There are two days in the week upon which and about which I never worry—two carefree days kept sacredly free from fear and apprehension. One of these days is Yesterday. Yesterday, with its cares and frets and pains and aches, all its faults, its mistakes and blunders, has passed forever beyond my recall. It was mine; it is God’s.
The other day that I do not worry about is Tomorrow. Tomorrow, with all its possible adversities, its burdens, its perils, its large promise and performance, its failures and mistakes, is as far beyond my mastery as its dead sister, Yesterday. Tomorrow is God’s day; it will be mine.
There is left, then, for myself but one day in the week—Today. Any man can fight the battles of today. Any woman can carry the burdens of just one day; any man can resist the temptation of today. It is only when we willfully add the burdens of these two awful eternities—Yesterday and Tomorrow—such burdens as only the Mighty God can sustain—that we break down.
It isn’t the experience of Today that drives men mad. It is the remorse of what happened Yesterday and fear of what Tomorrow might bring. These are God’s Days…Leave them to Him.
In last night’s episode of Joan of Arcadia called “Friday Night”, her troubled friend Judith teaches Joan how to juggle. Near the end of the show after a very emotional scene, God asks Joan a metaphorical riddle:
God: Did you ever hear the riddle about the man, his boxes, and the bridge?
A man had three boxes. Each box weighed five pounds. The man weighed a hundred and ninety. The bridge could only support two hundred. How did the man make it across the bridge with all of his boxes?
Joan: He juggles! Yes, I get it. He keeps one box in the air the whole time. But…
God: The bridge is life. The boxes hold your feelings, your love, your joy, your pain, your loss. Everyone is crossing a bridge with more weight than they can bear. So, you juggle.
God then takes these three blue glow-balls from Joan and begins to juggle. After a moment, he tosses them, one by one, to Joan to juggle. And she does…
Yesterday morning, I was driving westward into the city to go to work. The fresh morning blue sky and the golden colors of the sunrise behind me looked gorgeous in my rear view mirror. At one point, as the bend in the road turned slightly, the reflection of the sun moved directly into the middle of my rear view mirror. I was blinded momentarily by the sudden intensity of the sun. My reaction was to squint, shield my eyes, and lean my head over to miss the directness of the sun?s rays. I thought, “Gee! The sunrise is beautiful, but I can’t take that much of it.”
Then I thought about God. My soul hungers to see the face of God. When I have felt His presence in my life, I have been overwhelmed with deep joy. I wondered how many times have I shielded my eyes, my heart, from the intensity of His love. I am grateful to have noticed just a fraction of His reflection in the people around me. I know that I am not ready to see God’s face directly, not yet. It is too intense right now. I have not been perfected enough, not holy enough, not pure enough to see Him face to face. I have no idea how I could even be remotely ready to see Him by the end of my journey through life. Thanks be to Jesus that someday I might.
Father, empty me so that the Holy Spirit may fill me and perfect me. Jesus, please purify my heart so that I may see You one day, face to face, so that I may stand in your Light without squinting, without shielding my eyes, without shielding my heart. Open my heart up wider to Your love and to the love of others in my life. I love You. Amen.
Time for some new colors for the ol’ weblog…
Lord Jesus himself said: “It is more blessed to give than to receive.”
When material gifts are shared, they are divided and diminish. That is why people are selfish—if I share with you, then there will be less for me. For most things, this is an illusion for us living in an overly abundant and affluent society.
When spiritual gifts are shared, they are multiplied. They are always multiplied beyond the original sharing of the gift to affect many, many other people, much like the ripples in a pond. Sometimes it takes a splash from a rock, but most of the time, all is needed is a gentle caress of the water to cause a ripple that spreads outward to touch others.
Material gifts are very important, but they are temporary. Spiritual gifts last forever.
Material gifts may be life supporting. Spiritual gifts are always life giving.
Both types of gifts cost something—a sacrifice. Material gifts require a material sacrifice. For spiritual gifts, the cost is risk: a risk to reach out, a risk to touch and to be touched, a risk to hope, a risk to love.
Both material and spiritual gifts involve love:
All love is expansion; all selfishness is contraction. Love is therefore the only law of life. He who loves lives; he who is selfish is dying. Therefore, love for love’s sake, because it is the law of life, just as you breathe to live.
— Swami Vivekananda (via whiskey river)