Lifting Each Other Up

Photo credit: Free-images.com

If you’ve ever struggled to reach a goal, you might have discovered that joining a group with similar desires as your own helped you succeed. That’s because we tend to thrive when we’re supported by people who have the same goal that we do. For example, if we want to walk regularly, walking with a group might help us stick to a routine. The group makes the activity more enjoyable and encourages us to keep going when we want to stop. It also holds us accountable (“We missed you yesterday!”). 

We benefit from our social and spiritual connections in a similar way that we benefit from a club such as a walking group. It’s important to nurture our relationships with the people who encourage and challenge us, and who allow us to do the same for them. We bring out the best in each other emotionally and spiritually. We strengthen each other for the hurdles that life presents to us. We pray for each other as we navigate health issues, work-related challenges, or family struggles. We help each other get through each particular difficulty in the way Christ wants us to, which is sometimes different from what our initial reaction might be.

Lifting each other up in this way fills us with the Love our souls crave. Convinced that we’re loved by God, we’re strengthened to offer this love to others. For example, if someone at work shares with you that they’re struggling with something, offer to pray for them. Tell them that you don’t even need to know the details; God knows the details. Tell them you’ll pray that the Lord will give them whatever it is that they need the most, including His peace during this difficult time. Doing so will remind them that they’re loved and that Christ is walking with them through their challenge. 

The early apostles also supported each other as they traveled and spread the word of Christ’s resurrection. Take the case of Paul. He and Barnabas were preaching and healing people with the power of Christ, but there were some who didn’t accept them. At one point, Paul was stoned and left for dead. The other disciples gathered around him and, presumably, prayed for him and cared for him until he recovered fully (see Acts 14).

Empowered by the love of Christ, the early apostles prayed for each other and strengthened each other in their ministry. In a similar way, let’s lift each other up and encourage each other to face life’s difficulties with the strength Christ gives us. 

“When the disciples gathered around him, he got up and entered the city.” – Acts 14:20

“Lord, thank You for the people who help me face my challenges with You.”

Thank you for reading my reflection. © 2024 Gina Bedell     Comments are always welcome! 

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P.S.

Pray for peace in Ukraine, Russia, the Middle East, and around the world. Donate toward a cause that tugs at your heart. Take care of those around you; take care of our planet. Pray for the families around the globe whose lives have been torn apart by war and natural disasters.

Wishing You Peace in 2024

 

Photo credit: Free-images.com

New Year’s Resolutions… did you make any? Many of us want to make a new start, to make some kind of change for the good. We have an inherent desire for a sense of peace, and most of these changes are rooted in our desire for this peace.

For example, if we want to feel better physically, we might resolve to become more active. Being active keeps our bodies strong and also helps us feel better about ourselves. We feel better physically, we feel better emotionally, and we feel more at peace. 

We may resolve to better handle the stress in our lives. If we google “healthy ways to deal with difficult emotions” we’ll find helpful tips from trustworthy resources. The first is to recognize that these emotions are valid. Taking care of our mental health will bring us the peace we’re longing for.

Christ is called ‘The Prince of Peace.’ It may surprise you to know that the word ‘peace’ appears in the Bible more often than the word ‘love’ does! As we travel through the months ahead, may all of us turn to Christ and see how we can invite His peace into any given situation. Start by being kind to yourself; talk to yourself and encourage yourself as you do the people you love. Read the New Testament and let His Word speak directly to you.

Let Him encourage you:

Listen to the words I speak to you, the encouraging words that come to your mind. Stop spinning your wheels on everything that’s going wrong. Look at what is going well, even the littlest things. Thank Me for them and I will put into your mind other good things that you’ve forgotten about.

You are bogged down. Open your hands, let go of what is burdening you, and accept My peace into your open hands. Look at all the people who love you, the people I have given to you to travel this road with you. Let My love and peace move from your hands into your heart and let it cover you. 

My peace will get you through.

“The Lord look upon you kindly and give you peace!” – Numbers 6:26

“Lord, so often I feel dragged down. Help me open my heart to Your peace in every situation.”

Thank you for reading my reflection. © 2023 Gina Bedell     Comments are always welcome! 

Please share this with your friends by clicking on one of the icons below. Blogspot doesn’t have a ‘subscribe’ feature and so I appreciate your help in sharing my reflections. Thanks!

If you or someone you know would like to receive these writings directly to your inbox, please email me at ginabedell1@gmail.com and I will add you to my ‘BCC’ email list.

You can also find my posts on Facebook!

P.S.

Pray for peace in Ukraine, the Middle East, and around the world. Donate toward a cause that tugs at your heart. Take care of those around you; take care of our planet. Pray for the families around the globe whose lives have been torn apart by war and natural disasters.

The Power of Encouragment

 

I keep this verse in our kitchen as a reminder of the power of kind words. I also put it on the ‘front page’ of my blog for the same reason.

Encouraging each other is a simple way to influence how we see ourselves and what we might accomplish. A bit of reassurance might inspire a young woman to see herself as a valuable person who can make a positive difference in her community. Also, our encouraging words let a friend know we have confidence in him, which may help him have more confidence in himself.

Our words – spoken and written -- can build people up. They can instill hope and calm in the midst of chaos. When we encourage a coworker who’s struggling, our support lightens his load; it might make the difference between him giving up and persevering. Our words can also encourage a friend who realizes it’s time to try a new approach or move on to a different path altogether. Kind words assure her that we’re glad she’s our friend no matter what happens.

Encouragement is different from praise in that encouragement places the spotlight on the recipient instead of the speaker. It's more effective than praise, especially when talking to children. For example, notice the difference between “You worked hard on that!” and “I like what you did!” The first example points to the recipient and their effort; the second focuses on the speaker and what the speaker thinks of it.

“Encourage one another and build one another up.” – 1 Thessalonians 5:11

When you see someone searching, or struggling, or making an effort, try to shine the spotlight on them. Let them see – and believe -- the value of themselves and their efforts.

 “Let my words build up the people around me, Lord.”

 

Thank you for reading my reflection. © 2022 Gina Bedell     Comments are always welcome! Feel free to share it with your friends by clicking on one of the icons below. Thanks!

 If you would like to receive these reflections directly to your inbox, please email me at ginabedell1@gmail.com and I will add you to my ‘BCC’ email list.

 p.s.

We continue to pray for an end to the war. If you’d like to help the people of Ukraine through the Cleveland Maidan Association, you may use either PayPal or a credit/debit card here:

https://www.paypal.com/donate/...

 

We Have Only Today

“I shall pass through this world but once. Any good, therefore, that I can do or any kindness that I can show to any human being, let me do it now. Let me not defer or neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.” ― Stephen Grellet

 All day, every day, we’re faced with hundreds of choices. Many of these seem small and insignificant, yet each choice leads to the next, which leads to the next. Our lives and the lives of the people around us are shaped by the ripple effect of our choices.

 As Christians, we’re called to be deliberate in choosing God’s way of loving and serving our neighbors over our self-serving ways. This isn’t a one-time decision but a choice we make over and over again each day. Remembering this helps us stay tuned in to what He wants, puts us in an ‘other-centered’ frame of mind, and affects everything we think about, say, and do. Even if our efforts go unnoticed or unappreciated, and even though we may never know the results of our good deeds, our task is the same. Loving and serving others is how we bring heaven to earth.

 Sometimes, though, we choose our own way. In our mistaken belief that serving ourselves will make us happy, we do or say things that hurt others. So what do we do after we mess up? How do we get past the guilt of “Why did I do that?” or “Why did I say that?” This is when we turn to God and ask for His forgiveness (and maybe the forgiveness of another person). God loves us and will welcome us back with open arms, just as the father welcomed home his prodigal son (see Luke 15:11-32). Turn back to God, and then start again with the next good choice.

 We have only today. Maybe today will be our last day, and maybe we’ll have thousands more days, but this day will never come again. Let’s remember that each choice leads to another. Let our goal be to look back on our day and see a trail of more goodness and holiness than sin and selfishness. Let’s work to build the kingdom of God here on earth, one loving choice at a time.

 “Show me Your ways, Lord; teach me Your paths.” –Psalm 25:4

 

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Look for the Back Seat

 

Mother Teresa instructed her Sisters to always take the back seat on a bus or train. In her wisdom, she knew that the practice of choosing the least desirable location would help keep herself and her Sisters humble. Sometimes a person in authority, seeing Mother Teresa sitting in the back, would invite her to sit up front, and she would follow him to the front with gratitude. Some critics would say, “That’s the same as taking the front seat to begin with!” But it’s not: By taking the back seat, she took the chance that that’s where she’d stay. It required humility to deliberately choose the lowest place and be content to stay there. It also gave the person in authority an opportunity to offer a kind gesture, which she graciously accepted.

 “If anyone wishes to be first, he shall be the last of all and the servant of all.” – Mark 9:35

Being humble doesn’t mean you think you’re worthless. It’s thinking less about yourself, not thinking less of yourself. YOU are a beloved child of God with gifts and talents and, yes, weaknesses that make you uniquely equipped to serve Him in the people around you. In this verse, putting yourself last doesn’t mean putting yourself down. Rather, putting others ahead of you builds them up and helps them see how precious and beloved they are, too. Imagine our world if we all did that!

If you’re a person with power, you can still be humble. In the Gospel of Luke, the centurion’s slave was dying (see Luke 7:1-10). At first, this Roman military officer sent messengers to Jesus, asking Him to come to his house and heal his servant. Then, while Jesus was on His way there, the centurion changed his mind and sent more messengers to tell Him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof… but say the word and let my servant be healed.” Maybe at first he wanted to experience what others had seen -- Jesus performing a healing. Soon after, though, he was willing to ‘take the back seat.’ He abandoned the opportunity to witness a miracle and, instead, asked Jesus to heal his servant from a distance, maybe so he’d be healed sooner. The centurion put his servant ahead of himself by acknowledging the power of Christ and dismissing what he could gain from the encounter.

This week, take a lesson from Mother Teresa and the centurion. Look for ways to put yourself in the back seat and put others ahead of you, not in ways that put you down but in ways that pick them up.

“Lord, help me to see how I can lift up the people around me.”

If you enjoy reading these reflections, please tell your friends! Through this blog, I hope to inspire you to ponder a given topic and then seek deeper answers through prayer, additional spiritual reading, and/or consultation with clergy or other persons who may guide you to a deeper faith and understanding of God’s love and will for your life.

Let Him Speak to You

 

Some of us have gotten so used to all the sounds around us we don’t hear them anymore. For example, city dwellers get accustomed to traffic noise; they might feel uncomfortable in the silence of the countryside. If you live close to church bells that toll at regular intervals every day, you may find you don’t hear them unless you intentionally listen for them.

 “The Lord God opens my ear that I may hear;

And I have not rebelled, have not turned back.” – Isaiah 50:5

 

God so wants you to experience His love, He actively pursues you to make that happen. He uses a variety of media to get your attention and wants you to make the effort to hear Him:  Let your mind be awed by the wonders of the changing seasons. Feel the love in a stranger’s act of kindness. Let your heart burst with the miracle of a newborn and the innocent joy of giggling toddlers. Appreciate the loving hospitality of family and friends. The list goes on and on.

When you look for God in ‘ordinary’ events -- with awe rather than indifference -- you’ll find the holy in them. You’ll notice that He uses you to answer others’ prayers, and He uses others to answer your prayers. This happens especially in situations that you used to write off as mere coincidence. Once you start paying attention to them in His light, you’ll see many of these as treasured ‘God moments.’

Another way to strengthen your faith and get clarity of what God is trying to tell you is to take a few moments during your quiet prayer time to write down whatever random thoughts come to mind. Listen for God speaking to YOU in the written words of Scripture, and pay attention to the thoughts that ‘pop into your head.’ You may find that they’re not so random after all and give answers you hadn’t thought of before.

God wants to have a loving relationship with you. He wants to speak to you, and He wants you to speak to Him in your own simple words. Look for Him, and listen.

 “Lord, open my ears to hear Your declarations of love all around me. Encourage me to share Your love with others.”

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Take Time to Recharge

                        

 “…aspire to live a tranquil life…” –1 Thessalonians 4:11

During His ministry, Jesus was a busy guy: healing cripples, feeding multitudes, casting out demons, forgiving sins. Huge crowds followed Him, wanting to hear His hopeful message of God’s love and maybe witness a miracle. He frequently made it a point, though, to get away from the crowds to recharge. Was His intent to hide from the people? Not at all. He removed Himself physically so that He could let the Father refresh Him spiritually.

Since we also are called to serve the people God has put in our life, it’s good for us to take time to ‘get away from it all’ on a regular basis – away from our routine, our phone and other devices – and let Him refresh us. Stepping away even for a little while brings about a surprisingly freeing feeling. There are countless ways to do this. My husband and I have found hiking and tent camping to be the ultimate getaways! They say that walking relieves stress, and following marked, scenic trails in the woods gives you time to relax, reflect, and pray. Camping immerses you in the wonders of God’s magnificent creation.  You don’t have to camp or hike a trail, though, to find this serenity. Getting away could be as simple as unplugging and sitting in a quiet room, on your porch swing or a park bench, or taking a walk around your neighborhood, and thanking God for your many blessings. Getting away also could be much bigger, like going on a retreat for a day or a weekend. No matter how you do it, the point is to step out of your routine, free yourself from your electronics and other distractions, and invite God to refresh you spiritually.

This doesn’t mean you run away and ignore what’s happening in the world around you. On the contrary, when you take a step back, you open your eyes to the world as God created it, with all its beauty and goodness. You make room in your heart for more of God’s love so that you can share it generously with the people you encounter each day, in your particular circumstances:

^“Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” –Romans 12:21

Strive to live in tranquility. Step away for a bit to recharge. Frequently invite God to refresh your spirit.

“Lord, help me ‘get away’ with You so that I can serve You in others better.”

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The Lord Delights in YOU!

 

“The Lord takes delight in His people.” –Psalm 149:4

Let those words sink in: “The Lord takes delight in His people.” The Lord takes delight in YOU!

You know what He’s delighted with? All the goodness in your heart. He delights in your good intentions and aspirations. He delights in your hard work, how you care for your family and reach out to your friends. He delights in your humble works of service and your random acts of kindness. He delights in how you want to love Him and others a little better each day. Maybe you’ve had a conversion of heart and have abandoned your old, hurtful ways of doing things. God delights in your steps toward Him!

He created you and He knows all about you. He knows how much you want to follow Him and how hard you are on yourself when your efforts fall short. He knows your history, both the good and the bad, and He loves you with all of it. Are you spending time and energy ruminating about past sins? If you’ve already asked God to forgive you, why are you still hanging onto them? He doesn’t think about them anymore.

“As far as the east is from the west,
    so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” –Psalm 103:12

 

God wants you to recognize your own goodness! When you see that you’re good, you’ll want Him to fill you with more of His love so that you can love Him and others even more. Satan, on the other hand, wants you to focus only on your sins. If you believe his lie that you’re bad, you’ll mistakenly think that you’re unworthy of God’s love and incapable of loving others, and that God doesn’t want you near Him. Don’t listen to those lies! Don’t let Satan drag you down. Resolve every day to love God and to shower yourself and the people around you with the love He puts in your heart. Remind yourself every day that He has promised you eternal life!  

God loves you and delights in you! There is no limit to His love and forgiveness. Christ said it and He proves it when He makes Himself present to us in the sacraments of Reconciliation and Eucharist. Let all these thoughts fill you with joy, and then take this joy with you as you show the world God’s boundless love.

“Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever.”  --Psalm 107:1

 

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Detachment and Freedom

The words that kept coming up this week were ‘detachment’ and ‘freedom.’ The former leads to the latter. Feel the freedom in this prayer:

“Take, Lord, and receive all my liberty,

my memory, my understanding, and my entire will,

all that I have and possess.

You have given all to me. To You, Lord, I return it.

All is Yours; dispose of it wholly according to Your will.

Give me Your love and Your grace, for this is sufficient for me.”

--Suscipe Prayer, St. Ignatius of Loyola

 In this prayer, we humbly detach ourselves from everything except God Himself: our material goods, interior blessings, and all the people we know and love. We recognize that all of it has been given to us by God; we don’t claim anything as our own. Instead, we open our hands and invite the Lord to take everything back.

We ask God to take from us anything that gets between us and Him, or gets in the way of how we love Him and each other. It encourages us to determine which habits, attitudes, and practices we need to detach ourselves from in order to make room in our hearts for His love and grace.

Offering everything back to God frees us from emotional baggage like greed, worry, and arrogance. For example, being detached from our material possessions allows us to freely share more of what we have with others. Ironically, yesterday morning I noticed that someone had stolen a flowerpot off our front porch. My heart sank: I was disappointed that I had one less flowerpot and also that someone felt the need to take it. And so I had to remind myself to stay detached: in this case, to acknowledge my disappointment, pray for the perpetrator, notice that I felt thankful that the other flowerpots and decorations were left untouched, and then give it all to God (see my blogpost, “Make Room for Flowers,” about giving up the ‘rocks’ in our hearts). Maybe I hadn’t freely offered those flowers, but later in the day I found myself thinking, “I hope they’re on someone else’s front porch, making them smile.”

I realize we’ve only scratched the surface of all the power behind this prayer. Still, let’s allow the words to sink into our souls. Let’s open our hearts and hands; let’s trust God to fill us with His love and grace and, by doing so, free ourselves to love as He loves.

“I sought the Lord, and He answered me; He set me free from all my fears.” –Psalm 34:5

 

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Prayer of St. Francis -- Paraphrased

 

“Prayer is nothing else but union with God… My little children, your hearts are small, but prayer stretches them and makes them capable of loving God. Through prayer we receive a foretaste of heaven and something of paradise comes down upon us.” –St. John Vianney

Sometimes when we pray, we say the familiar words without actually praying them. Paraphrasing a familiar prayer is one way to give it greater meaning, which helps us pray it.  I’ve paraphrased The Prayer of St. Francis, a prayer that sets high the bar for holiness, in hopes that it inspires all of us to put its rich lessons into practice:

 

Lord, make me a person who brings Your peace to the people around me.

Help me remember that making peace or bringing peace 

is not the same as keeping the peace:

One is active and rooted in love; the other is passive and rooted in fear.

When I feel hatred, or when someone hates me,

let me treat them with kindness, pray for them,

and want nothing but goodness for them.

When there are offenses and hurt feelings,

let me be humble and either ask for or grant forgiveness.

When someone doubts You or Your goodness,

let me show them Your powerful love so they dare to have faith in You.

When someone feels despair,

let me listen with compassion and give them hope.

When someone lives in darkness, hiding, and fear,

let me show them the freedom of living in Your light and grace.

When someone feels sad,

let me offer a shoulder to cry on and give them reason to smile.

O Lord,

Let me strive to comfort others more than seek comfort for myself.

Let me try to understand more than seek to be understood.

Let me concern myself more with showing love than with receiving love.

Help me remember that when I give, I receive much in return;

as I pardon others, so will I be pardoned;

and by dying I will be raised to eternal life. Amen.

 

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The Game of Life

 

(February 3, 2021) Life is a lot like football. (Hey, I have three brothers! I ‘get’ the game!) With the  Super Bowl coming up, now seems like a good time to make some comparisons. 

Each team is one unit, yet each teammate contributes his own talents to the shared mission of scoring points. On offense, players pass, catch, and run with the  ball to move it down the field toward the goal line. As individuals they are  powerless – what good does it do to pass the ball if there’s no one there to catch  it? So they strengthen each other by working together, and that makes the whole  team more powerful. They also stop to huddle on a regular basis, which gives  them the chance to regroup, strategize, and encourage one another to do their  best to advance the ball.  

Football is a rough game; the offense expects the defense to attack and fight to  overpower them. The offense uses the huddle to try to anticipate how the  defense will attack so they aren’t caught by surprise.  

In life, our goal isn’t to score touchdowns but to love and serve God and love our  neighbors as well as we love ourselves (see Matthew 22:37-40 and Matthew  25:34-40). We also are part of ‘teams.’ We may have a spouse and family, our  work, church, neighborhood, clubs, and organizations. Maybe these teams’ purposes and activities differ, but they all give us opportunities to contribute our  gifts and talents to the common goal of living in loving service. 

How do we do this? We strengthen our offense by working together, and we  meet on a regular basis – kind of like huddles. Huddles for our work and  community groups include meetings and rehearsals. Family huddles include setting aside time to listen to each other and sharing meals. Huddles to  strengthen our spiritual resolve include making time for private prayer,  participating in church services, and receiving the sacraments. (Even participating via live-stream because of COVID can strengthen us and boost our feeling of  belonging.)

And, just like in football, life can be rough. There are evils in the world that will attack us and fight to overpower us. They’ll use all kinds of tactics to stop us from loving and serving others. They’ll try to get in the way of our efforts to strengthen our ‘offense.’ We know this, and so we shouldn’t be surprised when it happens.  We should expect these challenges as part of life (see John 16:33). 

So let’s stay focused on the goal of living in love and service to God and our  neighbors. Let’s huddle with our teams regularly to regroup, encourage each  other, and pray for God’s wisdom, guidance, and power. With God on our team,  we know we’ll win in the end. 

“If God is for us, who can be against us?” 

Romans 8:31 

This article is a personal reflection by Gina Bedell © 2021. It and other reflections written by her  invite the reader to reflect on a given topic and then seek deeper answers through prayer,  additional spiritual reading, and/or consultation with clergy or other persons who may guide the  reader to a deeper faith and understanding of God’s love and will for their life.