No. 75, When Black is White

But turning and looking at His disciples, He rebuked Peter (who rebuked Jesus for talking about having to be killed) and said, “Get thee behind me Satan! For you are setting your mind not on divine things but on human things. Matthew 8:33

Like this Dali, God is hard to understand. We may as well shoot at this Mark blindfolded.

A mere mortal would wonder if Jesus over-reacted by calling His friend Satan. That wasn’t kind or meek. But, at that moment, facing crucifixion without support from His friends was too much. Jesus was so focused on His mission that the notion of avoiding it was unthinkable.

After times of suffering, I look back with gratitude for the experience of being so needy of God’s help, and for seeing His Wisdom, eventually.

The long-game divine perspective differs radically from the immediate human perspective. This command tells us to force open the rusted doors of our minds. When we cling to God, we are clinging to a Divine Mystery. God’s Will is unfathomable for those who cling to human things like health, wealth, and happiness, and for whom physical death is the ultimate evil.

Separation from the body is insignificant when compared to separation from God, from serving and loving Him and obeying Him. So why are we so shocked by death and murder? We should be more horrified by the mortal disease of those all around us who don’t believe and who don’t worship.

Peter was indeed talking like Satan when he refused God’s will. Let’s face it; we haven’t got a clue about what is good and what is really evil, no matter how much of that fruit we eat. This probably explains why that tree was off-limits.

Aspire to Trust Him. Rise.

No. 76, Love Ya More

Jesus said, Truly I tell you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters, or mother or father or children or fields, for my sake and for the sake of the good news, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this age- houses, brothers and sisters, mothers and children, and fields, with persecutions – and in the age to come eternal life. Mark 10:29

Whoever comes to Me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, yes and even life itself cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:26

I would like to sew a big velvet curtain and hang it (closed) in front of this Mark. I know Jesus Christ said that whoever loves family more than Him is not worthy of Him; that is a Mark I aim for, but to challenge us to hate and abandon our families has me flummoxed.

Mark 10:29: in context, the disciples were saying that they have left everything for Him, and He was assuring them that it would be worth it. This passage reminds me of Job who lost all of his children, his health and his wealth, but clung to his trust in God. Job ultimately gained twice as much wealth and more children. God is demanding, but He is generous.

Let’s draw that curtain open and peek at this Mark. Face it. No one, not even our children or spouses should receive our devotion and service more than Jesus Christ who came to reunite man with God.
Love requires sacrifice. Without sacrifice, it is only an imitation and will wear out soon. You need to have “skin in the game.”

Someday we will leave our families and our bodies, so we may as well start practicing letting go. Putting God first makes it easier to say goodbye.

Bullseye.

No. 77, The Widow’s Mighty Mite

For all of them have contributed out of their abundance; but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on. Mark 12:44

This widow was a sharp shooter pool player. She knew that if she shot the ball at the wall opposite the pocket with enough force it would boomerang straight in and she would win the game. She didn’t just trust the ball, she had skill. She also stood on the shoulders of her underdog advantage.

I’m not so sure that any of us could replicate the widow’s mighty might. How many of us are so poor that we could give God our last cent? I don’t agree that giving till it hurts is the same thing. She gave everything.

If you are nearly broke, instead of saving your penny, give it to God. If you have an enemy, love him or her to go in the opposite direction of revenge. If you have no time for yourself, give time to God in prayer and church.

We may not have the mite, but to hit this Mark we must identify that one thing we want and need the most, then give the little we have to God. It could be time; it could be patience. This Mark takes deep thought and creativity.

To be pure of heart is to give one’s whole self to God, to hold nothing back, not a thought, not an action. No doubt, no dirty feet. Live on the Mark, like Saint Simeon the Stylite and others who followed his example and enjoyed an abundant life on top of the tiny platform of a tall spire. The thoroughly devoted life is unusual and immensely rewarding!

This widow demonstrated her purity, and was written up in the Book of Life, now there is something to aspire to!

Peace.

No. 78 Holy No-Doze

Keep awake therefore, for you know neither the day or the hour. Matthew 25:13, Mark 13:33-37, Luke 12:36

For as lightening comes from the east and flashes as far as the west, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. ...the sun will be darkened and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken. Then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. And He will send out His angels with a loud trumpet, and they will gather His elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. Matthew 24:27-31.

Decade follows decade and century follows century. We die and we are born, and still Jesus has not returned for us. I wonder what He is waiting for. Does He want us to get used to world travel in a fraction of the time it took when He walked on earth? Did He want cell phones and Internet to be invented to show us how to live in a more fluid world? Is He testing our patience and our faith with this delay?

As the centuries pass, the story of Jesus reappearing to gather His beloved during a celestial catastrophe becomes increasingly unbelievable and increasingly believable.

Every day, you and I live with the possibility that it can be our last. A fatal accident, disease or a mass murderer could destroy our life; to tear us away from family, friends, and vocation. Death hovers, patient and alert for its moment to seize us. Our best response is to be equally patient and alert for Christ’s return.

Let’s constantly wake our sleepy souls with the mantra, ‘ Maranatha’

Come Lord Jesus. Help me be ready.

Evangeline in Waiting

No. 79 Learn to Fly

Be on guard so that your hearts are not weighed down with dissipation (def. distraction; frivolous amusement) and drunkenness and the worries of this life, and that day does not catch you unexpectedly, like a trap. For it will come upon all who live on the face of the whole earth. Be alert at all times, praying that you may have the strength to escape all that is to take place in the last days and to stand before the Son of Man.  Luke 21:34-36

The fearsome Day of The Lord, spoken of by the prophets Joel (2:10, 3:3-4), Isaiah (13:10, 24:19, 34:4), Zephaniah (21:15), and Daniel (7:13-14) was also envisioned by John the Evangelist (Revelation). It is no secret, and it should be no surprise that this world will come to a violent end. This Mark tells us to pray for escape.

The day will surely come when the scales of Justice and Mercy will tilt toward Justice. This is the day for which many foolish people yearn when they demand that evil be punished and good rewarded. The human problem with justice is that God is the Judge Whose standards are high, and Whose judgments can be mysterious, and final. The Supreme Court of God has one member.

To practice mercy, forgiveness, and tolerance is to prepare one’s self to meet the real living God, Who will not be who we imagined because He is unimaginable. This is why we need lots of practice accepting things we disagree with.

Learn to read, learn to drive, learn calculus and physics, but for God’s sake and your own, learn the commands, these Marks, learn to hear the voice of God, and to learn to pray. For only through the prayer from your knowledgeable Spirit-filled heart can you receive the strength and ability to escape justice that will come to you, even when you think you are more perfect than heretics, heathen, and hypocrites, who also think they are right.

Stay alert; stay alive.

On the fearsome Day of The Lord, there will be no place to hide.

Learn to fly.

No. 80, The Mark at Work

Tax collectors came and they asked Him, "Teacher, What should we do?" He said to them, "Collect no more than the amount prescribed for you." Soldiers also asked Him, "and we, what should we do? He said to them, "Do not extort money from any by threats or false accusation, and be satisfied with your wages." Luke 3:13

Plummeting back to earth has been jolting enough after thinking about Marks 78 and 79, when we met Jesus in the air, but Mark 80 sends us to the very core of our earthly existence, i.e. survival by money.

To be totally fair and honest in our professions while being diligent, is to trust that God will help us succeed. Money looks like paper and metal that we trade for food and shelter and all sorts of need, but it is really more like a thermometer.

Response to the lack of money is as valuable an indicator to God of His child’s spiritual development as is response to an abundance of money. Lack of money is a type of fasting that can turn our faces toward God with gratitude for all the beautiful things in life that money can’t buy. An abundance of money allows God to see our priorities.

Perhaps it’s not love of money, nor need for survival that drives some people to be so bad, but rather the love of power.

Money = Power. Bullies, cheats, and thieves have heavily muddied feet that will keep them nailed to this exploding planet earth when it is time to enter God’s new world as described in Revelation 21.

To hit this Mark is to be Christ-like at work.

No. 82 Shoot to Kill - Human Nature

If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? For even sinners love those who love them. If you do good to those who do good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to  sinners, to receive as much again. But love your enemies, do good, and lend expecting nothing in return. Your reward will be great, and you will be the children of the Most High; for He is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful" Luke 6:32-36.

This Mark, this tiny target, hard to hit, awaits aspiring immortal arrows being shot at it from deep within our hearts.

The steady rain I hear this morning is falling upon roses and weeds alike. It is falling on the river and on the fire hydrant. Whatever needs the rain and whatever does not need the rain, receives rain.

Pick up your bow, and now your arrow. Set the arrow snugly in place; now lift your elbows high; close one eye to bring your Mark into focus. Do you see that bitter, cranky and hostile person? Now shoot your arrow at kindness and tolerance. Did you make it?

Now, set your site on the one who needs to borrow your last dollar. Did you give it?

Like a holy spirit, move around the face of the earth searching for pain, and when you find it and suddenly feel like hiding or running away, stay and shoot your arrow of compassion from the depth of your soul. Shoot to the core of that sufferer. Don’t be afraid to knit yourself to the pain.

Tame your natural impulse for retaliation, and your insistence on equity, and fairness. These constantly moving targets will do your soul no good. Confound justice with mercy and grace.

When you look for a reward for your good deeds, go shopping. Our Lord and Savior will may give you visitation, illumination, possibly even a little dominion over nature, and ultimately immortality in a perfectly peaceful place for the price of humility.

Dare to be super-human.

Joy.

No. 83 The Giving Circle

Give and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap; for the measure you give will be the measure you get back. Luke 6:38.

God is watching our every move, He reads our thoughts and intentions and hears our frustrations. He is in us via His Spirit with which we were created when we were conceived in our mother’s womb. Think of a microchip, Intel, inside a computer. We are made with a God-chip that tracts us and monitors us. God watches everyone from the inside out.

He watches us when we are generous and when we are selfish. He watches us give, and He watches us steal.

When we are generous, we are being vehicles of God who gives to others through us. God is as much the source of prosperity as He is the source of a the cattle on a thousand hills. Let God use you.

Give your time, your love, your possessions and your money, all that you have, and all that you are, give it away. God sees you contract and fills you up again bigger than before, so you can give more.

The principle that giving is as a fountain that never empties is as axiomatic as the principles of entropy, of gravitation or of magnetism.

Be like God; bless. Blessing unites heaven with earth.

Light

Love

Joy

No. 84 Specs, Logs, and Juicy Fruit

How can you say to your neighbor, 'Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye' when you yourself do not notice the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor's eye.

Judge yourself by the fruit you bear, words that come out of your mouth. Luke 6:42, John 15:2,4

The horizontal arms of the Cross remind me of the horizon upon which the sun rises to extinguish the darkness of the night, and to give us warmth, and food.

With our feet firmly fixed on this muddy earth, and our arms tucked into our sides or raised high, we can look up at the stars all day, worshipping and chanting, praying and weeping, and never be able to ascend. To ascend to the land of holy immortality, we must first stretch out our arms and grow wings.
How we relate to others either forms our wings, or anchors our feet to this deeply chaotic old earth.

God-the Holy Spirit, is the Head Coach. Coaching others to hit the Mark is an honor and an obligation. Coaching is another of God’s jobs (e.g. blessing) that we can help Him do. Being hypocritical (read:hyper-critical) makes for lousy coaching, and thwarts wing growth.

How does anyone ever know if (s)he is qualified to coach? There is only one way. Look down and imagine yourself as a tree. Are your feet surrounded by ripe fallen fruit of Love, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faith, Humility, Self Control? Are you willing to be long-suffering? The fruit we bear are the words that come out of our mouths; our actions and our attitudes.

Judge yourself honestly.

No. 85 Stay Fit. Don't Look Back!

No one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God.” Luke 9:62

This line was preceded by Jesus asking people to follow Him. They came up with one excuse after another to procrastinate. I’ll bury my dad first, or say good bye to my friends and family. Jesus wanted their full and immediate commitment.

Jesus, asking them to follow Him was like helping Lot and his wife flee from Sodom and Gomorrah. God warned them not to look back. Lot’s wife looked back and became a pillar of salt.

God told Lot not to look back to watch his hometown being destroyed because it was thoroughly infected by rapists who stupidly tried to take the Angel of The Lord, but Lot’s wife was curious to see the conflagration.

Our journey to the kingdom of God is not a physical one like Lot’s. So, let’s just forget about this Mark and believe that it has nothing to do with us.

Except that these stories repeat the very broad and familiar requirements to obey God without question (because we don’t know all His reasons) and to be fully committed to the narrow path to the Land of Immortality.

Looking back at our old life while aspiring to immortality is like trying to drive on Route 95 and walk on the Appalachian trail ...at the same time.

This Mark reminds us to choose one or the other; it also reminds us that God didn’t give us eyes on the back of our heads for a very good reason. Perhaps racehorses aren’t the only ones who should be fitted with blinders.

No. 86 - Soldier Up

Be dressed for action, and have your lamps lit. Luke 12:35

To take these Marks to heart; to think about them between readings, and to practice obeying these wise commands, is to dress ourselves for the transformation from mortal to immortal, from child-of-man to child-of-God.

To be dressed for action is to be ready to meet Jesus in the air when He returns to take us to His new earth.

Right now I am wearing my work-out clothes because after writing this, I will go to the gym. Neither pajamas nor evening gown would do. Dressing for the occasion is key.
All day and all night long, we may want to go to heaven and live happily ever after with the Holy Trinity, but if we aren’t dress for action, and have our lamps lit, we are not ready.

This Mark advises us to be both dressed (in righteousness) and equipped with light. Having the right tools is just as important as beings properly dressed. The Bible is a lit lamp because it helps us to see in the dark, so we don’t stumble or fall.

If these Marks sound repetitious, it is because Christ wants to pound them into our consciousness so that we are thoroughly joined to Him.

Does it make sense that He would give us all these commands, these Marks, and not really mean them?

Ready or not, here He comes!

No. 87 Our Brother’s Keeper

Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to anyone by whom they come! It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck and you were thrown into the sea than for you to cause one of these little ones to stumble. Matthew 18:6-7; Mark 9:42 Be on your guard. If another disciple sins, you must rebuke the offender, and if there is repentance, you must forgive. Luke 17:1-3,

Rebuking others who have missed the Mark seems to run counter to the mandates not to judge and to forgive.

Like a seamless linen cloth, we form a fabric-of-being with other children of God. While the strength of this holy cloth depends in part on letting God be the Judge, here we are told to rebuke stray siblings. To let them go wild would be to accept a low quality weave, or tears in the fabric, neither of which the Creator would do.

“Look at the Mark! Don’t shoot way over there! Now, try again. Shall I help you?” I hear the good marksman say. And then, “Whoa, Jack!!! What are you doing?! Don’t trip that kid! Come on, straighten up.”

We pedestrians on the narrow path, cringe when we hear about pedophile priests; stunned we wait for their superiors to meet out a punishment that is never enough.

Don’t let that be a cause to stumble. In our frustration let’s recall Jesus saying that it would be better for a millstone to be hung around their necks and they were thrown into the sea.
The bad news is that we miss the Mark when we cause others to stumble, for far lessor reasons, which can be very easy to do with some people, and for not rebuking offenders.

I hate rebuking, don’t you? It’s an easy way to start an argument.

If you know someone is hurting a child, and you don’t rebuke, then it is as if you were the culprit but consent.

Being thrown into the sea tied to a millstone has got to be worse. Be brave.

If you had the faith of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, Be uprooted and planted in the sea, and it would obey you.

While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of the light.

Do not let your hearts be troubled, believe in God, believe also in me.

Luke 17:6; John 6:29, 47; John 10:38, John 12:36; John 14:1,12

It was December and along with millions of others I walked briskly from my arriving train tracks through New York City’s Penn Station. Finally I reached the wide flight of ascending stairs that would take me to the street. Surprisingly, I saw painted across the risers of these grimy familiar steps Macy’s Christmas motto, ‘Believe!’

A rush of emotion came over me as I imagined millions of Penn Station pedestrians being told to believe that the Infant whose birth would soon be celebrated was the Son of God come to save their mortal souls from death and eternal unhappiness.
The red cursive letters had become as grimy as the steps themselves, and were surrounded by equally dirty walls in a great dimly-lit space whose crest revealed the sky and more pedestrians walking across its urban vista.

That simple word, Believe! was so powerful that it rose effortlessly above its environment to the heights of symphonic splendor. Yet, can a person obey a command to believe?

I believe because Christ revealed Himself to me when I asked Him to and because of the many times He has provided for me, protected me, and instructed me. God has dazzled me over and over again. I could not deny this evidence any more than I could deny the existence of bacteria or electrons for their obvious effects.

I have not seen my faith uproot mulberry trees. How I wish it could heal. In fact, I am blinded to any effects of my faith upon others. If everyone in the world ‘believed’, imagine how wonderful and magical this world would be. Imagine heaven.

Maybe we just need to ask for the faith of a mustard seed, and aim.

No. 89 - The Pride Buster Mark

Do you thank a slave for doing what was commanded?

So you also, when you have done all that you were ordered to do, say, "we are worthless slaves; we have done only what we ought to have done." Luke 17:9, 10

Just once I’d like to be on a stage in front of a huge audience and hear their applause ...for me, maybe for a blog post, or my book. I wonder what such appreciation would feel like. I wonder if it would be as satisfying as I imagine. Mick Jagger knows; maybe I could ask him.

On the narrow road to the land of immortality walked slaves who were content to serve their Master expecting nothing in return, not a Christmas bonus, nor a write-up in The Times, nor even a handshake with a heartfelt Thank-you. No hug for a job well done; no report card. These were heroes.

With this Mark, Christ tells us to think of ourselves as worthless slaves, who live to obey our Lord’s commands, expecting nothing in return for doing what we ought to do, not even for hitting every Mark every time! How low can we go?

By calling us worthless slaves this Mark attempts to ratchet down my yearning for glory for a very good reason. Glory is poisonous for humans. It makes us think that we are God when in reality we are light years away from Him; glory is a type of deception. Glorified humans play God, like a toddler who wears his father’s shoes.

To not want or accept praise, in fact to reject accolades of any kind, for all we may do well, or accomplish is to hit the bulls-eye of this Mark. We get bonus points when we calmly and patiently, without responding, receive unfair criticism, harsh demands, or even curses- all those ego-busting darts aimed at our hearts, to purify them. For only HIS is the BEST kingdom, the life-giving power, and the Glory, ALL the GLORY forever and ever.

So be it.

No. 90 - The Time to Look Back

Then one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice. He prostrated himself at Jesus feet and thanked him. And he was a Samaritan. Then Jesus asked, "Were not ten made clean. But the other nine, where are they?" Luke 17:15-17

Gratitude is not one of the Ten Commandments, and not even a Mark. Jesus didn’t say, “Thank God early and often.” Yet, God gives us priceless gifts every day. By our guardian angel we may have been saved from a fatal accident yesterday, or from contracting a deadly virus the day before. Today a much needed check came in the mail.

I imagine that in the invisible spirit world a complex network of angels exists that orchestrates our lives, constructing events, granting blessings, and managing crises in response to our thoughts and prayers and actions, and according to the Lord’s will. Perhaps the angels have guidelines to follow, like laws of nature, that tell them when to bless or when to trip someone.

Every time I read or hear this passage, I am in awe that nine healed people could simply walk away. Is it possible that they were not aware of their healing or that they did not believe that it came from Jesus?

In the movie Joe Versus the Volcano Patricia said, “My father says that almost the whole world is asleep. Everybody you know. Everybody you see. Everybody you talk to. He says that only a few people are awake and they live in a state of constant total amazement.”

To be aware when He heals our bodies or minds or hearts should cause us to live in constant amazement, so that we too want to prostrate ourselves at the feet of Jesus and thank Him.

Gratitude is not a Mark. But to be among the nine who walked away, is to walk into oblivion instead of heaven.

No. 91 - Spirit and Truth

But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such as these to worship Him. God is spirit and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. John 4:23, 24.

We call God Our Father because He is the source of our being. Like any good father, God protects us and provides for us. He advises us and teaches us. God is the model father. But we can’t hug Him.

God is pure spirit. Both His image and His likeness are spiritual. To worship only with the body; to take it to church, or make it fast or say prayers without the spirit is not good enough. God wants to be worshiped in the spirit because He is Spirit.
To understand spirit, let’s think of attitude, emotion, desire, intelligence and personality. Spirit is everything a person is, but without the body. The Holiest Spirit brims with love, joy, peace, patience, and the rest.

And then there’s Truth. Truth is reality, pure and clear. Truth is as honest as a thermometer, as real as the sunrise, as pure as a drop of H2O. One can try to hide it, or warp it, or flat out deny it, but Truth will always bounce back to its original shape no matter how much abuse it gets.

Jesus told Pilate that He came into the world to testify to the truth and that everyone who belongs to the truth listens to His voice. To follow Christ, to listen to Him, to obey His commands, and to sick to Truth, like a stamp to a letter; like a bird to a feather.

This is the Mark of worship in Truth and Spirit. Love Ya Father!

No. 92 - Don't Miss!

See, you have been made well! Do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you. John 5:14

And I thought all this time that we are studying and practicing like Olympic athletes to excel in this Archery of the Soul, so that someday we may qualify to live forever on Revelation’s new earth with Jesus Christ and all the happy holy children of God. To be admitted into that place of perfect government, without paralyzing liberal v. conservative conflict, where poverty and heinous crimes, and all manner of suffering are only bad but vague memories of an era gone by.

But this Mark reminds me that Jesus said that the Kingdom of God lies within us, here and now. By living on the The Mark, by not sinning, we can be in the the Land of Immortality here and now! If you dont believe me read the lives of Saints. They were clairvoyant, powerful, and rose above nature over and over again, Paisios and Arsenios come to mind. Look them up.

The maladies of this world are the effects of sin, i.e. missing the Mark. Sin originates from and leads to evil. These commands teach us how to deal with the sins of this world and the natural tendency to sin.

The Land of Immortality is not pie in the sky! This is pie set before us, steaming with sweet lusciousness.

What I like most about the Marks is that they tell us exactly what sin is, no guessing. By contrast we know exactly what good is too.

This Mark is Jesus coaching us, “Don’t miss.”

No. 93 - Help Wanted -Feet Washer

So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have wash your feet, you ought also to wash one another's feet.  John 13:14

Don't you hate having dirty feet?

Don’t you hate having dirty feet?

Those peds down there walk on this dusty dirty earth all day long and take-on dirt, and minuscule bugs especially in sandled summer. There’s nothing as refreshing as a good pedicure.

I think dirty feet represent dark murky souls that soak in the world with all of its conflicts, cares, and crises, but in this Mark, Jesus just meant dirty feet.

Frankly for me, the uncomfortable part of pedicures is the sense of master and servant relationship that I get while sitting on the throne having my feet scrubbed. I look down at the person and think how glad I am not to have that job while trying to think of something friendly to say.

For Jesus to get out the bucket and wash Peter’s feet was outrageous. How could the son of God, healer and feeder of the multitudes, stoop so low as to become the humblest of servants? Was it as when He was an all powerful Holy Spirit and condescended to enter the infant body with all its limitations to come to earth, the devil’s playground?
In this Mark, Jesus commands us to be like Him: lowly and humble.

We are commanded to do what Jesus does. Whether we be Pope or king, pastor, priest or pauper, we are not better than our Lord and teacher Jesus Christ who literally washed His disciple’s feet. The servant of man is a better Servant of God.

Scrub feet. Feel yourself grow inside.

Peace.

Homework:

Get out your bucket of warm soapy water, and brush.

Tap your spouse, sibling or child.

Ask him or her to sit while you crouch down low and start scrubbing.

Feel yourself growing inside.

Peace.

No. 95 Abide in Christ ----The Last Mark!

Abide in Me as I abide in you. John 15:4

o study the Mark is to internalize righteousness and to tear it away from sin, that alienation from God, that mutation of His Spirit within us.

Sin is the enemy of the soul, often disguised as something alluring, or beautiful, or irresistibly satisfying, like a mirage, but more like a sinkhole. Sin is poisonous; sin is fatal. Yet, not everything we assume to be sin, is sin. This is why the Mark must be studied.

We abide in Christ when we live at the center of all His Marks, like in a home that shelters and protects us from exposure to all sorts of threats. As in a solid home, life in Christ feels so comfortable, so safe and secure, no matter what is going on outside. This is the life God wants for us, peace, love, joy.

How does Christ abide in us? Via our conscience, our prayers and the Eucharist. Through His Holy Spirit, He strengthens, counsels, comforts, and guides, encourages and protects us from the inside, out to our consciousness.

Christ abiding in us links us to Our Father and to His army of guardian angels.

It doesn’t get any better than this: to abide in Christ and to have Christ abiding in us.

Abiding is simple and it is difficult. It is simple because the Marks are clear and precise. It is difficult because our egos and our demons block the way.

This Mark is Jesus Christ’s invitation to move in.

Let’s go!

No. 94 - Holy Family Unity

I give you a new commandment, that you love one another. Just as I have loved you, you also should love one another.

John 13:34, 15:12, 15:17

If it wasn't for 1 Corinthians 13 my head would be spinning trying to understand what loving one another actually means. It is easy to smile and hug and peck-on-the-cheek those nice people with whom you have little meaningful interaction. But with brothers and sisters in Christ with whom we live and work, who have all sorts of personality traits, and who can be mean or egotistical when stressed or offended, it can be a challenge. This Mark tells us to plow through and be more concerned with the condition of our own hearts.

The person who hits this Mark with ease is the one who has memorized and internalized the following. This person is as lovable as (s)he is loving.

Love is patient

Love is kind

Love is not envious

Love is not boastful

Love is not arrogant

Love is not rude

Love does not insist on its own way

Love is not irritable

Love is not resentful

Love does not rejoice in wrong doing

Love rejoices in the truth

Love bears all things

Love believes all things

Love hopes all things

Love endures all things.

To help yourself hit this Mark, remember that God loves us in spite of our faults.

Love never ends, neither does immortality.

Aim higher.