“Remember you are not to prepare your defense beforehand, for I shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute. … By your perseverance you will secure your lives.” In another translation we read: “This will be your chance to tell the Good News. Do not worry about what to say in court. For I will give you wise words. None of your enemies will be able to prove that you are wrong. They will not be able to say that your words are false.”
Much is written in support of the practice of imagining or role-playing various scenarios before actually confronting someone or being caught in a confrontational situation. I don’t mean to belittle the value that might have to ease the knots in your stomach but these words of Jesus quoted by Luke remind us, when we actually get in a situation we can depend on God for Jesus says: “I myself will give you a wisdom, wise words, in speaking.”
A few months back my sign (Scorpio) read: “Worry is like a rocking chair: it gives you something to do but gets you nowhere.” Sometimes that “rocking chair” could work ruts in the carpet…
One group of researchers have evidence to proof that we worry about – (commentary is mine.)
40% of our worries are things that will never happen [Whew, that’s a huge chunk we can let go of]
30% are about the past – which can’t be changed anyway – so dump the gunny sack and look to today
12 % are about criticism by others, mostly untrue – and many imaginary – why do we so often assume that other people are going to spend time their precious time thinking about “me”?
10% are about health, which only gets worse with stress – better to relax, loosen up and let our bodies work their own magic on the knots (I hear you: “that’s easier said than done.”)
8% are about real problems that can be solved – so here is where we need to spend our energy and focus our prayer. Remember Jesus’ promise (and He is a person of his word): “By your perseverance you will secure your lives!” So, “hands off” and “zip the lip” offering God the right solution because our limited eyesight most likely will see only a rather self-serving solution … “God-sight” knows the key to the best fix for all concerned.
Worry and fretting allows what we see as problems to come between us and God. It is the view that God has somehow lost control of the situation and we’ve lost trust in God’s omnipotent care for us. A legitimate concern should draw us closer to God and cause us to rely on His providential love for us.
By our Corporate Commitment we profess to respond to the needs of the people of God with the “compassion of Christ.” But how can we do that if we have not learned to depend on the compassion of Christ? Saying the words is one thing; living with a firm conviction that compassion begets compassion is all together another matter. Let us seek ways to be compassionate. Not wishy, washy – for COM-passion means “with passion” – with fervor, excitement, enthusiasm, even obsession. Compassion is a component of the good zeal our Holy Rule commends.
Mother Evangelista Kremiter – founding superior of the Atchison Benedictines and certainly was a mover and shaker in founding our federation – is quoted as saying: “Our lives, not words, make us credible. Words move but example motivates.” May our lives, individually and collectively, be an example that motives all who meet us to be people of compassion.
~Reflection by Sister Roberta Bailey, OSB
As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving …. Consider what you are doing for someone(s) less fortunate that you and your family .. donate money or canned goods to a food bank or place a surprise in their mailbox or on the doorstep, work a church event ….. or invite a live-alone person for a meal and conversation …. or how long has it been since you’ve worn some things hanging in the closet for eons ….
“Bend a knee” a whisper THANK YOU!
