A thought for Sunday

One reason that this blog lasted longer than the six weeks that is typical of most blogs is because I am not afraid to reveal my ignorance.  That vastly increased the amount of material I have to write about.

About a quarter of the readers can identify with where I am coming from on any given post.  The rest of you have the satisfaction of feeling good about yourselves.

...for the greater glory and honor of God...
This phrase always mystified me.

I was probably daydreaming when Sister Ethyl Joseph explained it in Sunday School.

Based on context, it seemed like there were two times when I was most likely to hear this phrase:

• When somebody was attempting to tinker-toy together an extemporaneous prayer that sounded just as impressive as one that was store-bought
• Or when a fund raiser was lubricating my wallet before easing it out of my pocket.

 The other thing about the phrase that I found jarring was the logical absurdity of it.  It fell into the category of "Coals to Newcastle" and "Selling freezers to Eskimos".  All gifts and all glory comes from God.  There is nothing we can do to increase his glory.

Would I offer stock tips to Warren Buffet or collar Bill Gates at a party and try to tell him about a neat "hack" in Excel?  I think not.  It would be presumptuous of me to try.  And so it seemed, to do something ...for the greater glory and honor of God...

God does not need our prayers
God does not command us to pray because he needs our prayers.  He commands us to pray because he wants us to be healed.  We pray for our own benefit, not God's.

Well, no.

It is easy to become "full" of ourselves.  Yes, we need some ego to get out of bed in the morning and gird our loins before confronting the world.

But it is too easy to forget that all gifts come from God.  If I write a decent blog post it is because I let the Holy Spirit make use of my fingers and I did not muck it up too much.

Sometimes it is pretty clear.  Today's earlier post about golfers and soccer moms came out of the mouth of Randy, a guy I usually don't cross paths with.  The Holy Spirit put him in front of me and inspired him to share those thoughts with me.

Other times it is less clear and I might start thinking I am something special.  THAT is what "....greater glory and honor of God..." addresses.  I need to keep being reminded that all credit goes to God.

Playing our natural position
If you ever coached, then you figured out that some athletes are natural shortstops.  Others are gifted outfielders or first basemen.  Some athletes are great at throwing heavy weights.  Others at running long distances.

An outfielder can play shortstop, but not very well.  It warps the play of the entire team and causes the outfielder to expend huge amounts of psychic energy and to feel pain.

Throwers can run marathons.  But not very well.

Things run better and we are "healed" when we are playing in our natural position.

Our natural positions, as humans, is to remember that all credit goes to God.  He calls us to act with fidelity and to do the best we can.