I don’t want to talk about the anxiety crap. I’m going to talk about the rest of it.
- There is no more beautiful image than the one my brain imagines of what the Sermon on the Mount must have been like: Jesus, sitting atop a mountain that looked something like this as engaged disciples tuned into his words. It’s the image that’s been putting me to sleep most nights as I reflect on the latest portion of the sermon I’ve read.
- We don’t get to worry about the future. All that God gives us is a window that faces up Sufficient light for today. I have to surrender to the manna-light.
- Ask and it will be given to you. Seek and you will find. Knock and it will be opened to you. For the one who asks receives, the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it is opened. Or which of you, if your son asked for bread, would give him a rock? Or if he asked for fish would give him a snake? If then you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!
- ^I just recited that from memory. It is good to memorize scripture. I am trying to do it much more. I’ve memorized the Beatitudes as well.
- Ask: pray.
Seek: Actively search for God’s will, wisdom, and presence.
Knock: Pray persistently, expectantly. - From Hunter’s study:
- “Growing as a human being means becoming more aware of these dark truths and not letting them paralyze us. We accept death and choose life. That means we live fully in the present. We choose relationships with others. We appreciate the beauty of creation and seek to know the will of God. In recovery, we choose to live this day fully, in contact with friends and loved ones, appreciating the beauty around us, and helping those we can.”
- Rene often tells me that teaching is an amazing ministry, and those first few weeks of the school year, I have to admit, it sure did not feel like a ministry. It felt like surviving and being totally overwhelmed all the time. But things have gotten better. And as I get to know these students, I find myself wondering what they are going to become as they grow up and hoping that I get witness it.
