Yesterday was a memorable day for me, as I encountered three ideas that truly made me reflect. I’ve listed them below and wanted to share them with everyone, as they resonated deeply with me and might do the same for you.

On sin:

“Does God side with our own narrow notion of salvation being mostly reserved for the strong? Not if Jesus is to be believed.

When Jesus points out sin, he doesn’t point to where we are weak and defeated. Rather, he points to where we are strong, arrogant, indifferent and judgmental. Search the Gospels and ask this question: on whom is Jesus hardest? The answer is clear: Jesus is hardest on those who are strong, judgmental and have no feelings for those who are enduring the storm.

Notice what he says about the rich man who ignores the poor man at his doorstep, and about the priest and scribe who ignore the man beaten in a ditch, and how critical he is of the scribes and Pharisees who are quick to define who falls under God’s judgment and who doesn’t.”       (Fr. Ronald Rolheiser – ronrolheiser.com)

Our sense of importance and value:

“From the beginning of the Bible to the end, God is the one who holds all the power, and any power we hold is derived not owned.”

”Authority or power is something with which we are briefly clothed, but God laughs when we take it too seriously.”

”Our instinct as human beings is to build our sense of worth, our self-confidence and value on our past achievements, looks, wealth, status, job or family. In other words, to build it upon something for which we can claim credit, some power or ability that we possess.
We tend to come before God dressed in our acquired prowess, our moral victories or life’s success. Yet before God, none of these counts for anything.”

”Before God, each of us stands naked and defenceless.”

”The idea that all people, whether noble, common, wealthy, poor, influential or insignificant, have equal standing in the ultimate scheme of things because they are of equal standing before God…”            (Revd Graham Tomlin)

On Love:

”When we have little to lose, we start to give. When we lose the love or power for its own sake, we discover the power of love.”

”And it is so often the fear of loss that holds us back from serving others. Fearing the loss of opportunity, comfort or security, we hold onto what we have, afraid to let it go for the sake of someone else, and so the opportunities for small or large acts of love and compassion slip past us daily.”

”If power is the ability to get things done, to change the circumstances and people, then this takes us to the heart of the Christian understanding of power: it is the power of self-sacrificial love and service.
There is nothing more powerful than this.
Love can soften the hardest of hearts, the most rigid minds, the stoniest of souls.”          (Revd Graham Tomlin)