In the Old Testament story of Moses and the Burning Bush, Moses asks "Who are you?" God answers "I am who I am." In other words don't define me. God doesn't change but our perception of God changes throughout history and even throughout our lives. We have the perception of God from the Book of Genesis. In the Garden of Eden God is the stern parent reproaching his children Adam and Eve for disobeying his laws. There is the perception of God from the Book of Exodus as the teacher outlining for Moses the Ten Commandments. The second of those commandments being “You shall have no other gods before Me." There's only one God and that God loves us. So even though our perceptions of God change God's self doesn't change.
We have to realize that all decisions we make come from God, As humans however, luck plays an important role in our lives. We question "Was is bad luck for the money changers in the temple the day Jesus decided to overturn their tables and disrupt business?" "Why was it this criminal got Pilot's attention?" "Why does this person have cancer?" Whether we are lucky or unlucky, human beings have a debilitating tendency to push God away. When we do this we are sinning. Sin is pushing God away.
During this time of Lent we try to unpack our laziness and self obsession. We try to get away from trying to define who we are. We spend so much time asking "Who am I?" and then defining ourselves by what we do "Spouse, parent, what we do for a living" and never get past the resume stage. God says "I am who I am." Our jobs during Lent are to sacrifice and be loyal. To do this we must submit to God (listen to what God is saying to us) and try to answer the presence of God.
Our Wednesday discussion group tried to unpack our laziness and self obsession in two ways. The first was to list things for the week or the day that we ought to have done and then list things we ought not to have done and one thing we were glad we did today. Then we took a list of the ten commandments and next to them list which of them we haven't followed. As Father Malcom said we may not have literally killed someone this week but maybe we killed someone's spirit. The idea was to move from the intellectual to the spiritual then we took our lists and shredded them. It was interesting because I had just gotten done burning old receipts and bills from previous year's taxes with a little sage. The idea is the same whether you're shredding, burning or simply tearing up. You are taking all of that stuff and releasing it up to God. I find when I let go and release that it's easier to submit to God and to try to answer the presence of God because I have literally made more room for God to come into my life.
So I encourage you to stop asking for a while "Who am I?" and simply state "I am who I am" and accept that whoever you are and whatever perception you have of God, God loves you.
We have to realize that all decisions we make come from God, As humans however, luck plays an important role in our lives. We question "Was is bad luck for the money changers in the temple the day Jesus decided to overturn their tables and disrupt business?" "Why was it this criminal got Pilot's attention?" "Why does this person have cancer?" Whether we are lucky or unlucky, human beings have a debilitating tendency to push God away. When we do this we are sinning. Sin is pushing God away.
During this time of Lent we try to unpack our laziness and self obsession. We try to get away from trying to define who we are. We spend so much time asking "Who am I?" and then defining ourselves by what we do "Spouse, parent, what we do for a living" and never get past the resume stage. God says "I am who I am." Our jobs during Lent are to sacrifice and be loyal. To do this we must submit to God (listen to what God is saying to us) and try to answer the presence of God.
Our Wednesday discussion group tried to unpack our laziness and self obsession in two ways. The first was to list things for the week or the day that we ought to have done and then list things we ought not to have done and one thing we were glad we did today. Then we took a list of the ten commandments and next to them list which of them we haven't followed. As Father Malcom said we may not have literally killed someone this week but maybe we killed someone's spirit. The idea was to move from the intellectual to the spiritual then we took our lists and shredded them. It was interesting because I had just gotten done burning old receipts and bills from previous year's taxes with a little sage. The idea is the same whether you're shredding, burning or simply tearing up. You are taking all of that stuff and releasing it up to God. I find when I let go and release that it's easier to submit to God and to try to answer the presence of God because I have literally made more room for God to come into my life.
So I encourage you to stop asking for a while "Who am I?" and simply state "I am who I am" and accept that whoever you are and whatever perception you have of God, God loves you.
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