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Rev. Paula Beikirch |
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For many Christians, 2008 will be a special time of intention
in our growth toward Christian maturity. As we reflect on the life,
death, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, we also take an
assessment of our own lives. Jesus Christ is the gold standard
against which we measure our faith and action, our progress toward
Christian perfection.
Jesus clearly told us that we are to love God and love our neighbor
and that all the law and prophets are summed up in these
commandments. Paul went on to say that when we love our neighbor, we
are loving God. It may be said, therefore, that the measure of our
Christian growth would be the degree to which we love our neighbor.
In my own walk with Christ, I have found that the degree to which I
can move myself from front and center has a reciprocal effect upon
the degree to which I love others. I move out and others move in.
I have found the prayer that is attributed to St. Francis of Assisi
to be useful in pinpointing areas in my life, the areas where I have
failed to be an instrument of peace, that need to be corrected. I
offer it here, but it may also be found on page 833 of our Book of
Common Prayer.
"Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let
us so love;
where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where
there is
doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness,
light; where
there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be
consoled as to
console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love.
For it is in
giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and
it is in dying
that we are born to eternal life. Amen."
And, as St. Francis has pointed out, it is in the meeting of the
needs of others that our own needs have been met.
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