I am not super religious. I have not gone to church regularly in years...And yet, I find myself springing to action when it comes to Lent. Not because I believe it absolves you of sin from the whole year or that it is a ticket to Heaven...but because I believe that sometimes we have to practice discipline to grow. So for the next 46 days (yes even Sundays), I will be keeping my thoughts to myself in this blog... and only sharing little "snippits" from a book I am reading called "Rediscovering Jesus".
I'm not 100% sure where my beliefs are on Jesus, God, and the whole miracle of existence. A lot has changed in my life Spiritually since Elijah passed away. But I believe in faith...and I know I have read somewhere that one of the best way to learn more about your faith is to question it...so here I am, not really "questioning" anything, but giving myself the opportunity to learn something.
If you are not "of faith," I still think you will learn a lot from this little book about the love and acceptance that I believe the man Jesus truly embodied. Non judging, sitting with the broken, truly loving--that Jesus. And whether you believe he was real or a character, you will still learn something. So... in that since...you too can have faith ;)
Alright, now onto my shush mode, and into sharing mode....
Day one of Lent:
(P.S. I am not going to be sharing the whole story with you every day....that is kind of illegal lol, but today I thought I should).
"It was the biggest meeting of Paul's life and all had gone well. He couldn't wait to tell his wife and his boss. As he rushed out of the Brooklyn office building with the rest of the team, they noticed a vacant cab--a rare sight during rush hour.
Eager to get to the airport to catch their flight home, they bolted toward the cab, yelling to get the driver's attention. But as they made their way across the sidewalk, they inadvertently knocked over a small produce stand. The rest of the team seemed oblivious until Paul stopped and turned around to go back.
From beside the taxi the others called out to Paul, "Come on, you'll miss your flight."
"Go ahead without me," Paul replied as he made his way back across the street toward the sidewalk covered in produce. At the that moment, he realized that the woman who had been behind the produce stand was blind. She was just standing there crying softly with tears running down her face.
"It's Ok, it's OK," Paul said to her as he got down on his hands and knees and began picking up the fruit and vegetables. There were a hundred people passing in each direction, but nobody else stopped to help. The just scurried off to wherever they were going.
When the fruit was all back up on the stand, Paul began neatly organizing it, setting aside anything that was spoiled. Now he turned to the woman and asked, "Are you OK?" She nodded through her tears. Then, reaching for his wallet, he took out some bills and passed them to the woman, saying, "This money should cover the damages."
With that, Paul turned and began to walk away.
"Mister," the woman called after him. Paul paused and turned around. "Are you Jesus?"
"Oh no," he replied.
The woman nodded and continued, "I only ask because I prayed for Jesus to help me as I heard my fruit falling all over the sidewalk."
Paul turned to leave again, only now his eyes began to fill with tears.
For a long time he wandered around looking for a taxi. After finally finding one, he sat in bumper-to-bumper traffic all the way to the airport. He had missed his flight, and because it was Friday night, all the other flights were full.
Paul spent the night in a hotel by the airport. This gave him the time to think. He couldn't get one question out of his head: When was the last time someone confused you for Jesus?"
Points to ponder: Jesus wants you to carry his work
Question to consider: How much is the sheer busyness of your life preventing your from living the life God is calling you to live?
Prayer: Jesus, give me the courage to let down my guard."
Good night everyone. I love you all.
Go change the world. Do it for Elijah.
Thank you.
I will never forget how happy "patty cake' made you.
I will never forget how happy you made me.
I miss and love you so much..
Always.
<3
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