My wife, Anna, and I recently had lunch at a Cracker Barrel restaurant. After our meal we were browsing in the gift shop and a tee shirt caught our eyes and tickled our funny bones it said ” When nothing seems to be going right…………… Go left.”
Saint Paul speaks of things not going right in our lives in 2 Corinthians 4 when he says ” We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed;”
There are so many examples in my life and the lives of friends and relatives of things not going right. One buddy of mine was despondent over business losses and the loss of a girl friend who he loved deeply. At the time there was no hope in his life and for him there was no treasure. He was in such despair he even considered suicide. Thank God he did not because what happened next was that he found and married the real love of his life. He later commented that his wife was the woman God had intended for him. They had two sons who turned out to be fine young men.
Things are not always what they seem. Events, employment or relationship loss look hopeless at first. We are all guilty of taking the true treasures of life for granted.
The life of Jesus should be an example. Jesus suffered the death of a criminal, but proved His persecutors all wrong at His Resurrection. At first everything looked hopeless. This, as we know, was not the end of the story. Saint Paul goes on to say ,“always carrying about in the Body the dying of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our body.”
My sister, Patti, has a favorite quote from Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know well the plans I have in mind for you – oracle of the Lord – plans for your welfare and not for woe, so as to give you a future of hope.”
Hope and Faith are so intertwined in scripture and in our lives. The bread of life we consume in Holy Eucharist is our hope and mainstay.
I have to thank Chris who commented on last Friday’s post. She said,
“we are fed with the Bread of life and the Word of life”.The treasure, that we hold, is the Body and Blood of Christ in our lives. We hold Jesus in our hand and heart every time we receive.
It important to focus on that treasure and remember the words of Saint Paul, “Everything indeed is for you, so that the grace bestowed in abundance on more and more people may cause the thanksgiving to overflow for the glory of God.”
There is always hope because we have this treasure to sustain us. We are confident of the presence of Jesus in our lives.
God Bless
Bob Burford
PS: Happy Father’s Day on Sunday.
