Saturday’s Reflection
LET US BE a safe haven from our indifference. The fire God places in us can burn hot. It is not a thing of comfort. But it is a thing of beauty and life and hope. And so it must burn brilliantly and freely.
- Ruth Woodcliff-Stanley
Anger: Minding Your Passions
From p. 58 of Anger: Minding Your Passion © 2010 by Fresh Air Books. All Rights Reserved. Used with permission. http://www.upperroom.org/bookstore/. Learn more about or purchase this book.
Today’s Question
What “fire” has God placed in you? Share your reflections.
Today’s Scripture Reading
Those who trust in the Lord are protected by his constant love.
- Psalm 32:10, gnt
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As I write, there is no previous reflection to read.
The fire in today’s reflection is mentioned in the context of anger. Recently we read in the Bible about the older brother of the prodigal son and his anger. The older brother’s anger was not serving God’s (or his father’s) greater purpose and goal, that is, to celebrate a sinner’s repentance and return to God’s fold. The prodigal son was lost, then found, and the father rejoiced. The father’s reaction was celebration in contrast to his older son’s anger.
The other example of anger is Jesus’ reaction to the moneylenders in the temple during Holy Week. The first Bible I owned as a child had a picture of this incident. Jesus got angry because the temple was being used not as a house of prayer but as a den for thieves. His anger and his reaction to the conditions he saw in the world were consistent with God’s greater purpose.
The imagery of fire and flames reminds me of my favorite poem which was written by Maria Rilke a German.
I’m not sure I agree with all his theology but I like this: “God speaks to each of us as he makes us, then walks with us silently out of the night.. . .You, sent out beyond your recall, go to the limits of your longing. Embody me. Flare up like flame and make big shadows I can move in.”
I believe Rilke is saying that God uses each of us to accomplish his purposes on earth. He calls us to work for him. He wants us to be bold, and fear not. Once we dare to act in spite of our fears, we experience joy, and the abundant life. “Flare up like flame and make big shadows [God] can move in” as the translation of Rilke says.
The translation of Rilke continues: “Nearby is the country they call life. You will know it by its seriousness. Give me your hand.”
I believe Rilke is being somewhat tongue in cheek here. We may regard life as serious but we should not ignore that God wants us to live for Him and enjoy an abundant life in Jesus.” I should not take myself too seriously. There is always hope. I know how the story turns out in the end.
“Something” in me stirred and propelled me to advocate for me with two people who feel like giants at times, somewhat overwhelming. But I found this “something” to speak out and promote me. And while the outcome is not clear, I sit here this morning at peace, confident. God stirred my passion for fairness, taking away the fear allowing me to say, “hey there, hear me”.
The fire that God has placed in me is missions and helping others answer the call to missions. How wonderful it is to feed the hungry, cloth the naked, visit the sick. Even greater is how wonderful it is to help people find their strength within and their gifts to feed themselves and clothe themselves and know that God is in their midst caring for them and they are not forgotten.
I had the opportunity to share my belief in God with another this morning and I was suddenly aware of how much I love God and the passion I felt to help this friend find her way to God. My love for God burns as a bright fire and at times it is comforting and other times it calls me to do things out of my comfort zone. May I always have a passion for Christ and the strength to do all it requires of me.
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