Daily Office Readings for Wednesday of Proper 11: Year 2
Morning, Psalm 119:49-72; Evening, 49;
Joshua 8:30-35; Romans14:13-23; Matthew 26:57-68
“The faith that you have, have as your own conviction before God.” (Romans 14:22)
I am a mentor of Education for Ministry (EfM) administered from The School of the South, Sewanee, Tennessee. As such, I have learned through many sessions to develop my own theology and I have framed it with a personal creed; a creed to live by; a faith that I have, that I have as my own conviction before God. I have put together words that I believe really capture my belief. Here it is: “I Trust in the Creating Word through the Holy Spirit of the Incarnate Word, in whom we live and move and love and have our being, and to whom, we must give an account.”
I think it is the Holy Spirit of our Lord Jesus that was promised to us when He went back to where He was before he came to us more than 2000 years ago. We read in the Gospel of St. John, “But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you” (John:14:26). Jesus prayed to Creator God that those of us who continue to believe (long after His initial visit) that those of us who follow, will also believe their words. “I ask not only on behalf of these, but also on behalf of those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one. As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:20 – 21). This handed down lesson is my conviction before God. I am very aware of the “account” part of my creed. I will do the best that I can to be a good person and to love all people. This too is my conviction before God.
I invite all who read this blog to take pen and paper in hand, (or laptop), and for a moment, put aside the Church doctrinal creed. Save it for when you are assembled in Church. Craft what you personally believe about your relationship with God and faith. Remember, you can come back later and edit it as you grow in the Spirit. “The faith that you have, have as your own conviction before God.”
Please keep Ukraine in your prayers.
As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love, to serve, and to teach, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
onewhoponders 