Jesus challenges

This Jesus Challenges Me I am unaware, and He tells me: REMEMBER AND RELIVE… I am afraid, and He tells me: TAKE COURAGE… I am furious, and He tells me: FORGIVE… I have doubts, and He tells me: HAVE CONFIDENCE… I FEEL RESTLESS, AND He tells me: BE CALM… I prefer to go my own way, and He tells me: COME AND FOLLOW ME… I make my own plans, and He tells me: FORGET ABOUT THEM… I want security, and He tells me: I PROMISE YOU ABSOLUTELY NOTHING… I like to live my own life and He tells me: LOSE YOUR LIFE… I believe I am good, and He tells me: GOOD IS NOT SUFFICIENT… I like to boss, and He tells me: SERVE… I like to command others and He tells me: OBEY… I like to understand and He tells me: BELIEVE… I like clarity and He tells me PARABLES… I like poetry and He speaks to me in REALITIES… I like tranquility and He likes me to be DISTURBED… I like violence and He says: PEACE BE WITH YOU… I think of revenge and He says: OFFER THE OTHER CHEEK… I like to remain hidden and He says: LET YOUR LIGHT SHINE… No, I don’t understand this Jesus, He provokes me; He confuses me… I would like to follow another Master who would be more certain and less demanding. But I experienced almost the same as Peter: “I do not know of anyone else, WHO HAS THE WORDS OF ETERNAL LIFE.”

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Drop your nothing

Read the following story… Quitely breath in and breath out … Create a quiet space within you… Experience the healing power of silence within you… Let the story speak to your inner self… not to your brain… Let it reveal to you its interior depth and meaning. A meaning beyond words and reflections… Carry the story around with you all day… Enjoy the inner freedom that emerges from within. Whisper a prayer of blessing on the whole human race!… Amen “DROP YOUR NOTHING” “He thought it was of vital importance to be poor and austere. It had never dawned on him that the vitally important thing was to drop his ego; that the ego fattens on holiness just as much as on worldliness, on poverty as on riches, on austerity as on luxury. There is nothing the ego will not seize upon to inflate itself.” “Disciple: I have come to you with nothing in my hands. Master: The drop it at once! Disciple: But how can I drop it? I t is nothing. Master: Then Carry it around with you!” “You can make a possession of your nothing. And carry your renunciation around you like a trophy. Don’t drop your possessions. Drop your ego.”

.................................... Anthony de Mello S.J., The Song of the Bird (Anand, India, Gujarat Sahitya Prakash, 1982), pp. 130-131 ....................................

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