June 28

Choosing to live by the values of the “kingdom of God,” as described and lived by Jesus, can mean not choosing the values given to me by my family, by American culture. Following Jesus’ way can put me at odds family members, friends, neighbors, religious and civil authorities. But, according to Jesus, my primary relationship is to be with God.
 
To live into that relationship, I must be willing to live a life of ongoing conversion. At times, I will have take up a cross, to sacrifice, to open myself to living differently. Often, I do not want to take up a cross, do not want to give up the life I have. Quite frankly, I argue that if God loves me so much, God would not ask me to endure the pain entailed in carrying a cross.  (The Passion narratives seem to undercut that argument, but I make it anyway!) 
 
What I am overlooking is the awareness that I will never be fully satisfied by family, by the values or things the world offers me. I will only be ultimately satisfied when my primary relationship is with the Divine Indwelling, the source of my deepest and truest self. The journey inward toward that awareness of who and whose I truly am is painful at times. As Jesus’ life proves, there is a cost to committing to a relationship with God. But again and again the communion of saints tells me the journey is worth the pain - and that after the pain, there is resurrection.