Good morning…
The cards I chose in our art activity this week highlighted the wisdom of Victor Frankel, laid out in Man’s Search for Meaning. “Will I choose to behave like a swine (greedy, selfish, overindulgent) or will I choose to behave like a saint (peaceful, prayerful, at home in God’s light)?”
Through his experience in the concentration camp, Frankel came to believe that all of us have both swine and saint potentialities within ourselves, whatever conditions we face. Moment by moment, will I choose to act more like a swine or more like a saint? This crucial question continued to unfold throughout my week.
In our classes, we read aloud from pages 131-132 in Practicing the Way by John Mark Comer.
“As Henri Nouwen so beautifully said, ‘In our world full of strangers, estranged from their own past, culture and country, from their neighbors, friends and family, from their deepest self and their God, we witness the painful search for a hospitable place where life can be lived without fear and where community can be found. …It is possible for men and women and obligatory for Christians to offer an open and hospitable space where strangers can cast off their strangeness and become our fellow human beings.'”
Comer continued: “…it’s a way of being in the world, a heart posture toward others. Nouwen called it “a fundamental attitude toward our fellow human being, which can be expressed in a variety of ways.’ When we offer hospitality, we get to embody the heart posture of the Trinity’s inner life – welcome, invitation, warm affection, generosity, provision, safety, community, comfort, the meeting of needs, delight, and sheer joy. And ‘when we act like God, we get to feel like God,’ to share in his joy.”
Jesus said it this way: “I’ve loved you the way my Father has loved me. Make yourselves at home in my love. If you keep my commands, you’ll remain intimately at home in my love. That’s what I’ve done—kept my Father’s commands and made myself at home in his love. I’ve told you these things for a purpose: that my joy might be your joy, and your joy wholly mature (John 15:9-11, MSG).
As we continue to cut free from our swine tendencies and offer an open and hospitable space to others, we will feel the inner joy of the Trinity expanding in our daily lives.
…Sue…
