Drawing the best out of us!

We all know with fondness and appreciation those people who have drawn the best out of us. They are fixed in our memories and in our hearts. They see something within us which is good and which they help us to nurture and sustain. In become aware of the gifts that we have and growing in understanding we are able to grow in our life of faith. They help us to become alive and to be wholly who we are called to be.
In Jesus story of healing Jairus's daughter,  we discover a movement of faith. The synagogue official not only seeks out Jesus but invites him to come to the place where he lives. Even where it appears that his daughter has died Jesus encourages the person to have faith. He addresses the daughter directly and she once again finds life.
It is almost against the odds that Jesus always encourages us to discover what is wholesome and holy. He calls us to seek what it is that will bring life to a person and to a situation when many would dismiss both as hopeless. Jesus calls us to not succumb to our own doubts that God does not desire the best for us. Also this is not just a view of life which sees everything through rose tinted glasses but rather a desire to encounter God as all in all. To discover what brings life and hope to us especially when we encounter the ordinary difficulties and struggles of life. Our prayer needs to be alive and active trusting our whole selves before God. This is not just wishing to be well but a desire to be wholly who God wants us to be. We need to discover what brings life not death!

What will this child turn out to be?

This question hangs in the air around the birth of John the Baptist. Often we tend to fast forward the scene of his nativity to the proclamation which we find on his lips when he bears witness to Christ where he says, "He must increase, I must decrease" In these prophetic words he starts to see his whole life summed up in pointing to the life of another by being himself. There can be this time of impatience where we want to see instant results and a life which can be clearly understood. We want our spirituality prepackaged and mailed to us in the post. Yet God keeps turning up disguised as our life.

In seeking to be faithful disciples of Jesus Christ we cannot just hope that we will encounter him somewhere along the way. There is a need to allow him to discover us. Often we feel that we have to put a lot of effort into finding him, reflecting on scripture, reading the right books, seeking the counsel of other Christians and acting in a way which is founded on Christian virtues and values. This is all to the good but we also need for him to able to reflect with us, to read our hearts, to offer us counsel and to learn what it is to be in relationship with him. There is a need to be found in a way which helps us to remove our masks and to find the place where we are truly known.

Like Francis Thompson who wrote the Hound of Heaven as a reflection on Psalm 139 we start to notice a God who is relentless in his love for us. Who pursues us in a way where we find someone who fully understands who we are and who we are called to be. In an age where people seem to be running from God the chase is still on. God seeks us out so that we may find our true home in which we are called to abide and discover our true worth. We are called to live a life which is at home with God and at home with our selves, in which we are wonderfully made.

The smallest seed

What catches our eye first? Often it is what seems to be most powerful, spectacular or most relevant event happening in the world. Our lives tend to be lived vicariously through the lives of others. We can tend to see their lives as more important than our own. They seem to be able to make decisions which change the world we live in for good or for ill. We become fascinated almost in a hypnotic trance which focuses on their every move. They seem to glide effortlessly into and out of our lives. The seed of their thought becomes planted within us and ensnares our hearts. Like a strangle weed it squeezes the life out of us and causes us to doubt what will bring us hope.

Yet in this weekends Gospel we are called to look at the smallest seed being planted which often can be forgotten or hidden within us. It takes time to nurture this seed and to allow it to grow. This is not a seed which seeks to dominate us and control us but rather enlighten and empower us. Often this growth does not happen instantly. There is a need to allow us to enter into a quiet place where we can allow it to take root within us. This seed enlarges out hearts rather than entraps it. It seeks to expand and enlarge itself within us. This is not just about doing what we want but rather discovering what we need and what will shelter us. This daily practice of sitting quietly and listening to what stirs within us helps us to discover a life growing silently within us.

So take time each day for that slow, quiet growth to emerge and enlighten us. To discover how we can make room for that still voice which does not isolate us from ourselves. That smallest seed which can provide shelter in which others too can grow. Listen to the seed which is planted in your heart.

Are you insane?

There is an expression you cannot tell a book by it's cover. Yet in our world we are called to make instant judgments and instant decisions. A lot of our time we are driven to choose with the mind and not the heart. There is so much pressure to respond that we feel we are losing contact with ourselves. We lose a sense of how our lives cry out for meaning and hope.
We become used to making judgments about the life of others when we say their crazy or that is inhuman. Yet do we ponder that they may also say the same about us. We know the importance of advances in mental health which help us to respond with love and concern to those who are struggling with those issues which are often invisible to the eye but not to the heart. Yet at the same time we also need to discover a way of being present.
We need to discover in prayer how God calls us to stand naked in his presence. This is a spiritual nakedness which has the honesty to our own internal sense that I do not know myself and I do not love myself. Only with God can we be honest about ourselves. In this way we discover we are known and loved. In this place we find how we can be present to others from a place where we are truly known and truly loved.