Stir into flame your gifts

The third reading for this Sunday October 3, 2010 Is from  the second letter of Paul to Timothy:
2Tm 1: 6-8,13-14

I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God bestowed when my hands were laid on you. The Spirit God has given us is no cowardly spirit but rather one that makes us strong, loving and wise. Therefore, never be ashamed of your testimony to our Lord, nor of me, a prisoner for his sake; but with the strength which comes from God bear your share of the hardship which the gospel entails.

Take as a model of sound teaching what you have heard me say, in faith and love in Christ Jesus. Guard the rich deposit of faith with the help of the Holy Spirit who dwells within us.

Yes, stir into flame your divine gifts. We lament the evil and tragedy in the world played across our television and computer screens. We wish we could "do something" when someone we love is suffering emotionally, physically, or spiritually. "But we are only human" we excuse... Do we realize what God made "human" to be? How much wonderful treasure was and continues to be breathed into us from the Spirit who is the Living God? We are not powerless; imprisoned and changed to a bed of torture, we are not powerless, much less in the challenge of our daily lives. We have within us a holy and wonderful gift a spark of God, no, really. Don't take it from me, take it from the One who made all of us: the Spirit given to you is one that makes us strong, loving and wise!!

Our gifts however are not just given for our own edification. They are give to us to serve the whole human community. We have so much, each of us, to offer a struggling world. Our gifts don't have to be dramatic or seem  big to make a difference. Every kindness that we offer combats all the violence in the world. Every act of selfless love thwarts hatred. We are so connected and yet ironically all too often we feel isolated even as the world gets smaller through all the new connections that have become standard. Beyond all technology we are bound at a cellular level and a deeper spiritual level. We really are all made of the same stuff. We are made of star dust and we are made to shine like the Light of God in the universe. We have the very life breath of God within us and how we respond every moment of every day in our lives affects the whole world. I know that sounds like dramatic hyperbole but by the mystery of God's Holy Love it is really true.

God has promised us we do not live in vain. Our lives, our gifts matter, not just to us but to the whole human community. Our choices have consequences not just for ourselves but for all of us, perhaps in ways not yet seen, but nonetheless real. The whole nature of sin fits into this concept. Sin is the negative force opposite the gifts within us. Going contrary to our gifts and/or simply choosing not to use them, negatively impacts our souls and in some real way diminishes and affects in harmful ways the whole community. Change is costly for all of us even changes that are overtly good and readily embraced require time for us to acclimate. Christianity, or whatever other venue in which we awaken our spirituality, is not for the faint-hearted. Truth is exacting. Compassion demands passion usually on the cross of some paradox or another.  For example children are great blessings but they require everything from us, the very laying down of our own lives at times. Love isn't easy even when the choices for love are straightforward and simple. Often however it isn't that clear what is the most loving choice. Living the Gospel, living the truth of Love is hard. There is no way around it. We all are called to bear our part of the challenge or the cost of the Gospel. It is part of the cost of being human I suppose and part strangely of the blessing as well.

We may be called to the challenge of bearing our part of the cross, but we are also blessed to never be alone in the crucible. The Spirit assures us that faith will stretch to cover any territory we demand of it and to be as strong as we allow it to be. The Spirit promises to always be within us if we will only be open to the inspiration. Yes, let us inhale freely the Breath of the Spirit and allow the Holy Fire that is God held in this Mystery to ignite our gifts within us, to not only light our paths but to bring Light to the darkness that threatens  to discourage the whole world. We have a choice, we can lament all the suffering and injustice in the world or we can amend it by the way we live out lives. We can be the cups of God for which our brothers and sisters so thirst. Let us not pretend anymore that we don't have the means to change the world, but let us bless the human community by awakening to our own living hearts as tabernacles truly of God. Let us indeed then let the Holy Spirit fan into flame the gifts living within us to so brighten the landscape with this incarnate compassion of God.

Blessings to all.