God’s Holy People

Greetings,

      The contemporary poet Ann Weems has an expressive way of conveying the Truth for today.  I find a vital connection between the thoughts of John Chrysostom in yesterday’s e-mail and Weems’ challenge for us today.

God’s Holy People

Here we are, you and I,

      called to be God’s Holy People.

You say you’re not the holy type,

      but I’m not talking about holier-than-thou.

            I’m not talking about religious ritual,

and the last thing I mean is self-righteousness!

Jesus chastised the self-righteous,

      the ones who spent their days doing religious thin

the ones who spent so much time in religious ritual

      that they didn’t have time for tenderheartedness.

I’m not talking about them;

      I’m talking about us.

I’m talking about paying attention

      to the things Jesus taught people,

            ordinary people, people like you, people like me

Look at the disciples: ordinary people

      called to follow,   

            called to be God’s Holy People,

called to live in this world with tender hearts.

Live holy lives…impossible?

Is anything impossible to God?

That old woman Sarah thought it impossible

      to have a child…

The lepers thought it impossible

      to be healed…

The disciples thought it impossible

      to feed five thousand with two loaves and

            five fishes…

Mary and Martha thought it impossible

      that their brother Lazarus was alive…

The lame thought it impossible to walk…

The blind thought it impossible to see…

Here we are, ordinary people,

      called to be the Holy People of God.

If you have eyes to see and ears to hear,

      see and hear God’s holiness in your life.

Yours & His,

DED