More of Something Different

I tried to add this to my blog on Monday but some how it got lost

I am small and must remain so. Below all others and subject to all, I know nothing and am nothing and so I have all I need.

What do I ask of my King and my Master? I sincerly ask for the gift of pouring out my life for others. I wish to be a martyr for you. Everyday let me pour out my life for others. Any small good I do let the grace from that act be given to those who need it, to stop violence, to bring people back to the faith. Let me Dear Lord, put myself third, You first, then others, then myself. Please Dear Lord remove all selfishness from my bones and all pride. Especially Dear Lord heal me of my pride. I cannnot take pride in doing Your will. Left to myself I am self absorbed and cruel. Self-sacrifice is only possible for me as a gift from You. I would mess it up. Pour me out, use me up, there is so little to use. I know that You will fill me and Oh What Joy! To be filled with Your Holy Spirit! I gladly give myself away so that I have have You in return. You, in exchange for me, is such a lopsided gift. I run to my cross and carry it gladly. Hang me on it and pour out my life, drop by drop or all at once. I know I won't know if I can in a small way help to save anyone while on this earth. I trust in your promise that it will help.

Now for something totally different!

I'm adding to my blog things that I have written during prayer. These were written during a fourty day period from the Feast of the Assumption until the Michaelmas, this is a traditional time of lent (not the Lent before Easter) for Franciscans. Keep in mind while you are reading these that they are directed at myself, and what I need to do.

To give my will to the Father I have to be willing to hang on the cross. I have to be willing to endure ridicule and rejection and to do it for the love of those ridiculing and rejecting me. To be His instrument I have to like a reed in the wind, willing to bend to His will and even to break if he asks it. To turn my thoughts and my body over to Him, knowing that what ever happens is for the eternal good if not the temporal good. To be supple in His hand, I can't be afraid; He has done all this before. He did it and it lead to the resurrection, not just the cross.

There is a difference between being dragged to the cross and running to the cross. One is fear and pain and the other is longing and love. Oh Holy Spirit, help me to run towards my cross and embrace it lovingly and carry it joyfully. For in resisting my cross I make it heavier and more painful.

My cross is a gift from Jesus, my Love. It is my ticket to heaven. It is the yoke that binds us together. My Beloved gave it to me, it was chosen especially for me so that I might get to be with Him forever. It is my ring, the only one I need, and it binds me to Him. My cross is not like His. Mine is small and only carries the weight of my sins. His carried all our sins. He carried His alone and hung on it alone. I have His help in all I do.

I believe that social justice must come from a respect of life and that being Pro-Life must lead you to wanting to fight for social justice as well. If everyone has an equal right to life then their lives must be of equal value. If their lives are equal in value then they must have all other rights in common. Everyone has the same basic human right to live freely. Believing in God means however, that we also believe that God knows what's best for us. He made us, He loves us, whoelse would know what's best for us? So many people think they can do a better job, but are they really happy, or are they chasing happiness? Maybe I was just really bad at it but I don't think so. I believe that God knows best. So there are things that we ar free to do, like turn our backs on God, and everyone has that right, but we shouldn't. We also can't just follow the parts of Jesus's message that we like. We have to Love our enemies, even those who wish to do us harm. We can't deny our enemies humanity just because we don't like them.

Another Day a new blog.

I realize that the person who needs to do more to support life is me. I'm the one who needs to do more to support candidates who I agree with. I'm the one who needs to talk more to people about life. I need to challenge those who say they hate abortion but still want to keep it legal for others. It's rediculous, if you think abortion is wrong then you can't support it. And I feel as strongly that you can't say abortion is wrong and allow other types of murder. Either all life is sacred or none is. None of us are pure and we can't say we are better than someone else, we don't know their hearts, only God does. God thirsts for their souls, even the souls of murderers. If a murderer fails to convert it is our own fault as well as theirs, especially if we kill them instead of keeping them in prison.

There are many souls in this world that are in darkness. I believe these souls are waiting for us to call them out of that darkness. If we never reach out to them and they never see the light aren't we also at fault? Some souls need intercessory prayer to prepare them the light. I need to pray more.

What I believe

I believe that God created everything and that He loves everything and everyone. I believe because of this all life is precious, especially human life because we were created in his image. Because of this I believe in the sanctity of life from conception to natural death. More than wanting to see abortion made illegal, I would like to see it unthinkable. I would also like to see those who are so passionate about the abortion issue also throw that passion behind abolishing the death penalty, ending genocide, and euthanasia. I put myself in that catagory as well. If we want to stop abortion we need to make unnecessary in the worlds minds. If a woman didn't have to worry about health care during her pregnancy that would help. Also if a woman giving birth to a child she doesn't want or isn't able to care for and then giving it up for adoption became the norm and preferred than that would go a long way to stop abortions. Sometimes I think that the Prolife movement can be too negative and devicive. If you aren't already in the Pro-Life camp they can be pretty hard on those who otherwise might be able to be convinced. I also have a hard time with those who are anti-abortion but pro-death penalty. Jesus thirst for souls and wishes for all to come to Him in the end. When we prematurely end a life we rob Him of that soul. I think if we start from a place of Love, trying to Love one another the way that Jesus Loves us we can find a solution.