3 August 2008

Greetings Friends!

Indulge me, if you will, in another story. It is a fictional story but one that just may reflect some of the attitudes abundant, or at least obvious to some degree in our society and our world. It is the story of two sisters.

The elder sister lived a rather simple and content life while the other never seemed to be able to get enough. The first sister built a small home and lived well with little. Upon seeing this, her younger sister built a plush home - a grand structure with more rooms that she needed and filled with the finest of furnishings. The elder sister scrimped and saved for a yearly weekend vacation at a cabin. The younger sister responded by searching vacation real estate and purchasing an extravagant cottage on an exclusive lake. The elder sister was employed in work she loved though the pay was meager but adequate and the position held little prestige or room for advancement. Her younger sister jumped from job to job in search of employment that would cause her to "be somebody" of importance in the business world and provide her with wages that would help meet her need for attaining more and more and bigger and better possessions - ones of the latest style and technology. The elder sister was quite satisfied with her life and gave freely to those who asked and those in need while her sister hoarded what she had, was openly critical of those who did not have her drive for "success", and seemed to be miserable much of the time.

One line in particular in our first reading from Isaiah today caught my attention. God said: "Why spend your money for what is not bread; your wages for what fails to satisfy?" (55:2) This question prompts us to consider, once again, what it is that is truly important in life. I invite us to ponder these questions this week: Will having the latest and greatest of anything and everything be that which satisfies the deepest longings of our heart and soul? Will all the "prized" and sought after possessions the world has to offer truly bring us closer to the God to whom we belong and who so unceasingly pursues us and invites us into relationship? What attitudes and actions cause us, at times, to distance ourselves from the Love of God? Is it not the Word of God, the Bread we partake in, and our connection to each other as community that which will feed and satisfy our sometimes restless souls?

May we always know deep in our hearts the abundant Love of God and reflect the blessing of that love by gratefully and humbly reaching out to those who cross our path.

Peace on the Journey