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Sacrament of the present
Thursday, April 24, 2014
Thursday in the Octave of Easter
Acts 3:14-20
You denied the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you. You put the author of life to death, but God raised him from the dead … Now I know, brothers and sisters, that you acted out of ignorance, just as your leaders did … Let the Lord grant you times of refreshment and send you the Christ already appointed for you: Jesus.
I’ve been watching a pigeon soak her feathers in the sprinkler, then settle into a spot on the sunny roof and curl up quiet. She knows this rhythm and finds it again and again, day after day. Time passes, but for her there is fullness of time at all times.
When is the right time to let God grant me refreshment? That question allows only one answer of course: in the fullness of time. And what the pigeon knows without thinking, I must work to uncover in the maze of my skeptical considering mind – that the fullness of time is now.
What am I waiting for? God is not waiting. God doesn’t beat around the bush or dilly dally or put me through my paces, or test my faith to see if it’s strong. Of course it’s not strong. I am weak. The pigeon is very weak. We are both weak, and God is the one who’s strong. The difference is that the pigeon doesn’t do more than she’s made to do. In that way she is altogether better at living than I am.
Peter’s words are for more than those Jews. I too act out of ignorance. But we all have minds that are made to learn. Our minds are made to learn to live. Learn to give strength to my body and nourishment to my soul. And especially learn to receive refreshment from Jesus, the Christ “already appointed for me.”
Yet turning away from God seems to have always been in vogue with humans. The refreshment God holds out just isn’t enough. Oh what fools we mortals be, to call ourselves immortal and live the lie! Turn toward. Turn toward. Turn toward.
Jesus, when there’s water I want to learn from you to get wet. And when the sun shines, let me shake off the water and feel your warmth, Father. That’s what I’m made to do. In the beginning, now, and forever more. Come, Holy Spirit! Amen.
http://www.christiancounselingservice.com/archived_devotions.php?article_id=1285
