Traveling in Amish country

Sunday in the Eleventh Week in Ordinary Time, June 12, 2022

The Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity

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Traveling in Amish Country

Paul cuts through prosperity gospel proclamations like a knife through butter:

We even boast of our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope, and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

There is a similar passage in the book of James:

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing.

Both James and Paul assure us that we need nothing more than God’s grace. All else is only icing on the cake. Our comfort on earth must not matter to us. Consider our trials pure joy, James exclaims!

And when you quit complaining, here is the opposite side of the coin, from Peter this time:

Make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; ⁶ and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; ⁷ and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. ⁸ For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

What did St. Ignatius pray as he completed his Spiritual Exercises?

Take, Lord, receive all my liberty, my memory, my understanding, my whole will, all that I have and all that I possess. You gave it all to me, Lord; I give it all back to you. Do with it as you will, according to your good pleasure. Give me your love and your grace; for with this I have all that I need.

This is all I need. All I need is your love and your grace. With your love and your grace I live the life you gave me. Teach me to live with nothing more, Lord.

We visited Amish country yesterday. We shopped and watched horse drawn hay rakes in a field, passed several carriages on the highway and byways of Douglas County, and got milk from our Amish farmer friend Willis. Nothing much has changed since we were there a couple of years ago. And as always, we felt more peaceful and grateful for our simple lives when we put ourselves in proximity to theirs.

O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. But what is man that you should be mindful of him, or the son of man, that you should care for him?

(Proverbs 8, Psalm 8, Romans 5, Revelation 1, John 16)

(posted at www.davesandel.net)

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