Good day for the Heron, bad day for the frog.
Our Post is Inspired by The Holy Spirit.
But the one who peers into the perfect law of freedom and perseveres,
and is not a hearer who forgets but a doer who acts;
such a one shall be blessed in what he does. James 1
The letter of St. James I have always found very profound.
Why?
The quote that we started off with tells it all, “Be doers of the word and not hearers only.”
For me, it is a call to action, and action brings Joy. When I am reaching out to people I let go of myself and start to reflect on the face of the person I am in contact with.
I am no Biblical scholar, as I am sure you all know, but what I believe James is saying in the above quote, is the perfect law is, Love God with your whole heart, soul, mind, and love your neighbor as yourself.
These are all action words!
These are not words for sitting.
And of course, the next question has to be, “Who is my neighbor?”
I have changed my thinking on this. EVERYONE you meet if only in passing, is your neighbor at that specific time and place.
It might be the person who just cut you off at the intersection, who in my younger years I would have railed against for being so stupid or the person you just walked past whose head was down and didn’t respond to your cheerful greeting, both I try to remember to say a very short prayer for.
Or did you fail to give a cheerful greeting?
Were you just two ships passing in the night?
This is the change that has taken over my life. EVERYONE I come in contact with is my neighbor, including those of you who are kind enough to post a comment.
That makes it easier for me to determine what I have to do.
Love them!
I now fully believe the person I just walked by God wanted me to interact with. There is always a reason, and most of the time we will never know the reason. That’s not our job, we just have to Love them.
Let us be more specific.
I went for a year to a gym that was open twenty-four hours a day. I arrived at five-thirty in the morning. I hated it! Everyone I met I greeted with a cheerful, “Hello,” and asked how they were. If they asked me how I was we replied, “Fantastic!”
I didn’t know it at the time but Rev. John McCall was a person I met every day and he asked, a few months after we first met, if he could talk about me in his next sermon.
For the life of me, I couldn’t figure out why?
Below is part of what he said.
“First and foremost, remember the familiar truth that attitude is everything. We create our own reality emotionally and spiritually. We choose how to experience our lives. I think immediately of a man we see at the gym every morning, whom we’ve nicknamed “Fantastic Fred.” He gave me permission to talk about him this morning. I don’t know his last name, and I don’t know much of his story. I do know he’s retired, and probably in his mid-70s. I know he is a Roman Catholic Eucharistic Minister, serving at the altar of the local congregation, in the absence of a priest. And I know that Fred has had some physical challenges. His neck is stiffened in such a way that he can’t turn his head without turning his shoulders. And he can’t raise his eyes without leaning backward from his waist. Physically he is looking down. Every morning, day after day, we greet each other. “How are you today, Fred?” “Fantastic!” he replies. “It’s a choice, and I choose to be fantastic!” In an objective sense, I have no evidence that his life is any better than yours or mine. Physically he looks down; emotionally he’s always looking up. That’s the choice he’s made. A Journey with The Holy Spirit Revised Edition
Rev. McCall at that brief moment in the morning was my neighbor, and because we greeted him with Love, we made an impression that compelled him to tell others about my, our, attitude, (Love) because Love is Fantastic!
The really interesting thing is I have only truly begun to realize how important every encounter with someone else is only after typing this post.
God working in my life!
I Love it!
Update: I was almost at the end of our walk yesterday, and I passed a man shoveling his driveway, who I don’t know, he yelled at me, “Are you still fantastic?” I said, “How did you know I was fantastic?” He said, “We twice passed by each other and both times when I asked you how you were you said you were fantastic.” I responded, “Yes I am!”
I asked back, “How are you?” He said, “Very good.” I asked, “Why aren’t you fantastic?” He thought about it and replied, “When I finish shoveling I will be fantastic.”
This then goes right back to St. James who said, “Be doers of the word and not hearers only.”
I also believe that being a doer of the word has a very positive effect on us.
We live in a time when so many people are stressed out.
I can’t believe the anger, and stress that fills our society today.
It’s sad!
Gail and I walk almost every day and I am saddened by the people who have their heads down and won’t even acknowledge our greeting as we walk past them.
They are only going through this journey once as we tell the men in the jail, why spend it in jail?
“The nine” We pray you will grow in the Love, Joy, and Peace of the Holy Spirit by growing in Patience, Kindness, Generosity, Faithfulness, Gentleness, and Self-Control.
Sidebar:
I am a huge fan of The Chosen.
Dallis Jenkins, the creator, producer, writer, and director of The Chosen put out a twenty-four-minute video on Youtube about:
Dallis experienced three Red Sea Moments in the second season.
What is a Red Sea Moment?
Dallis explains that when everything seems lost, Moses at the Red Sea for example with the Egyptians closing in to kill all the Israelites, Moses begs God for help.
That is a Red Sea Moment!
In this link, Dallis explains about three Red Sea moments he had in filming the second season of The Chosen. His explanation also demonstrates a God of Outrageous Love and the power of thanking God for the difficulties he has ALLOWED in Dallis’s life, and more importantly in your life.
I have experienced Red Sea moments, and they are a WOW!
I especially enjoy how Dallis gives God full credit and is moved with Joy over what God did for him. I will give you a hint, more than Dallis asked for, think the wedding at Cana, one hundred and twenty to one hundred and eighty gallons of wine, way over the top.
This also points directly to the relationship we are asked to build as we have discussed in our past posts.
It’s powerful!
The question is, is Dallis closer to God because of his three Red Sea moments?
I believe he is. Look at his Joy, he is almost in tears explaining what has just happened.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1yXRDeUQS8
Copy and paste if the link doesn’t work.
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Please celebrate with me: I was diagnosed with Basal Cell Cancer on my face, I was set up for surgery on 2/16 at 7 am, I put a cream, not a medication on the basal cell as directed, by the doctor, twice a day and started to notice the Basal Cell Cancer disappearing. I saw the Dermatologist on 2/9 and the doctor said she couldn’t see it or feel it. We canceled the operation. I came home celebrating. Who wouldn’t?
I pray our 2/23 post the Holy Spirit will let me tell more. Not for my glory, but for God’s glory, and maybe encourage you to look to God to take care of you when you have difficulties in your life.
