Begin with Your Heart

~~~ Jonah 3:1-10 ~~~ Psalm 51 ~~~ Luke 11:29-32 ~~~

...when the people of Nineveh believed God;

they proclaimed a fast

and all of them, great and small, put on sackcloth.

All the visible signs of repentance

will be useless unless one 

believes God.

Just going through the actions 

and motions of repentance is a waste of your time.

You must begin with a contrite heart.

It is through our contrite heart

that the desire and inspiration comes for us to do more.

For the people of Nineveh 

conversion of their hearts led them

into fasting, ashes, and sack cloth.

When conversion begins in the heart

no sacrifice or penance will be a burden.

A clean heart create for me, O God,

and a steadfast spirit renew within me.

A clean heart is the precursor to a renewed steadfast spirit.

Even now, says the LORD,

return to me with your whole heart

for I am gracious and merciful.

It is never too late to return to God.

We were born from the goodness of God.

Our Baptism cleanses our soul...returns it to God sparkling white.

The primary criteria for returning to God

 is making the first step toward his mercy and love.

God listens even to the slightest 

attempt to reconcile your heart to his.

He rejoices every time you get back up...

every time you begin again.

God is loving, patient, slow to anger.

God is waiting for us to turn our heart back to him.

Jonah, one chosen by God, resisted in the beginning.

God called out to him a second time.

Finally Jonah gave in to the grace God

 was sending into his heart.

God is sending this same grace

 into our hearts during this Lenten time.

He will not give up on one of us

no matter how long or how resistant we have become.

God did not create our hearts to be hard and stiff as our bones.

God created our heart to be in constant motion.

Our heart beats, pushing the blood 

of our life through every part of our body.

God wants all of us...head to toe...inside and out...

physically, emotionally, and spiritually.

Now is the acceptable time to Believe...

God is waiting for you.

Take the first step his grace and blessings

are there for your assistance.

He is the one who is greater than Jonah.

Begin with your heart.

~~~Peace~~~

Be Passionate

~~~ Jonah 3:1-10 ~~~ Psalm 130 ~~~ Luke 10:38-42 ~~~

Blessed are those who hear the word of God

and observe it.

Jonah was resistant, but God does not give up on anyone.

God had a job for Jonah. 

A job that he was chosen for...hand picked.

Jonah had to be plunged into darkness and isolation

 in the belly of a large fish before God could get his attention.

How difficult is it for God to get your attention?

Do you also resist?

Are you stubborn 

with sticking to your own agenda?

Jonah heard God the first time,

but like our children he applied his selective hearing.

Hearing the word of God is hardly adequate,

especially when he has a task for you.

The gospel today gives us the familiar story of Martha and Mary.

Jesus is their friend. It is a safe and relaxing 

time for him to visit in their home.

Martha, as you know, is busy with the details 

of serving their special guest.

Mary, on the other hand, is mesmerized by the presence of Jesus.

She does not want to leave him alone.

She wants to be as close to Jesus as she can be;

so she sits at his feet.

Absorbing every word he speaks

 so that she can hold it near to her heart.

She does not want to miss hearing his message.

Mary is willing to hear and observe

all that Jesus has to share.

How often, if ever, are you in that same state of mind?

When are you that passionate about 

your relationship with Jesus?

There is need of only one thing. 

Mary has chosen the better part

and it will not be taken from her.

There is only one thing that matters...

your relationship with Jesus...

everything else will fall into place.

If you are anxious about your life

the missing piece may be

a deeper closer relationship with God.

Jonah was in darkness. 

He was experiencing sensory deprivation

but God was with him.

Mary chose to isolate herself from stress and anxiety.

Mary chose to sit at the feet of Jesus.

When you are that close to Jesus

no one nor anything can harm you.

There is need of only one thing...

God blesses you with his presence.

~~~Peace~~~

Left to Die Alone

~~~ Jonah 1:1-2:1-2, 11 ~~~ Psalm Jonah 2:3, 4,5,8 ~~~

~~~ Luke 10: 25-37 ~~~

You will rescue my life from the pit, O Lord.

Jonah was tossed from the boat, swallowed by a big fish

and the stormy seas became calm.

The mariners on the boat were spared because 

Jonah admitted he was the most probable cause of the disturbance.

God will open Jonah's eyes while he is overboard...

outside the safety of the boat.

Jesus uses a Samaritan, 

in the gospel, to drive home the point of his story.

Who will stop to care for the victim on the side of the road?

Not the priest, nor the Levite, but the Samaritan is the one 

who renders aid to the stranger.

Samaritans were the enemies of the Jews in that time period.

This does get the attention of the young lawyer.

The Samaritans, in the eyes of a Jew, were lesser human beings.

They were considered to be like 'dogs'.

Jesus is always drawing us to something bigger...

He paints the picture of the Samaritan as acting with kindness

 and compassion toward this injured stranger.

It is the Samaritan who is showing how to love beyond.

Who are you most like...

do you cross to the other side of the road

to avoid that which makes you feel uncomfortable?

What frightens you when you begin to face the question,

 Who is your neighbor?

It is up to you to take a closer look at all of your neighbors,

not just the ones who share similar life views.

The Samaritan showed great mercy in caring for this stranger.

They did not know one another and yet the Samaritan

 left extra financial aid to be used in his absence. 

God calls us to look farther than our eyes can see.

Looking farther requires to look through 

the unfiltered eyes of the heart.

Can you see through these unfiltered lens?

Blessings to show mercy to those left on the side of the road...

the less fortunate...those left to suffer deteriorate...

those left to die alone.

~~~Peace~~~

The Bramble Bush

~~~ Jonah 3:1-10 ~~~ Psalm 51 ~~~ Luke 11:29-32 ~~~

Jonah was not a particularly important prophet,
 but God sends him to Nineveh with the message of repentance.
As we know Jonah was not excited about his mission.
He tried to ignore God through his actions.

You know the whole big fish story...

In the end God does win; Jonah
brings the message to the people of Nineveh.

“Forty days more and Nineveh shall be destroyed,”

The prospect of being wiped off
 the face of the earth got their attention.

God went to great measures to save this whole city...
a city that no one really cared much about.

For some reason God thought it was necessary
 to give the Ninevites another chance to repent.
A chance to turn away from their sinful ways.

Here is the message for us.
We are no different than the Ninevites.
Wherever our sinfulness exits God cares
enough to put himself there too.

The Ninevites were known for their sinful ways.
It is even accentuated by the manner in which they repented.
They covered themselves in rough coarse fabric
 and smeared their bodies with burned ashes.

They did not eat or drink as a further sign of their repentance.

Lent is a time when we too can open
our eyes to the corruption that exists in our own heart.

This message of repentance is meant to be heard by us today.
This message is to let us know that God
 does not stay away just because we have sinned.

He comes to us in our darkest times.
He comes to us when temptation seems so appealing.
He comes to us even when we do not believe we can resist sin.

Cast me not out from your presence,
and your Holy Spirit take not from me. 

Whatever it takes for us to repent
 of our sinful ways God will be there.
He is not waiting on the sidelines
 for us to figure it out by ourselves.
He sends people. He puts them on our path.
He keeps trying to reach us...to save us.
The only way he knows is to keep loving
 us more with each passing day.

Sometimes it takes someone else
 to probe deep within our hearts.
Sin is like the blackberry bush...thorny
with far reaching hidden roots.
The blackberry is called the bramble fruit.
It is covered with tiny prickles that can penetrate most fabric.
Bramble, an impenetrable thicket...
Could this be our sinfulness?

The sins we hold on to the longest are the ones
 that appear to be ripe and juicy.
Clumped together, held tightly as one offense.
A single sin rarely stand alone...it has attachments.

...return to me with your whole heart
for I am gracious and merciful.

God is here with you...loving you...blessing you...
He wants your whole heart for himself.
Are you holding something back?

~~~Peace~~~

Time is Running Out!

~~~Third Sunday in Ordinary Time~~~

~~~ Jonah 3:1-5, 10 ~~~ Psalm 25 ~~~ 1 Corinthians 7:29-31 ~~~ 

~~~ Mark 1:14-20 ~~~

Jonah and Jesus had much in common.
They both were sent by God the Father to deliver a message.

...time is running out...
The kingdom of God is at hand.
Repent, and believe in the gospel.

Jesus and Jonah spread the same message of repentance.
We are still weeks away from Ash Wednesday,
yet we are already hearing this message of repentance.

Jonah, you may remember,
did not want to go to Nineveh at all.
He tried to resist God. He tried to ignore
 the mission God commanded.
But it did not work out the way Jonah had hoped,
so in the end he reluctantly agrees
to follow the orders from God.

Jonah was spit out of the fish to become one of God's fishers.
When you go fishing it always a thrill to catch a fish,
because there is never any guarantee you will.

Jonah was totally surprised to find
the people of Nineveh actually did listen to him.

His message from God had been taken seriously...
the people did repent in time.
With only forty days left the sprang into action
and God spared them from his wrath.

Jesus called fishermen to leave
 their boats behind and come with him.

They had fishing experience, but they never would
 have imagined what it was like to fish for men.

Jesus may have initially chosen fishermen
because they had patience.
You cannot be in a hurry if you are casting your net for a catch.
Fishermen know the importance of mending their nets.
Fishermen know the importance of keeping
their boats in good repair.

All of these skills would be useful in accomplishing the task
 Jesus was calling them to do with his guidance.

Jonah resisted but in the end
was able to save the city of Nineveh.
Those chosen by Jesus were able to insure
 his message would ultimately be passed on to us.

Now it is our turn.
God is always in need of more fishers...
today that is you and me.

If we believe than we must also agree to be fishers.
We must keep out nets and boats in good repair.
We must be patient.
We must continue to cast our nets.

...Time is running out...

We are called and Blessed to continue fishing.
~~~Peace~~~

The Greatest Proof

~~~ Galatians  4:22-24, 26-27, 31-5:1 ~~~ Psalm 113 ~~~ Luke 11:29-32 ~~~

How could anyone who was born free chose to become a slave?
Paul is asking the people why they would want
 to return to the slavery of the law.
Paul is pleading with his followers, the Galatians...
I have become as you followers of Christ.
Paul is urging the people to look forward,
not to regress to what was of old.

The promise of God was passed down through Abraham
by his child Isaac, born of Sarah a free woman.

Therefore, brothers and sisters,

we are children not of the slave woman

but of the freeborn woman.

As human beings we are constantly looking for proof.
We want proof that what we are told and/or
what we believe is real and true.

Sometimes we must allow our faith to supersede proof.

We are not always going to get a sign of validation.

The Jews had Jesus, the Messiah...the greatest proof
standing right before their eyes and they still demanded more proof.

They were used to having God himself give the stamp of approval...
Abraham...Solomon...Jonah.
They could not recognize proof in the person of Jesus himself.
Jesus must have been frustrated and disappointed by their ignorance.
They were rigid and narrow minded in their beliefs.

The proof that Jesus was representing was greater
than their heads could comprehend.
There in lies the problem, they were caught up in their heads.
They wanted to have a reason for everything.
They wanted to find their proof in the laws that they
themselves had created in the past.

Jesus was the living sign of the Redemption for all people.
Jesus stood before the people as a message for them to repent.
Just as Jonah had proclaimed to the people of Nineveh. 

Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites,
so will the Son of Man be to this generation.

Jesus is saying....I am the sign.
Jesus is the sign for us today as well,
one major difference...
we have the crucifix...
we have the proof of his body hanging from the cross.

Sadly there are still many who do not accept
 this image of reality as enough proof.

I pray that we see clearly the immense proof of our salvation
 by the death and resurrection of Jesus.

We are Blessed beyond any means of proof.
Any proof of our salvation that we could seek
would be inadequate compared to the reality of the love it is.

Remember...
God so loved the world.
God so loved you.
~~~Peace~~~

We Have Been Told...

~~~ Micah 6:1-4, 6-8 ~~~ Psalm 50 ~~~ Matthew 12:38-42 ~~~

You have been told, O man, what is good,
and what the LORD requires of you:
Only to do the right and to love goodness,
and to walk humbly with your God.

God gives clear directions and guidelines.
He may speak in unfamiliar tones, but he always speaks to the point.
Today we are told...
to do right...to love goodness...
and to walk with God in humility.

There in the presence of God we must walk;
not in a prideful boastful manner,
but in humility.
There is nothing good in our life that we can solely lay claim to;
everything comes from above.
God tells what is good. Goodness is found in how much we love.
The more we love the more goodness we will have in our life.

God reserves the right to correct us when we have gone astray.
Sometimes as we look out upon the lack of goodness
 in our world we feel God must execute his correction sooner.

We grow impatient with God's correction of others,
but do not see where we ourselves need his correction.

God used Jonah, although reluctantly,
to send his corrective message of repentance.

Every party involved responded with resistance.
Jonah did not want to deliver God's message.
The people of Nineveh did not want to hear God's message.

If God were to suggest a similar situation today
I dare say the responses would be no different.

People still reject both the messenger and the message.

We struggle with God's corrective message of repentance.
We try to postpone taking action on the message
 even after it is delivered.

Jonah was willing to remain in the belly of the fish for three days and nights.
He let the sun rise and set on his hard headed stubbornness.

I think we probably do the same thing...
We let our stubbornness keep us from realizing God
 holds the necessary corrections for us to enter into heaven.

Jonah foolishly thought he could hide from God.
He thought he could ignore God.
He tried to turn his back on God, but nothing
 he did sent God away.

God does not and will not ever turn his back on you.
We can pretend to ignore and attempt to resist,
but God is there in every way.
Blessings of Peace.

Itchy, Dirty, and Hungry

~~~ Jonah 3:1-10 ~~~ Psalm 130 ~~~ Luke 10:38-42 ~~~

 

After spending three days in the belly of the fish Jonah

 would now promptly obey God's directions.

 

His message resulted in sackcloth, ashes, and fasting...

basically they were uncomfortable, dirty, and hungry.

Their skin felt itchy and scratchy...they smelled of burnt rubbish...

their stomachs were growling.

 

Are any of these things really necessary?

How did these actions make a difference for their soul?

Is it really advantageous to deprive the body to achieve

a deeper spiritual experience.

When we are repentant it may be worthwhile

to be physically reminded that our sins should make us feel uncomfortable

a bit unclean...soiled, and hungry to be reunited with God.

 

The closest thing we have to sackcloth today would be burlap
unless you actually get a real potato sack from the farmer's market.
Sackcloth is rough loosely woven fabric. It has no body and does not drape.
It would not be used to enhance ones figure or appearance.
You can hide the flaws of your body under a sackcloth.
Odd because we cannot hide our sins from God.
Sackcloth is cheap it is reusable you can recycle it.
In Biblical times sackcloth was worn as a sign of mourning.
It was made of black thick goat's hair.

To sprinkle or to sit in the ashes was symbolic of grief,
humiliation, or penitence.
 

Man and beast shall be covered with sackcloth
and call loudly to God;
every man shall turn from his evil way
and from the violence he has in hand.

God had a plan to save the city, but he never said to wear sackcloth
 or to douse yourself with ashes.
The King ordered the entire city to show their repentance.
He took the lead...he did not just issue the order
 and return to his royal chambers.
He led by example.
Ultimately God saved the city of Nineveh...
our God is a merciful God.

Is it in your best interest to wait until the final hour to repent?
God Blesses us even in desperate times.

The Belly of Conversion

~~~ Jonah 3:1-10 ~~~ Psalm 51 ~~~ Luke 11:29-32 ~~~

A heart contrite and humbled, O God, you will not spurn.

Every year during the season of Lent we are given the opportunity to repent.

The people of Nineveh proclaimed a fast put on sackcloth and covered themselves with ashes.

The entire city joined in this great outward sign of conversion,

including the king.

Today we are not being asked to take part in such a public

demonstration of our repentance.

But we are being called to return to the same God...

the same God that sent Jonah to bring the people to conversion.

Even the king of the city got the message and made

the personal decision to also repent.

No matter who tells you to repent it will always be your personal decision.

The people of Nineveh were so moved to respond to the message

delivered through Jonah that they even imposed this fast upon their animals.

I do find this curious since the animals had nothing for which to repent.

Perhaps the message here is that all of creation bows to God

and is made holy by the creator himself.

Or the people could have just been going to the extreme with their penance.

The important fact is; they heard the message and they acted accordingly.

When Jonah does finally surrender his control to God the results are far reaching.

Jonah was taken into the darkness of the belly of the great fish.

 It is there, in the place of darkness and isolation, that Jonah was  

able to give up all control of his life.

This place where he did not want to be became his greatest saving grace from God.

It is here where God is finally able to get his attention.

Jonah was deprived of what he previously knew to be his life.

From the belly of the great fish, God led Jonah

 into a greater life more closely aligned with God's plan for his life.

There have most likely been times in my life and your life

where we did not want to give up control to God.

Sometimes he, God, must take us deeper and deeper until finally

we have no other option but to say 'I surrender'.

God brings us to the depths into the darkness

to teach us to rely completely on him.

When we have no where else to turn he is there...

in the darkness...

when we feel isolated...

when we feel abandoned...

he is there.

He is there waiting to bring forth wondrous things from

his humbled servant.

Sometimes it is hard to pray the words...

Here I am, Lord, I come to do your will...

especially when it pains you with perceived loss.

The presence of God is with you in the darkest of times.

Give Yourself Completely

The Feast of Saint Teresa of Avila

(1515-1582)

Doctor of the Church

 

~~~ Galatians 4:22-24, 26-27, 31-5:1 ~~~ Psalm 113 ~~~ Luke 11: 29-32 ~~~

 

Jesus said to them,
"This generation is an evil generation;
it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it,
except the sign of Jonah.

Just as Jonah became a sign to the Ninevites,
so will the Son of Man be to this generation."

 

Saint Teresa believed that Christ alone makes all things new.

 

Today Jesus is explaining to the crowd that something greater is coming.

The prophets realized that they were not to be regarded as the one who was coming.

Jonah resisted; he was reluctant to answer the call of God.

 

Each generation births those who are still looking for a sign.

They are still looking for 'the one'.

 

Teresa is inspiring with her devotion to Jesus

and her conversational style of prayer.

Some have said, 'Teresa is contagiously inspirational'.

 

Teresa believed that it is within ourselves that we discover

the meaning of God's words.

Teresa assure us that those who practice prayer faithfully will receive all they ask beyond their greatest expectations an hope.

Teresa wrote. 'My house will be a house of prayer'.

She was not only referring to the physical structure of a house,

but also her interior house where God dwells.

Her writings expand on this concept of a house of prayer.

She speaks of the various levels of prayer as 'mansions'.

 

She wants us all to know that God waits for us in our daily prayer.

It is in our prayer when we should be acutely aware

of giving our self completely

to God...body, mind, and soul.

Gradually throughout her life prayer became her passion.

As Teresa grew in age and in her prayer life,

she began to listen better and surrender to her vocation.

 

 

It is only through developing our prayer life that we can begin

to hear the word of God more clearly.

Jonah had to be swallowed up and spit out before he would

surrender to the will of God.

What will it take for you?

What do you need to do to find more time to pray?

The more we begin to live as God desires for us to live

the more we will discover

the wonderfulness of God.

The more we discover the wonderfulness of God

the more energized we will be to continue to be in prayer with him.

 

There have been more books written on prayer than any other topic of religion.

Prayer is our feeble attempt at connection with our creator.

We want to keep in touch with God through our prayers.

We want to experience his unconditional love.

 

The reality of prayer is that it changes you over time.

Dare you take the risk of being changed?

Try devoting more time to prayer and see what happens.

 

Saint Teresa, teach us to cherish our prayer time as much as you did.

Saint Teresa, pray for us!

The Compost Pile

~~~ Micah 6:1-4, 6-8 ~~~ Psalm 50 ~~~ Matthew 12: 38-42 ~~~

"...You have been told, O man, what is good,
and what the LORD requires of you:
Only to do the right and to love goodness,
and to walk humbly with your God."

If you are regular reader of this blog you realize that I wrote about

this verse from Micah just a couple days ago.

I did not look ahead at the readings, by the way.

"...do the right and to love goodness..."

It takes constant vigilance to do right in all circumstances.

It takes reaching down into your gut to have the

stamina to do the right thing.

You must reach deep inside to bypass the fresh "poop" of life.

Excuse me if I am too graphic.

In the compost pile of life what appears to be buried and forgotten

is where we must nourish our souls. It takes time for the stuff on

top to yield the richness of decomposition. It takes patience to wait,

but it takes greater courage to shovel it aside.

Going deeper is how we learn to walk humbly with God.

I am still a compost digger in training.

At times my shovel seems too small...too heavy...

there is too much on top.

I sometimes wonder if it is all worth it and then I see

what life there is far below the surface.

Far below where the earth worms are busy at work

tending the new rich dirt.

I struggle with the times when it is not easy to see what is good.

I want what is good to be victorious over all that is less than good.

But would that be life? Maybe not.

We ask God for signs, when in reality he gives us signs everyday.

God just does not always give us the signs we can see

or the signs we want.

Some of the scribes and Pharisees said to Jesus,
"Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you."

You cannot see what is in the bottom of the compost pile

 unless you stir it up.

You cannot see unless you dig into the bottom.

 Jonah had to be swallowed up and plunged deep inside...

Jonah was in the belly of the whale three days and three nights

Much like the bottom of the compost pile.

Our eyes are so blind to the signs;

we fool ourselves into believing they do not exist.

Yes, there is something greater than Jonah or Solomon here.

It is the grace we are given to do right, love goodness above all,

and to keep walking humbly with God.

We must keep walking humbly with God even when he leads us

to the compost pile, hands us the shovel and says,

'Start digging, my beloved'.

Life at the compost pile can be messy and yes, even stinky. 

In the end Jonah came out of the belly a changed man,

just as we can return from the compost pile a changed believer.

The richness is below the surface.

Are We an 'Evil Generation' Too?

~~~ Jonah 3: 1-10 ~~~ Psalm 51 ~~~ Luke 11: 29-32 ~~~

When you begin to enter a google search the computer tries to guess what you might be looking for by offering suggestions for you. It finishes your thought or at least attempts to get into your head. When you type the words from today's gospel, 'this generation is...' here is how google completed my search. '...this generation is...'doomed, stupid, lazy, called, horrible, boring, soft, dumbest, messed up.

Are any of those words how you would choose to complete that phrase? How would you describe our generation? Some of their suggestions have crossed my mind, plus a few others. But in today's reading from Luke the missing word is 'evil'.

Evil, is a much stronger word than most of those offered in my incomplete search. Jesus declared the evil condition of Nineveh before a crowd of people. He goes on to say, '...it seeks a sign, but no sign will be given it, except the sign of Jonah.'

If Jesus came to speak before us today he might be able to give the same sermon. Of course he would tweak it a bit to fit our current society, change a name perhaps, but the message could be the same.

During Lent we can take the time to examine where we have strayed into the realm of sin...evil. We are always tempted by something we already want. Just think about that for a minute. For example if you desire more money you may be tempted to gamble in excess, losing self control, because of your view of money. Whatever your temptations are look closely at their roots therein lies your hope of removing them from your life.

We are blessed today because we not only have the sign of Jonah, but we have Jesus himself. Especially during Lent we have an accentuated sign with the crucifix. The crucifix, while constantly present in our churches, is often draped with purple cloth. This draping draws our attention to the cross. When something changes it gets our attention. It is just the way the human brain is designed to work.

My mother tells the story of how one night dad got up for his usual trip to the bathroom. The room was dark. All of sudden she was awakened by the sound of a crash. Dad had walked into a piece of furniture that mother had moved that day. When things are different they get your attention. Well dad was not too happy with mother's furniture rearranging to say the least.

During this Lent pay attention to this life size sign we have of our salvation, the Crucifix. Take time this Lent to pray the Stations of the Cross. If you pray them alone walking to each station you can really focus on how each one speaks to you.

If you spend time praying with the Crucifix and the Stations of the Cross, your appreciation of Good Friday will come to a deeper realization.

I, for one, do not relish the thought of being referred to as an 'evil generation'.

I want to have a 'steadfast spirit', a 'contrite and humbled heart'.

I want to live the gospel message of mercy and forgiveness.

I want the grace to resist temptation.

Let us pray together for God's compassion to wipe out our offenses,

creating a 'clean heart.'

What is Urgent in Your Life?

Jonah 3:1-5,10..."...Nineveh shall be destroyed..."

Psalm 25..."...Your ways, O Lord, make known to me..."

1 Cor. 7: 29-31..."...time is running out...the world in its present form is passing away."

Mark 1: 14-20... "This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand.

Repent and believe in the gospel."

As I read these few words from today's readings I feel anxiety bubbling up inside. These words all seem to be laden with doom and gloom. It is only in the Psalm where I can find some comfort; asking for guidance from the wisdom of God.

The people of Nineveh were going about their normal tasks of living. They were oblivious to the impending destruction. The people of Paul's audience in Corinth were also no aware of how their world had deteriorated. In other words stop taking things for granted here in Corinth.

Jesus is baptized, driven into the desert to be tempted, John the Baptist is arrested. Jesus comes to Galilee proclaiming "...The kingdom of God is at hand...".

The timeline of our salvation was set into motion with urgency...'this is the time'...

If I don't take some kind of urgent action soon I am going to loose everything on my computer. Without boring you with the exact details I have literally used up all available space on my drive. I am in the process of making backup copies of all my files and especially my music, but it is unnerving to think if I save just one more file it could be laptop doomsday. I do feel a sense of urgency!

My favorite solution is to just buy a new computer with lots more memory...urgency dissolved. The people of Nineveh decided to fast and don sackcloth. The fishermen of Galilee left their boats and answered the call to follow Jesus.

Sometimes urgency is self inflicted by procrastinating. We have at times waited until the last minute to file our income taxes or meet some other approaching deadline. You may delay in taking care of your health until there is an urgent situation; like a heart attack or Type 2 diabetes.

No matter what our good intentions may be we are occasionally faced with something that is urgent.

"Now who is going to harm you if you are enthusiastic for what is good?" 1 Peter 3:13

These words I am afraid would not have brought comfort to the prophet Jonah. The people of Nineveh only had 40 days to get their act together and be spared from destruction. If you knew that you only had 40 days to prevent imminent disaster what would you do?

Will there always be a tomorrow?

Original photo: gold fabric, cross, crown of thorns, and candle.

I chose this photo because urgent situations come with crosses to bear as well as light for the future.

Pay attention to what might be becoming urgent in your life.