Faith and Action

Minute By Minute

Performed by The Doobie Bros.

LISTEN HERE

Hey, don't worry, I've been lied to

I've been here many times before

Girl, don't you worry, I know where I stand

I don't need this love, I don't need your hand

I know I could turn, blink and you'd be gone

Then I must be prepared any time to carry on

But minute by minute by minute by minute

I keep holding on

Oh, minute by minute by minute by minute

I keep holding on

You will stay just to watch me, darlin'

Wilt away on lies from you

Can't stop the habit of livin' on the run

I take it all for granted, like you're the only one

Livin' on my own

Somehow that sounds nice

You think I'm your fool

Well, you may just be right

Cause minute by minute by minute by minute

I keep holding on

Oh, minute by minute by minute by minute

I keep holding on...

Sometimes, somehow we deceive our self. We think, almost without any regard for what lays beyond our front door that we are entirely clever, that we keep others around for our own comfort or pleasure. That we are the master of destiny--ours of course and others are around like actors in our film.
With claims that we feel guilty "because we only have them around to feel better," or because they relieve our depression or stress.

How ironic, how amusing! To think that the world needs, requires me, uniquely to function; to think that others are so blind. Maybe the old French saying, "He who accuses, accuses himself," is so much more closer to what is truthfully occurring.
Yet with a view to what others are actually doing, we may gain insight. Is it I, or is it another who is the maker, the doer of the speech or action? Who keeps who around?

And like the lyric, 'I know I could turn, blink, you'd be gone..." there must be more to it than 'thinking I'm your fool,' but what? Who fools whom, and what if the other person also feels comfort and pleasure too--what then? Does that go by the same name to describe a relationship?
Do they 'keep holding on'; rightfully so -- in faith and charity, cynically?

To give a response to all this meandering thought, Cistercian monk and writer, Thomas Merton wrote about obedience and acceptance; he explores the values of both. "We must be convinced that it is very profitable for us to exercise ourselves in obedience, even to commands that are not perfectly rational or prudent. In doing this, we are not blinding ourselves or telling ourselves lies about the case.
We simply accept the situation as it is, with all its defects, and obey for the love of God [the Creator]. In order to do so, we have to make a fully rational and free decision, which in some cases may be quite difficult."

"Do you want proof, you ignoramus, that faith (words, ideas) without works is useless?" -- the Bible, James 2:20

Paul's Trials, Big and Small

Paul's Example and Teaching*

"proclaim the word;

be persistent whether it is convenient or inconvenient;

convince, reprimand, encourage through all patience and teaching."

--2Timothy 3:10-17

In the days of one's life there come many joys and many sorrows. These sad times are a trial; many of them have to do with personal relationships. And yet despite the angst, the stress and the grief they may also be times of personal growth. For if we master our troubles, they will only make us stronger. Resolving the glitches and contradictions of life are the times when a 'bomb it and pave it' mentality just won't do.

The Gospels tell of a story, James 1:2-3  about the importance of patience; there is another view of trials, they may be opportunities to new ways, better things or a mastery of what formerly bedeviled us. This leads to a calm tranquility, to patience and to the special love that patience may bring to us.
The story of the Christ brings us to the sure knowledge that day in and day out we can make our way, we can succeed, despite the sometimes erratic and dismal behavior of those around us; when we manipulate others, when we fail to see them in their dignity as creation, when we deceive or injure, when they treat us in like ways. Yet the message remains the same: bear the wrongs of others patiently.

Contrary to the secular view, bearing wrongs patiently is not the same as bearing them stupidly, and not the same as if the one who wrongs and supposes they remain undetected--in arrogance or ignorance. 
 Do remain steadfast; hold out hope that there will come a view, a light, a vision which guides one to the love that our hearts yearn for; that we may not be abandoned for convenience or spite.

On Eagle's Wings

by Michael Joncas

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...And He will raise you up on eagles' wings
Bear you on the breath of dawn
Make you to shine like the sun
And hold you in the palm of His hand.

The snare of the fowler will never capture you
And famine will bring you no fear
Under His wings your refuge
His faithfulness your shield.

And He will raise you up on eagles' wings
Bear you on the breath of dawn
Make you to shine like the sun
And hold you in the palm of His hand...


* Refers to Saint Paul, the disciple of the Christ