Daily Office Readings for Saturday of the 4th Week of Epiphany: Year 1
Morning, Psalms 75and 76; Evening, Psalms 23and 27;
Isaiah 57:3to13; Galatians 5:25to 6:10; Mark 9:14to29
“If we live by the Spirit, let us also be guided by the Spirit. Let us not become conceited, competing against one another, envying one another.” (Galatians 5:25 and 26)
We need to ponder about the Spirit of God and live our lives accordingly. We are all infused with the Spirit of our Creator. This Spirit that is in each of us also recognizes that same Spirit in every person we see. We may not act in the spirit of truth with our fellow brothers and sisters, but the holiness of God connects well ahead of us. Too often we want to compete against another rather than work with the other.
I like sports games in which we compete against the lay- of- the- land, and not directly against one another, (football being the exception but I’m still a work in progress and the Super Bowl is here soon!). I’m talking about sports like bowling, horseshoes and golf because in these sports we compare our scores at the finish rather than trying to dominate the other face to face, often requiring physical contact. We probably would have gotten the same score in these lay- of- the- land sports even if the other had not been present.
I think our attitudes about sports have caused us to look at every facet of our lives in terms of whose team are we. This paradigm is taught to us in school sports, not intentionally I don’t believe, but taught non-the less. Too often we want to “win,” no matter what. I think Paul got it right. We must live by the Spirit and in so living, be guided by that same Spirit. Everything in life is not about competing or beating the other. As we are with people, listening and compassion should be the priority of our being together, not whose team they are. We are all God’s team. Let us ponder this, this Sabbath Day.
Please keep up your thoughts and prayers and hopes for Ukraine.
As we listen to what the Spirit is saying to us, let us live to love and serve, and to teach others to love and serve, while pondering anew what the Almighty can do. John
onewhoponders 