Saturday, September 17, 2011

Am I God's facebook friend?

"Devotion is neither private nor public prayer, but prayers whether private or public are particular parts or instances of devotion. Devotion signifies a life given or devoted to God."

These words open Anglican priest William Law's 1729 book "A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life." It may be awhile before I get to Paragraph 2!

I respect writers like Fr. Henri Nouwen or Fr. Law who can stop me with a few words and send me into a universe of contemplation.

Fr. Law describes a life given to God, not just parts of it. A life. In George Lucas' Star Wars trilogy, the wise character Yoda says to his pupil Luke Skywalker the famous line, "No 'try.' Only 'Do.'" Similarly, Fr. Law is saying, "No 'part.' Only 'Life.'"

Do I trust God sufficiently to offer all of my life, every second, including every juicy mistake and selfish action? Am I that devoted?

Is it a matter of devotion or a matter of trust?

What happens when God sees who I truly am, which of course is the case although my ego believes otherwise?

Do I really offer to God the unpolished parts? Do I really offer to God the secrets, the shame, the failure, the addiction, the longing, the confusion? Will God be shocked, offended, disappointed, unable to cope, unwilling to love?

This then becomes how I determine if I am a devotee or a follower, a disciple or a fan, God's facebook friend or God's true servant: am I willing to devote every moment to God, reserving nothing, entirely as-is.

If I am, then God gets free reign to use me any moment, every moment. I give God all-area access to my life to influence, repair, heal and nurture it with pure love.

If not, then I am a part-timer.

Which is always an option.

But is different from being devoted.

Blessings,
David

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