Take Root Devotions

Words Of Hope and Faith

 

"I desire neither death nor life. Were the Lord to offer me a choice, I would not choose. I will only what he wills, and I am pleased with whatever he does."

St. Therese

 

The Dance

 

 

I recently heard of a G. K. Chesterton comment on an idea from Dante, that life is a dance and not a race.  Like a dance life has its rhythms.  Life has order, repetitive movements, community involvement, and partners.  It requires a large investment of time, energy and resources from a body of people.  There needs to be musicians, a host with a large room, special clothes, practice,  food, catering, management, etc.  A dance requires order and people working together to produce a  wonderful event.  It is a production of beauty, a coordination of skills and labor in order to have fun, and make memories.  An event where everybody does what they do so that everybody enjoys it.  It makes a moment in time.  It doesn't really make a product.  There is no single winner.  When the participants leave they take only memories.  There is no glory for any certain one unless everyone has a good time.

A race, however, is centered upon the skill and performance of individuals.  One person gets a crown only because he/she defeats all other entries.  A race is a mad rush to defeat others.  Where in a dance you are expected to enjoy graceful moments with others, in a race you are expected to shut out others.  And, spectators at a race find joy in cheering for the defeat of all but the one they bet on.

As Christians, people of hope and faith, our role is to prove our love for God by the way we love others.  In this life we are not the only ones at the dance.  We must make memories by gracefully interacting with others in the love of God.

 

Louis Templeman

 

 

 

Words Of Hope and Faith

 

"Oh, how well I know that happiness is not found in the things around us. It is found in the secrecy of the soul."

St. Therese, The Little Flower

 

Words Of Hope and Faith

 

 

O Lord, whose way is perfect, 
help us, we pray, 
always to trust in your goodness, 
that walking with you 
and following you in all simplicity, 
we may possess quiet and contented minds 
and may cast all our care on you, who cares for us.
Grant this, O Lord, 
for your dear Son's sake, Jesus Christ. Amen.

 

- Christina Rossetti

  

 

Words Of Hope and Faith

 

"He that seeks here any other thing than purely God and the salvation of his soul, will find nothing but trouble and sorrow."

St. Therese, the Little Flower

 

God Knows We Need The Eggs

 

Why are religious people such hypocrites?  Two thousand years ago a rabbi wrote that 90% of the world’s hypocrites could be found in Jerusalem at Passover. Today, the same joke could be applied to the church at Christmas or Easter.  Why is it so easy to don the mask of hypocrisy?  There must be a payoff.

Once there was a poor family with a crazy son who acted like a chicken.  A local doctor heard about it, became curious, and visited the family.  He interviewed the father.

The father said, “Yes, the boy always acted strangely.  Soon as he was old enough to walk he acted like a chicken.  It seemed natural enough to him.  He did a good imitation but we knew something was wrong.”

“Why is it you never got the boy any professional help?” the doctor asked.

The father was embarrassed and stuttered a bit.  He held out his arms to indicate the run-down state of his personal property.  “Look, Doctor, things is pretty tough and God knows we need the eggs.”

What does this joke tell us?  Simply this, sometimes we put up with bad behavior because we enjoy the rewards.  Hypocrisy is terrible behavior but the rewards are thoroughly enjoyable.

What is the definition of a hypocrite?  The ancient root of the word indicated an actor playing a role on stage.  The word, especially in ancient Jewish communities, easily morphed into the sin of pretense - pretending you are something you are not.  Jesus said:

            Beware of the yeast of the Pharisees, that is, their hypocrisy."    Luke 12: 1, RSV

Early Christian leaders hated the sin of hypocrisy so much that they forbade acting as a Christian profession.  They wanted no pretense.  Believers must be transparent.  Clear.  No shadow of deceit.

Many people brag about their sins.  They proudly tell stories of drunken escapades; of profligate fornications; drug dealings; cheating; thefts; even, murders.  But, no one brags about what a good hypocrite they are.  It is one sin that demands total secrecy, total darkness.  Hypocrisy is a sin that once exposed finds zero tolerance.  We try to hide it from others and even ourselves.  We are ashamed to come clean.  Yet, we desire to appear righteous.

What are the eggs of the hypocrite?  1.  The good opinions of others.  2. Power, influence in the church.  3. The “atta boys” that come with prestige.  4.  The pleasure of judging others.  Certainly, other benefits could be named but the point is:  we become hypocrites because we crave these “rewards.”

We mistakenly believe we are no more than what someone else thinks of us.  So, we act false in order to manipulate their opinions of us.  Being popular with others satisfies that need we have to feel like worthwhile individuals.  We want to believe our lives have purpose and meaning so we live in the opinions and imaginations of others.  Trouble with this is it is sin and ultimately destroys the soul.  Paul condemns it in 2 Timothy 3: 4, 5:

        . . . treacherous, reckless, swollen with conceit, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of                                        God, holding to the outward forms of godliness but denying its power.  RSV

These are also eggs in the hypocrite’s basket:  treachery, recklessness, conceit, love (or worship) of pleasure and the outward shows of godliness.  These give the illusion of satisfaction but these eggs are toxic.  They attract the honor that comes from people but not the honor that comes from God.  God offers power to be clean, whole, transparent, and unashamed.  Power to love. Power to serve.  The power of a meaningful and endless life.  God hates hypocrisy.  It unseats him.  It puts the honor and opinions of others above that of God’s.  It is a form of idolatry.

The eternal city that Christians hope for has city walls as “clear as glass” and city streets as “transparent as glass” (Revelation21: 18, 21, RSV).  It will be inhabited by people who are true and not false, who are humble and transparent without the shadow of hypocrisy.  We become hypocrites because we need to satisfy an inner hunger.  Listen to what Jesus said:

            What father among you, if his son asks for . . . an egg, will give him a scorpion?                                                     If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more                                      will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”  Luke 11: 9-13.  RSV                            

 

Perhaps we should be encouraged to ask for God’s desires for our lives and for the power of the Holy Spirit so we may abandon ourselves to his will.  Do you think God would refuse such a request?  God knows what kind of eggs we need.

 

Gano Reinhardt

 

Words Of Hope and Faith

 

  ‘Not to share one’s goods with the poor is to rob them and to deprive them of life. It is not our goods that we possess, but theirs’

Saint John Chrysostom

Words Of Hope and Faith

 

God our heavenly Father, 

when the thought of you 
wakes in our hearts, 
let its awakening 
not be like a startled bird 
that flies about in fear. 
Instead, let it be like a child 
waking from sleep 
with a heavenly smile. 
Amen.

 

- Søren Kierkegaard

 

 

Words Of Hope and Faith

 

"Nothing is sweeter than to think well of others."

St. Therese of Lisieux

 

Balancing Good Dad Against Bad Dad

 

 

I recently remembered an incident of my Dad reacting to my mother cutting her leg while shaving. It was a rather ugly looking cut with a lot of blood running down her shin. It was nothing more than an incidental moment in my past but a rather troubling memory.

He swore vociferously and loudly. He berated my mother with names like "Idiot" and "Stupid," and then proceeded to shout at her; how she should have shaved her legs more carefully, or maybe, she shouldn't be so vain as to think any one cared about her legs. And, so on. He made a circle through the house while yelling at her; pacing down the hall, turning into the living room, and completing the circuit by stomping through the dining room and kitchen.

He demanded she not leave blood all over the place because she was not the only one who used the bathroom. Anger and embarrassment were etched on her expression as she stood in the door of the bathroom with a pencil width of liquid red running down her leg, separating in little rivulets below her ankle and pooling around the sole of her foot. As Dad complained about her ruining a good wash cloth, she began to staunch the flow by pressing the cool, wet cloth to the wound.

I don't remember what she said as she screamed and defended herself. Dad's complaint disintegrated into cussing and muttering. He soon left to go get some beer. He became scared and weak at the sight of blood. Before the door slammed shut he demanded she have the mess cleaned up before he returned.

Mom didn't cry. She just bandaged her wound after she got the bleeding slowed down. Then she cleaned up the mess in the bath tub and on the floor. Neither of them seemed to know I was standing there, slacked-jawed as I observed this drama. I may as well have been invisible.

In many ways Dad was a real piece of work. I don’t really think he acted that way outside the home. More than likely, he was just imitating what he learned in his childhood home. Just before they reached their thirtieth year of marriage Mom divorced Dad. Of all the things that ever happened to Dad this one thing did the most to motivate him to change his life.

He got sober. He attended Alcoholics Anonymous faithfully for a little over a year. That one year was all he felt he needed. He was never inebriated again. He developed his spiritual side and attended church with an old friend for a couple of years until he felt he had that down. He read a daily devotional and had a private practice of prayer. He became content that he had become a pretty good man. The only demons that seemed to bother him were his regrets. But, who doesn’t have regrets?

My brother recently told me a story about Dad that indicated he had not entirely eradicated his old behavior pattern. He and his second wife used to travel with his sister and her husband, each couple to their own modern, comfortable RV. Once, just outside of Las Vegas, Dad and my step-mother got into an argument. Dad ended the argument by kicking his wife out of the RV. She showed up at her sister-in-law’s camp site in her night clothes with her suitcase in hand. It took several days of his sister’s cajoling and his wife’s promises before he fitted her back into his itinerary. Dad may have been what the AA community calls a “dry drunk.” Not drinking, but still acting like an addict.

I have begun to deal with my bad memories of Dad by balancing them with good memories. Dad could be very social, practical and helpful. He had friends that stretched back to his school days. I could talk to him about things that I’d never bring up to most people. I once made a joke about my burning, itching anus which was irritated by fairly regular bouts of diarrhea. He laughed with me but then said, “You know, that’s not really funny. That will make you miserable.”

He got serious and gave me some diet and hygiene advice that has given me years of comfort from my complaint. He could be wise and kind.

So, whenever I remember the “bad Dad” I take a few breaths and balance it out with better memories. None of us are just bad. We are all a mixture of light and dark. A good friend once told me, “Even the greatest of men cast a dark shadow.”

 

Gano Reinhardt