Slave, Servent or Self?

     You know as a Christian I used to think that I was walking a tightrope at times. I didn't want to be shouted down from my faith. It's easy for this to happen. You try to share and move through the world as a Christian but the world says that you should keep your faith at home. That your faith has no place at school or work. That you should even keep your faith for Sunday where it belongs. Don't even worry about praying at the dinner table because there are so many other things to discuss anyway. Focus on what's important, keep the "God stuff" for Sunday between 9am - 10am where it belongs. Problem with that is my faith then became sort of a charm of many on a bracelet, something pretty and nice but nothing of too much concern. Convexly, I didn't want to dive into my faith so hard that it was all just posturing and the actual point to my faith was lost. I didn't want to attend Mass on Sunday, just to be seen. I didn't want to pray "greatly" with beautiful words that were just for show and had no real meaning behind them. I have learned (for now) that it isn't a tightrope that I am walking. It's merely walking though life honestly and true. My focus is God, my love for him, my study of him and my best attempts to live the humble life that Jesus Christ laid out for me.

 Okay, well that's a great idea you may think, but what exactly does that look like. How does that play out on an average day. I'll be honest, I'm not going to tell you what to do. God calls us all to different lives and vocations. We are each a puzzle piece beautiful and unique but when locked together we become a great picture that is something so much bigger than ourselves. Often we don't even see what many of the other pieces look like, let alone have the ability to see the "big picture". For me and many others I know though we try our best to focus on service. We put ourselves in the service of God with the talents we have and we put ourselves in service of others whether those people or Christian or not. We love as Jesus called us to. We become a slave to Jesus, not to sell our lives off as we believe we are nothing, but as slaves that we surrender in totality and keep nothing of ourselves for ourselves. You maybe thinking, "Uh, okay... why?" It is because when we are successful and we surrender as Jesus calls us to we find love, true unbridled love. We find peace and joy that sustains us through any hardship. It's a matter of surrendering to that puzzles so that by being a part of something greater our role in this world can truly manifest 100% as we can shine as the beautiful creation of God that we are.
   
     As I sit here I imagine Jesus, the Son of God. Mighty in more ways than I could ever even imagine. God could create with mere thought and word yet he humbled himself to come to this earth as a fragile baby. He could have chosen to have his son born to the finest house with the most respect, but instead he was born to a family that couldn't even get a room at an in and was born in a stable. Jesus could have attained power and sat on a seat of judgement and ruled over all, but instead he chose to walk the county-side and serve. He served the blind and helped them see. He served the lame and helped them walk. He served the dead and their loved ones and brought them back to life. Jesus on the eve of his horrible death even knelt and washed the feet of his Apostles. Jesus loved and served completely and so I try as I may each day as well.


     It can seem like a heavy weight to bare at times. It's no surprise that many don't choose this path or rather don't understand it. When do you know that you are right? When do you realize that you have gone to far? Is that even possible? How do you even think of trying to live this lifestyle, let alone execute it? It's really quite simple. It's a matter of letting
 go and letting God in. It's a matter of spending time in prayer listening to God, but also then spending time in prayer in complete silence so that you can hear God talking to you. It's about letting go of "yourself" so that you can be present in the moment and to be truly aware of God's desires for you. But know this, giving up yourself doesn't mean that you will give "you" up. It is a matter of giving up the old broken down you that barely makes it around the block without backfiring or breaking down for the you that runs at peak performance, but don't forget to still get yourself in for a tune-up on a regular basis.

Some of this may sound odd or even obscure. Don't worry about it. Go with it. God is calling and no matter what your age, the best days are still to come when they are with God.

Michael Smith