The Light in the Woods

#2 – THE LIGHT IN THE WOODS – SEPTEMBER 2005

© Aubri Dennison 2005

9/1/05 Insights from Study      Giving is an honor as well as receiving:

“Brother let me be your servant

Let me be as Christ to you

Pray that I may have the grace to

Let you be my servant too”

9/4/05 Insights from Study     By taking a good steak and rubbing salt and bitter spices into it, you begin the process of tenderizing and bringing out the flavor by breaking down the makeup of the flesh. Our daily trials and sufferings are like that – through the introduction of irritating elements, we are brought to perfection.

9/4/05 Insights from Study        You can follow the letter of all the laws and still not obey the greatest – love of God and neighbor. It’s more than the old conundrum of “trying only not to sin, instead of actively giving of yourself.” It’s also that we can fail to delve into the true meaning of the laws and so miss the directive behind them. You can avoid adultery and still sin against connubial love by ignoring, belittling, or having little respect or regard for your spouse. You are keeping the letter of the law, but abusing the spirit of it. Not sinning is work!

9/7/05 Insights from Study         An interesting take on the ninth and tenth commandments is hinted at in Colossians 3:5 when Paul likens covetousness to idolatry. I always thought of these two commandments as admonitions against envy, greed and adultery. But the more refined point is that we want the things of the earth, which is idolatry in that we should want the things of above. This in turn leads to the point that we can avoid idolatry by not making images and believing the images themselves are gods – this is only a small part of it; idolatry is found in finding more importance in our worldly things and affairs than the kingdom to come. This is a hard tenet to follow since we are told that we’ll be judged on how we treat each other, especially the poor. To do this we must be concerned with worldly goods in order to provide them. It’s always bothered me that we’re warned against being rich, since you need money in order to help the poor. If I follow Jesus and give up all I have, what will I have then to give the poor? Where does relief come from if not from those who have? Extremists would say my country should be damned for its wealth. But it’s that wealth that consistently is given or spent on the lifting up of other countries. I understand that we don’t all use our gifts for others and I’ve always believed the commandments speak to individuals, not to institutions – at any rate there should be a balance struck. We need to think of the things of the world in order to do God’s work, without idolizing material wealth. Sackcloth and ashes may be fine to show God you care about Him, but it doesn’t feed or clothe your neighbor.

9/10/05 Reflections       Why do you rail so against my religion and against my having faith in what it teaches? I only want to deserve the eternity I envision, and for you to deserve it too. If I’m right, I will have beauty and peace the extent of which there are no human words; if I’m wrong, the worst that has happened is that I’ve provided for a little beauty and peace in this lifetime. Either way, it’s presumptuous of you to find fault with me. You have not created me out of nothing, provided the air for me to breathe and the gifts I need for life, and the body I use to conduct my way through my time on earth. You have not infused me with feelings of grace and beauty and happiness and peace and satisfaction and love to overcome the ugliness of humanity, nor have you provided me with the sense of awe and wonder for the Creator who did. No matter how far back you search into evolution, you can’t get back to the beginning, back to nothingness, without realizing there must be a Creator to bridge the gap between nothingness and being.

9/10/05 Insights from Prayer      By praying well, even if we don’t feel our prayers have been answered, we receive the gift of humility and connection with God.

9/14/05 Presentations      A happy thought can come at you right out of the worst day. There I was ranting at my printer and all of a sudden I remembered – outside my window on a beautiful day there were a dozen turtles of every size crawling out of the water onto a sloping shoreline to enjoy sunning themselves on the warm rocks. They certainly didn’t care that my printer wasn’t working right, and I guess what it came right down to was, when reminded of turtles sunning on a rock, I didn’t much care about my printer either. I’d like to bottle whatever it is that makes being in a place you particularly love like living a prayer – but God has that patent.

9/14/05 Insights from Prayer               My Prayer Sequence (ATRIP):

      * Adoration (praise)

      * Thanksgiving

      * Repentance (unworthiness)

      * Intercession (for others)

      * Petition (for myself)

I find if I include the different types of prayers at each session it helps focus my thoughts on how to get started when I feel dry.

9/14/05 Reflections       I like the clear analogy of the God/man relationship as one of parent/child – as long as it’s taken in giant steps and not over-examined. God loves us wholly and unequivocally; all-forgiving and all-encompassing – like a parent to a child but on such a grand scale we can’t fully comprehend it. This love is ingrained, for without it a helpless child could not survive, let alone thrive. A parent chides the child’s imperfections but immediately forgives them; lets the child know the wrongfulness of what he’s doing without denying a better outcome if the behavior is abandoned; teaches that there are consequences while providing a way of making up for it. The goal is to raise a good person who will seek, deserve, and strive for a close and everlasting relationship between those with the same ideals. A parent is ever-ready with gifts and help, the basics provided quietly and the extras there for the asking. But a parent is also mindful that a child’s free will can make the road bumpy at times. They must remain ever-present, ever-available, ever-understanding and ever-forgiving. It’s the child’s duty to honor a parent’s love and to remember that it’s this love that nourishes and liberates, give and withholds, protects and frees, allows and orders. There is always a struggle within us, because of original sin and our own human nature; but the love of our Creator is a constant good in our lives, and our reward is worthwhile and attainable.

9/17/06 Reflections      Those who criticize Catholics, saying they worship idols such as Mary and the Saints, don’t understand the difference between worship and veneration. One venerates others outside the trinity in order to acknowledge that the goodness for which they strive is attainable. If they ask the communion for help, it’s with the understanding that it’s the Holy Spirit who imparts the grace asked for, not the intercessor that is venerated. To say a Catholic worships Mary is like saying when a Nobel prize winner is named we worship him – we don’t; we only acknowledge his contribution and encourage others to strive to follow his example. And to say a Catholic adores a statue is like saying we worship the Nobelist’s prize itself. Worship is for our Lord Almighty; creator of all we see and don’t see. Veneration is for those who have come before us, to learn from them and ask for the same grace they had been given in their practice of faith.

9/18/05 Insights from Study       The parable of the vineyard owners, who paid all the workers the same wage no matter at what point in the day they showed up, has more than one idea to teach. First, if the wage was fair and agreed to, it shouldn’t matter if the owner was fair to one and more than fair to another. He could do what he wanted with his money. Too, it’s not as if God has just so much love to give and if He gives some to someone else there’s less available to you. God has an infinite capacity of love for each and every person. Also, we are, none of us, automatically deserving of God’s love. In fact, we are undeserving and cannot buy our way into heaven. It’s there for us through Christ and the salvation he earned, and anything we do receive is through God’s grace. Also, we can learn from this parable the same lesson taught by the prodigal son parable – all are welcome to salvation no matter when or how they come to accept it.

9/23/05 Insights from Study        When God, through Paul, tells us to pray without ceasing, we get a mental picture of ourselves on our knees all day, never getting up to eat or go to the bathroom. We need to re-examine our understanding of what prayer is. It’s our recognition of being in the divine presence wherever we are or in whatever we’re doing. Oral prayer or mentally communicating with God is one type of prayer, but our actions when dealing with our worldly concerns as we go about our day also communicate with Him. Once we make a commitment to see God in everything and act with Him in our hearts, we are praying. In this way, it’s not so hard to pray without ceasing, and it reaffirms the adage that God never requires more of us than He has equipped us to be able to give.

9/23/05 Inspiration      We take too much worry onto ourselves over things that are in God’s hands. Let go – give it back to God and enjoy the peace He wants for you.

9/24/05 Inspirations          Observations on human suffering:

• We aren’t capable of seeing the larger picture in which the most major tragedy of this life is but a minor irritation in the great scheme of things, and which, like the pain of childbirth, is all but forgotten in the magnanimity of what comes after.

• It’s a test of faith; not that God is toying with us, but that He’s giving us an opportunity to come to Him for help.

• We can’t be perfect, and our situation can’t be perfect, because of original sin.

• We can more easily see the good things when there are bad things for contrast.

• We can’t rule out suffering as punishment or warning if we believe in the Bible. This doesn’t imply a vengeful God, but a just one.

• Baptism and the Passion of our Savior freed us from our sin, and the sacrament of Reconciliation can bring about the forgiveness of further sin, but we still have to make amends for our sins through indulgence.

• The suffering of others brings out the love of neighbor Christ demands of us.

• We’re asked to have faith throughout our trials, which is no more than what God asked of His son-made-man. If we’re gifted of having the same relationship to God as Jesus did, we should look to Him in our suffering as our good example of what to do.

• Just as loving our enemy makes him impotent against us, accepting our suffering lessens it’s sting.

• It’s not that God punishes us with suffering, as debated in the Book of Job, but that suffering comes about from loving the things of the world. By elevating our goals to God and eternal life with Him, suffering becomes a gift of opportunity.

• Human suffering can be a force for peace as it can bring together the human race.

• Our troubles keep us running to God for help, which in turn adds to our perfection.

• Suffering tests whether we truly believe we’re helpless without God, and whether we follow Him out of love or self-profit.