Ricochet is the best place on the internet to discuss the issues of the day, either through commenting on posts or writing your own for our active and dynamic community in a fully moderated environment. In addition, the Ricochet Audio Network offers over 50 original podcasts with new episodes released every day.
God Thought for the Day
We live in kinship with the Holy Spirit, who comforts us and quietly guides us through our day. Christ’s sacrifice, and our faith in it, makes our kinship possible. In that kinship, our yoke is easy and our burden light. The trick is to carry the burden and in the same direction, for the same purposes, as the spirit. How to do that? Listening is required, but that is challenging due to the Lord’s soft and still voice.
Our load is also lightened by letting go of our painful past. We ask forgiveness, we give up on grievances done to us in past times. Christ accepts these things from us and releases us from carrying them – if we choose to do so. Its the ‘choosing’ God is patiently waiting for. A sort of surrender to pure goodness. A will to release your will of its burdens.
Finally, walk in Love. No-one I’ve ever talked to cared about what I knew about the world, unless I cared about them first. God knows more than you do about everything, and people reject his wisdom every day. It’s only because of his love for us that sometimes we will accept his wisdom. The same is true when we try to engage with others.
Published in Religion & Philosophy
Well said. It’s funny how important trivial interactions like sports and neighborly get-togethers are to establishing relationships so that we might tolerate opposing views. There’s an innate desire to share. But sharing has its costs. We must nurture a culture that accepts those costs.
I often wonder what role grace plays in choosing. Christian tradition holds that God enables us to love Him through grace. Yet we are free. So loving Him better perhaps requires not just wanting to but requesting His help in doing so. “Please, Lord, help me to love You.”
I’m not married. But perhaps there are similarities in marriage — asking a spouse for assistance in knowing how to love one better.
Well and profoundly thought out and said.
Aaron, you may enjoy reading G.K. Chesterton’s essay, Wisdom and the Weather. It’s a meditation on the importance of talking about the weather with people you meet, among other things.
I believe in the same thing which you expressed so eloquently. Thank you! I know that God wants us to live so the the Holy Spirit can be with us. That’s why it’s so important to have quiet time each day. It’s also important for knowing who or how to serve others.