Jesus Beloved Son Henri Nouwen
December 4, 2012 Tuesday
Isaiah 11:4
I guess it is appropriate to read this as the flu runs rampant. Blessed are the poor: poor in spirit, poor in connection, poor in relationship. How frustrating is it when someone we care about is feeling poorly and we can not affect a healing. We feel helpless and hopeless. When we help the poor we are serving God and the poor person is providing the opportunity for that service. We will never be done serving God and God's people yet we get frustrated when our service does not give us the results we want in the short term.
The band Kutless has a song called "Even if."
The lyric remarks
"Even if the healing doesn’t come
And life falls apart
And dreams are still undone
You are God You are good
Forever faithful One
Even if the healing
Even if the healing doesn’t come"
If we have chosen to give care to the poor then we we have chosen to also to take care of ourselves and chosen to move closer to God. We must realize that it is not the short-term result that is central but the moment to moment blessings that are shared. The scripture from Isaiah reminds us that the poor will be judged with righteousness not by results but with right living day by day. We are called to serve the poor but not to destroy ourselves in the process. We are called to rely more on God and less on ourselves. This is an amazing opportunity to center on the love of God and the love of our neighbor. We are not called to burn out but to burn brightly with the power of the Holy Spirit, the inspiration of Jesus and in conjunction with God's new creation.
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