You Are Being Watched!

What exactly is the meaning of hypocrisy?  According to Dictionary.com, it means: 

A pretense of having a virtuous character, moral or religious beliefs or principles, etc., that one does not really possess.


Years ago, as this apostolate began to show me how to have an intimate relationship with Jesus, there were some people who didn't appreciate the new me. As I tried to become holier, parts of the old Bonnie still emerged at times. I remember someone calling me a hypocrite once in a while when I slipped back into old patterns instead of being the humble lay apostle I was becoming. It felt like all my hard work was dismissed over one slip. But what it taught me was I was being watched . . . and I must practice what I preach!

The Gospel (Luke 13:10-17) today shows Jesus teaching the leader of a synagogue about hypocrisy:


Jesus was teaching in a synagogue on the sabbath. And a woman was there who for eighteen years had been crippled by a spirit; she was bent over, completely incapable of standing erect. When Jesus saw her, he called to her and said, "Woman, you are set free of your infirmity." He laid his hands on her, and she at once stood up straight and glorified God. But the leader of the synagogue, indignant that Jesus had cured on the sabbath, said to the crowd in reply, "There are six days when work should be done. Come on those days to be cured, not on the sabbath day." The Lord said to him in reply, "Hypocrites! Does not each one of you on the sabbath untie his ox or his ass from the manger and lead it out for watering? This daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound for eighteen years now, ought she not to have been set free on the sabbath day from this bondage?" When he said this, all his adversaries were humiliated; and the whole crowd rejoiced at all the splendid deeds done by him.


In Anne a lay apostle's book Lessons in Love, she reminds us to remain true to who we are:


"Because we serve in our humanity, it is true that we will not always set the example that either we or Jesus desires but let us strive to consider always, in our words and actions, what kind of example we are giving to others. There are some who position themselves around the place of the divine will, never entering, but claiming always to possess the attributes of the Architect of this place. These are the thieves and brigands. Suddenly, the word hypocrisy springs to mind. We must remember to be authentic. If we are having a hard time in holiness, we should not try to give the impression that we are worthy of canonization. Now the word humility springs to mind. If we are humble, we are proceeding in truth."

Lay apostles, some times we can become quite irritated with the actions of others and lash out.  But what are we really irritated with?  Is it something we see in ourselves being recreated in front of our faces by someone else? Is it someone who says one thing and does another?  Whatever it is, stay humble.  Remain on the path to holiness.

Thank you, Lord, for the gift of humility. Continue to lead me on the path of holiness, leaving hypocrisy behind.  Living my truth makes life so much easier!

God bless,
Bonnie

Taking It All In

Immersion into the commercial real estate world has been a wonderful experience. There is so much to learn . . . thank God Jay is a kind, patient teacher. I work with him two days a week as Director of Social Marketing and Brand Communication for Crandall Commercial Group. On days I am in the office, Jay and his assistant Cindy tend to talk in acronyms when discussing contracts or leases. When I hear something I don't know, I write it down or wait until they are done discussing and ask. One of my current tasks is updating computer software, and making sure programs purchased are being fully utilized by the practice. Boy did I step into territory out of my comfort zone this past Tuesday! Jay didn't have this particular program added to his new laptop a few years ago. Well I found the program in a folder titled "Old Data" on his desktop. I downloaded it and up popped "enter user id and password." Didn't have it and Jay didn't remember it (he was out of the office when Cindy and I were working on this). I searched this company's website and there was nothing even remotely close to how to reset a password. So, I emailed the support desk and received an answer (albeit a little complicated). Ok, so far so good. Reset Jay's password via Cindy's computer. Went to log in on Jay's laptop and got a very complicated error . . . something about an SQL Server . . . yada, yada, yada. I researched all I could to understand the error message and finally realized I was getting into territory I should not be wandering into. This project had already consumed hours and I just didn't have it in me to dive head first into the land of programming. I am taking it all in . . . and, will continue figuring it out on my next office day!

Yesterdays Gospel (John 16:12-15) tells us sometimes we need to take complicated things in a little at a time:

Jesus said to his disciples: “I have much more to tell you, but you cannot bear it now. But when he comes, the Spirit of truth, he will guide you to all truth. He will not speak on his own, but he will speak what he hears, and will declare to you the things that are coming. He will glorify me, because he will take from what is mine and declare it to you. Everything that the Father has is mine; for this reason I told you that he will take from what is mine and declare it to you.”

In Volume One, Anne a lay apostle describes how too much thinking can turn into using your own will instead of God's:

"I have been dutifully asking God to send me His gifts, the gifts of the Holy Spirit. Next

Sunday is Pentecost Sunday, which is perhaps the reason for all of this focus on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. I turned all of this around in my head as I prayed and I began to get myself confused. Finally, I prayed, 'God, send me whatever gifts You choose to send me. My only prayer to You is that I not interfere with Your will because of my flaws. Beyond that, I don’t care what You do, so long as I am serving You.' It can get confusing because you don’t want to err in humility or desire great lofty gifts. On the other hand, you don’t want to have a weak will and cloak it in false humility. I am not worthy, therefore keep your gifts so it doesn’t cost me anything. There is also such a thing as thinking too much about it all, as though it were up to you and as though it were dependent on your own will. That’s where I was tumbling around when I finally said, 'Enough. I don’t care what happens and I leave it all to You.' He responded, 'Your prayer pleases Me. It is the evidence that you are ready for the gifts I intend to bestow on you.'"

Lay apostles, we can choose to continue strengthening our character and abilities, or throw in the towel. Life can be overwhelming at times, but we can't let it control us. If we stay focused on Christ, and doing the best we can with our situations, we can't fail. Now, I may never figure out the IT issue I was working on, but I have asked for help in understanding it. And, researching to see if there is a better, more user-friendly product available in the commercial real estate world. I have a lot to learn, and want to continue learning the rest of my life.

Thank you, Lord, for the grace of patience with computer issues and especially patience with myself when I can't figure something out.

God bless,
Bonnie