A.S.K.

Today's Readings

"Jesus said to his disciples: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives; and the one who seeks, finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened." - Matthew 7: 7-8

ASK

• Take a second and bring God into mind and your heart...
• Take a deep breath and think...
• Take that deep thought and wonder...
• Take the spirit of that wondering, and...
• ASK

SEEK

• Make a plan to journey with God, day by day...
• Make the first step...
• Make a friend along the way...
• Make a commitment to keep on looking, and...
• SEEK

KNOCK

• Act on your impulse to try...
• Act on the urge to do...
• Act with the Lord in heart...
• Act with faith, hope, love and purpose, and...
• KNOCK

On Being Good Without God

An atheist society is promoting themselves and their cause this weekend by flying those banners behind planes that says "I can do good without God!". There are also billboards with the same ad campaign popping up here and there around the country. The question is, are they right? Can you do good without God?

YES & NO... There are many good people in the world who do not yet know God, and these people do good things all of the time. So, without the feeling of God in their hearts, people can do good. However, I would contend that God, even without a person's knowledge, works through good, and hence through good people who do good things. So, God is inherently present in good, whether it is a way of life, a state of mind, or an act itself.

In the spirit of these past few days, and the discussion of "the heart" and it's sacred and immaculate place in our being; one can see the struggle between the individual freedom to do good and the nature of being possessed by goodness to BE GOOD. The God that causes groups to hire ad companies to declare their freedom from religion on banners and billboards is the same God that finds His way into the good actions of good people. While I understand the concept that with freedom comes the freedom from being possessed by another's will, I would maintain that the mere mention of "God" in the phrase on the billboard itself is a giving in to His presence among us, and hence His work through us. I would further add that it's OK to be on the journey that takes one through the individual experience of living this life with and without the understanding that "we are God's people" (Psalm 100). God's love, and the potentially sacred and immaculate hearts He has placed in us all will always be witness to, and share goodness, and this will always prevail over evil.

So please be good, and when your journey takes you there, "Be God's!" (Rich Mullins)

I will sprinkle clean water upon you to cleanse you from all your impurities, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. I will give you a new heart and place a new spirit within you, taking from your bodies your stony hearts and giving you natural hearts. I will put my spirit within you and make you live by my statutes, careful to observe my decrees. You shall live in the land I gave your fathers; you shall be my people, and I will be your God.

Ezekiel 36: 25-27

50 Ways to Get Through Easter... Impulse!

“Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you.” (John 14: 27)

Easter Day #31: Impulse!

Have you ever had to act on your gut instinct? How did it go? Did you succeed? Did it turn out better than you thought? Did you fail? Did it hurt? What did you learn?

Answers to questions like these are definitely the building blocks of a spiritual journey, for walking a path of faith always requires that you act on an IMPULSE from time to time. Yes, there are plans to be made, and recipes to follow in life, but every now and then our faith requires us to go with our gut IMPULSE. We’ve all heard the phrase, “it just felt like the right thing to do at the time.”

There’s an inherent risk in going with your gut, and that is what makes it likely that there will be hardships ahead. But when you act on an IMPULSE that is rooted in a life of Christ, you tend to do the right thing more often than not. We have been promised that the “Peace of Christ” has been left with us to use and to share in our own journey. Some choose to embody this peace, while others put it on a shelf and retrieve it when needed. Still others, take it for granted, and never really add it to their routines at all. To the ones who embody it, their IMPULSE is most certainly one of peace. To the ones who retrieve it, the IMPULSE may or may not be peaceful, depending on whether or not there is time to remember “to get it off the shelf”. To the ones who ignore it, the IMPULSE is most certainly uncertain at best.

May the peace of our Lord be with you always!

Let us act on an IMPULSE and pray for the currents, coastline, wildlife, and people of the Gulf Region. There is an oil slick still being fed by a leak that needs fixing. The north wind is doing its part today to keep things off shore, but we are facing a potential environmental catastrophe that calls us to act. If your IMPULSE is to pray, then pray! If it is to collect degreasing soap and rags to send to the coast so that they are ready to respond, then collect! If you have no IMPULSE to do anything, then please consider re-reading this post, and try one of the two options listed here. Thanks!

50 Ways to Get Through Easter... Carpe Diem!

“But whoever lives the truth comes to the light, so that his works may be clearly seen as done in God.” (John 3: 21)

Today’s word(s): Carpe Diem!

Today I’m reminded of the old Saturday Night Live, Weekend Update gags with Chevey Chase and Gilda Radner as Emily Latella. If she were here today, and God bless Gilda’s place in our lives, she would say: “What’s all this fuss about a latin phrase meaning “the day of seizing fish?” Leave the Carps alone! Give them their day! Help them remain free and ...” (Chevy would interrupt and say) Uh, Ms. Latella... Ms. Latella! The phrase is Carpe Diem, and it means “seize the day”! It has nothing to do with carp, or any other fish for that matter.” Ms. Latella would respond, “Well, that’s different isn’t it? Never mind.”

Today’s words are “Carpe Diem”, a very familiar phrase indeed. It does call us to seize the day, and it does bring to mind an element of the Gospel quote above. We act on our faith in the light, so that ALL WILL SEE the glory of God! If we seize this DAY, and we ACT on our faith, then all will know of the love of CHRIST! So, seize your day today, and help the world know of this Easter miracle. Tell them, or show them; just make sure you bring them the light of our Lord’s peace, love and understanding!

And that’s your “Weekend Update” for today!