Your Cross
The everlasting God has in His wisdom
foreseen from eternity the cross
that He now presents to you
as a gift from His inmost Heart.
This cross He now sends you
He has considered with His all-knowing eyes,
understood with His divine mind,
tested with His wise justice,
warmed with His loving arms
and weighed with His own hands
to see that it be not one inch too large
and not one ounce too heavy for you.
He has blessed it with His holy Name,
anointed it with His grace,
perfumed it with His consolation,
taken one last glance at you
and your courage, and then sent it
to you from heaven,
a special greeting from God to you,
an alms of the all-merciful love of God.
St. Francis de Sales
"In this world you will have trouble..."
Where did we ever get the idea that our American prosperity is the way life is supposed to be. Or worse, that we deserve it; that we're entitled to it. We need to realize we we're never promised financial abundance (at least as we commonly define it), that the financial blessings we do receive are so that we might help others.
Americans (myself included) have squandered a lof of our provisions on our selves, indulging in the gratification of possesion. Bigger cars, bigger houses, aquire, aquire, aquire. Bigger is better. More is better. In short, our stockpile is our security.
But now our chickens appear to be coming home to roost. Our economy is in deep, deep, trouble. Thousands of people are losing their jobs at an alarming rate. We can no longer depend on our savings, investments, or 401 K; and if this current Congressional plan doesn't work we'll be in more debt than ever.
I'm not sure where all of this is heading. I'm not saying our downfall is near. Obviously, I don't know. But I am sure as Christ followers we need to examine our perception of prosperity and pain. What would it mean for Christ followers if we we're totally stripped of our financial prosperity and security?
More to come...
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