Monday, March 9

Psalm 79:8, 9, 11, 13. Do not hold past iniquities against us; may your compassion come quickly, for we have been brought very low. Help us, God our savior…deliver us, pardon our sins for your name's sake.

So many people have had difficult things happen to them in life that they can only meet each day with so much hurt and a great deal of unresolved needs. They transfer onto us the lingering effects of these past negative markers. As a result, we are sometimes viewed with unrealistically great expectations, or with a lot of unwarranted mistrust.

God is not calling us to cure these problems. Only God can do that. We are, however, expected to offer people a chance to experience some of the goodness of God through their contact with us. Will we fail in our efforts to do this? Sometimes…But, we still need to do what we can – not just for them, but also for us, because compassion completes the circle of grace. Without it, self-knowledge will stagnate, our prayer life will become artificial, and – most importantly – we will miss seeing and hearing those words of God that can only be received when we are in service to others.

                    - Robert J. Wicks, Everyday Simplicity: A Practical Guide to Spiritual Growth,
                      Sorin Books, pp. 145-146

 


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