“Be careful how you live …be wise. Understand what the word of the Lord is”, are words from the epistle this morning. What struck me when I read them is: How can we become wise? The words “The Spirit remained on Jesus” give us a clue as to how we can become wise and understand. After He died, Jesus told his disciples when he left them that he was sending His Holy Spirit to them –to us.
Do we have any idea how the Spirit helps us? This Spirit has been referred to as Paraclete from the Greek and Advocate from the Latin. They both have similar meanings of “along side of” and “to call.” An advocate is someone who stands alongside of us in support. Think of the Spirit as the one who is calling us to ongoing growth and renewal.
A new year frequently prompts us to make resolutions to improve our lives. Now is the time for the resolution to be: “Be careful how you live …be wise. Understand what the word of the Lord is”. The Spirit is within us calling us to grow strong in our faith in Christ, in our gratitude that each day is filled with the fullness of God.
Our lives cannot be planned. We simply have to learn by going through it, making choices as we go. Our life is a gift from God and gratitude is a key to how to live it. There are some who say we think the way we feel, but most psychologists tell us that we feel the way we think and that our thoughts can be changed.
Giving thanks to God is good and the beginning of contemplation. Giving thanks to God is good socially, it being a positive presence wherever we are. Stop frequently and consciously thank God for the good things of each day and ask God for the inspiration of the Holy spirit to be wise.
How much time do we spend wanting things to be better? We want the perfect schedule, the perfect work, the perfect friend, the perfect community. Joy is an attitude of mind, the awareness that my life is basically good. Our celebration of Theophany is a reminder of the source of our joy and the Incarnation is the affirmation of the goodness of all creation. We have the Blessing of the waters today. It symbolizes the purification of all water when Christ was baptized in the waters of the Jordon. It symbolizes that all of creation is holy.
How can we become wise? Listen to a story from the Desert Elders about a young monk who asked one of the older monks why it was that so many people came out to the desert to seek God and yet most of them gave up after a short time and returned to their lives in the city.
The old monk responded:"Last evening my dog saw a rabbit running for cover among the bushes of the desert and he began to chase the rabbit, barking loudly. Soon other dogs joined the chase, barking and running. They ran a great distance and alerted many other dogs. Soon the wilderness was echoing the sounds of their pursuit but the chase went on into the night. After a little while, many of the dogs grew tired and dropped out. A few chased the rabbit until the night was nearly spent. By morning, only my dog continued the hunt."
"Do you understand what I have told you?" , the old man asked,
No," replied the young monk, "I don't. Please help me with it."
"It is simple," said the desert elder. "My dog saw the rabbit!"
Have we in our spiritual search seen the rabbit, something to run after, even a glimpse, to keep us continually seeking?
Let us be able to say with John the Baptist “and I myself have seen and testified that this is the Son of God”.
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