Good morning…
Purple is the common ground created when red, white, and blue are combined with loving care. Purple taps into God’s guiding power, creative, cooperative, collaborative. As I was pondering these thoughts, I was surprised to find and to follow an actual path in the woods clearly marked by purple blazes.
On page 26, we pick up a description of the purple path as we consider quotes from Three Simple Rule: A Wesleyan Way of Living by Rueben P. Job. As we learned in yesterday’s post, the first rule for all of us to follow is “Do no harm.”
“To abandon the ways of the world for the way of Jesus is a radical step. While this step is very simple and easily understood, it is not easily achieved. We realize it may lead to where we do not wish to go.”
“Are we really ready to give up political power for the power of God’s love? Are we ready to give up our most cherished possession – the certainty that we are right and others wrong? Can we trust God enough to follow the ways of the Spirit rather than the ways of the world?”
“Is it possible to live in this complex and violent world without doing harm? Are we supposed to turn the other cheek to those who distort the truth by selective use of the facts in any given situation? Is it wise to do no harm to those who seek to harm us, our future, our reputation? Is it possible to speak the truth in love and gentleness when others seem to speak partial truth in anger and hatred? It is a challenging path to walk.”
“The good news is that we don’t have to make this journey alone. There is always One who stands there with us. And not only stands there but invades us with Spirit Presence and Power to practice our faith with integrity and fidelity to the One who we seek to follow. This truth is at the heart of the Incarnation and of Pentecost.”
“The good news is that it is possible to practice a way of living that is in harmony with the life of Jesus and survive, even thrive, in a world like ours. It is both a challenging and rewarding way to live, and each of us, with God’s help, can live such a life fully, faithfully, and joyfully.”
It is absolutely clear that God has called you to a free life. Just make sure that you don’t use this freedom as an excuse to do whatever you want to do and destroy your freedom. Rather, use your freedom to serve one another in love; that’s how freedom grows. For everything we know about God’s Word is summed up in a single sentence: Love others as you love yourself. That’s an act of true freedom. If you bite and ravage each other, watch out—in no time at all you will be annihilating each other, and where will your precious freedom be then? (Galatians 5:13-15, MSG).
Our precious freedom depends on following the purple path blazed by the One who loves us all. Our first challenging step is “Do no harm.”
…Sue…
