The Judge

 There is the story of the unjust judge who callously ignores a poor widow.  She wants justice done for her so she can survive. But she is poor and has nothing the judge might want.  She cannot bribe him.  She is knocking on his door and he does not answer.  We think he is a terrible person right?  Well, think of God knocking on the door of your heart and being ignored because God has nothing your selfish, self-centered heart might want.  When people say they look but cannot find God, it might be because they are blind rather than God is absent.  Self blinds us.  

Indifference

 Indifference has its place.  If you have problems with things changing, why not embrace things with “indifference.”  That is, embrace them lightly.  I don’t mean people, but rather stuff, the things that fill up our storage spaces, attics, garages and basements.  We all have a vocation to love, and lots of our stuff does nothing to support such a vocation.  If you have a job, rather than a career, hold it lightly, as you may be sooner let go than you might prefer.  If you miss out on something for one reason or another, hold what you missed lightly, or with indifference.  Then it won’t so wound or bother you.  I think a spiritual path teaches us what to hold onto and what to hold lightly or with indifference.  Hold lightly the groups that might reject you.  

Serenity Stealers

 So you have any serenity stealers?  If you move to my state you will encounter more than enough of these.  Try getting a new driver’s license from the DMV.  Or finding a medical conglomerate that will give you a primary care doctor and take your insurance.  One medical complex said that I first had to find out if that my medical insurance would pay to that complex.  Maybe things have gotten more cumbersome over the years since I had lived as a resident of Colorado for so long in terms of doctors, insurance, and DMV card.  I live in various places and no one cares until I try to change the above.  So now I have doctors in various places.  And my spiritual life is geared to deal with serenity stealers.  

Imperfections

 Imperfections, character defects, can be burnt away by the fire of love.  But not our own love for our own imperfections.  It takes the power of God or a Higher Power than our own, to burn away imperfections.  Prayer, meditation, is what can kindle that fire.  God’s fire is always present and ready, but waits for our prayers.  We have to want imperfections to be burnt away.  Prayer is what can make us more entirely ready.  God’s work wants our cooperation.  So I work on my “entirely ready” attitude.  Meditation helps because my “entirely ready” is not always so entirely.  I trudge along.  

Presence

 I hear people say that when they go to a meeting they have nothing to offer.  They miss out on the value of being present.  Or someone might say, “Why go to church?  No one cares.”  Well, maybe your presence there makes people feel less alone, less weird since someone else is there too.  You never know when there might be another newcomer in the same place you are.  And just because you think you have nothing to offer a group does not mean that you have nothing to offer.  It’s simply just your opinion.  Show up.  Let God do the heavy lifting.  

Bless And Change

 As I enter December and all its events, my prayer is “Bless them, and change me.”  If I find people problematic, it usually means that there is something the matter with me.  Such persons can be a reminder to check on my own inventory of defects to see why I find them problematic.  So they become a blessing in my life.  I will work each day, trudging, if I must, on changing me for the better.  And I never can do this alone.  I need the God I celebrate this month, and friends who travel the same path of self-examination.