or exclaimed that he was willing to die for Jesus or that he alone would be loyal. We now know that he was able to do none of these—regrets that caused him to weep bitterly (Matthew 26:75).
What kind of servant would Peter have been without those moments of passion? What kind of servant would he have been without his reach being greater than his grasp? The gospel might not have spread as far and wide as it did.
To be sure each of us has made mistakes along the way, and many of them quite regrettable. There are things we wish we would not have said, or hurt people we wish we had not hurt or made bad investments, consumed toxic substances, lost some competitive contests, and even been lost in our own self-importance. But perhaps the greatest of our regrets are those things we didn’t do. I would imagine Peter’s greatest regret was not having acknowledged to the servant-girl around the fire over which he was warming his hands that he knew the man of Nazareth (Matthew 26:26-75).
I look at the people in the Bible with such huge regrets that became the singers of God’s song—Joseph, David, Mary Magdalene, and Paul. They are all proof that regrets don’t have to control your life. Each day offers an opportunity to leave the regrets behind and move on. It is most often our regrets that prove to be the things from which wisdom grows. Life, real life lived earnestly and passionately will involve some regrets, but these regrets need not hold us captive, but brought into the presence of God’s grace can liberate us the more to be God’s servants.
Prayer
Heavenly Father I turn my regrets over to you. Help me to learn from them that I may serve you with humility and wisdom. In Jesus name. Amen.
Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana
What kind of servant would Peter have been without those moments of passion? What kind of servant would he have been without his reach being greater than his grasp? The gospel might not have spread as far and wide as it did.
To be sure each of us has made mistakes along the way, and many of them quite regrettable. There are things we wish we would not have said, or hurt people we wish we had not hurt or made bad investments, consumed toxic substances, lost some competitive contests, and even been lost in our own self-importance. But perhaps the greatest of our regrets are those things we didn’t do. I would imagine Peter’s greatest regret was not having acknowledged to the servant-girl around the fire over which he was warming his hands that he knew the man of Nazareth (Matthew 26:26-75).
I look at the people in the Bible with such huge regrets that became the singers of God’s song—Joseph, David, Mary Magdalene, and Paul. They are all proof that regrets don’t have to control your life. Each day offers an opportunity to leave the regrets behind and move on. It is most often our regrets that prove to be the things from which wisdom grows. Life, real life lived earnestly and passionately will involve some regrets, but these regrets need not hold us captive, but brought into the presence of God’s grace can liberate us the more to be God’s servants.
Prayer
Heavenly Father I turn my regrets over to you. Help me to learn from them that I may serve you with humility and wisdom. In Jesus name. Amen.
Mac Hamon, Senior Pastor
Castleton United Methodist Church
Indianapolis, Indiana
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