We’ve been discussing God’s love and mercy and how He makes us part of Himself and fills us with His grace and abundance of gifts.
One thing that is crucial to remember though is that we are only the container … we can not be possessive of what He pours freely into us. The riches that we’ve been entrusted with are to be used for the good of all His children, we are merely stewards. We are to be rivers and not reservoirs, where the water of the Spirit flows to its final destination and doesn’t just sit there.
The story of the long handled spoons comes to mind.
“ One day a man said to God, “God, I would like to know what Heaven and Hell are like.
God showed the man two doors. Inside the first one, in the middle of the room, was a large round table with a large pot of stew. It smelled delicious and made the man’s mouth water, but the people sitting around the table were thin and sickly. They appeared to be famished. They were holding spoons with very long handles and each found it possible to reach into the pot of stew and take a spoonful, but because the handle was longer than their arms, they could not get the spoons back into their mouths.
The man shuddered at the sight of their misery and suffering. God said, “You have seen Hell.”
Behind the second door, the room appeared exactly the same. There was the large round table with the large pot of wonderful stew that made the man’s mouth water. The people had the same long-handled spoons, but they were well nourished and plump, laughing and talking.
The man said, “I don’t understand.”
God smiled. “It is simple,” He said, “Love only requires one skill. These people learned early to feed one another. Those who are hungry are greedy people, and they think only of themselves.”
The Devil’s great temptation is always one of self fulfillment. Do this thing, and you’ll finally get all you’ve ever wanted.
“The Devil will take advantage of your blindness and put before you a banquet of his delights, colored to look like something that is good for you. For each person he chooses what is most appealing to their principal weakness, and to each according to their station in life. The Devil will issue you an invitation to death disguised as life.”
-Set Aside Every Fear (Catherine of Siena)
Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who have pleasure in them. He provides food for those who fear him; he is ever mindful of his covenant. – Psalms 111:2, 5
As we step out in obedience and give as He commands us without thought to self, He Himself comes and feeds us… via His direct grace and via His other children and angels.
In today’s Gospel we hear … “You lack one thing; go, sell what you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.” – Mark 10:21
So the following thoughts are me rambling, trying to digest what the Lord is saying.
‘Sell what you have”… that’s a monetary exchange, so the Lord isn’t asking us to commit the sin of simony… taking money for spiritual favors… but those other things that we ‘possess’ and are preventing us from being free to follow the Lord. Or in a practical way He could even be telling him/ us to get to work… to put his talents to use to make money to reach ‘the poor’… and who are the poor you ask? It’s tempting to see it as very black and white… the homeless of course…they abound all around us, especially in big cities. But is that all?
