It’s getting colder

Hi Everybody, it’s November and it’s getting colder ! With the Grey Cup this weekend and advent fast approaching, we have lots to look forward to in the next few weeks. But I hope you don’t mind, I thought I would take a step back this month and share with you the often seen common story of families who receive sad news of a loved one being diagnosed with terminal cancer. This is always a shock, especially when their family member is young, a loving person with great qualities and a wonderful character, they are a pillar of strength within their family, workplace and community at large, it doesn’t seem fair. In adjusting to their family member’s diagnosis, as well as grieving the illness of their loved one while providing unending support to him or her, supporters are so often all of a sudden subtley reminded of the inevitability of their own mortality. This does beg the question: If you were dying, would faith all of a sudden become important to you? Since we are all faced with death one day and not knowing when that day will come for us, it might be a tad short sighted not to learn more about our faith and eternity now and to step out of the box of our current beliefs or non-beliefs and continue to seek truth on this subject. This is just a suggestion. I think we must always check the truthfulness of what we currently believe or not believe. Just because you believe or don’t believe something firmly today, doesn’t necessarily make it true. Perhaps we must always be willing to re-examine what we believe or not believe when it comes to matters of the faith. The more you live in the truth especially of the Holy Spirit the more your emotions will help you see clearly. One of the jobs of the Holy Spirit is to convict us of the truth of who Jesus is. For many of us, it takes the jolt of a tragedy, illness or death to create an existential crisis of faith. At such a moment, we want clarity. God wants our trust. God is always waiting upon us says Matthew Kelly. Sometimes, we may think we are waiting on Him, but the opposite is true. If we continue to open the door of our hearts and minds and ask the Lord to reveal Himself and His truths to us, if we ask Him for clarity in what we currently believe, I am sure he will show us. Ask for God’s wisdom. Wisdom suggests that we should not put off until tomorrow what we can do today. Carpe diem. Deep down we all know that this is good practice. God never promised us a pain free life but He did promise never to abandon us and that good will come out of our painful circumstances if we rely upon His help and guidance. In his book “Searching For The Invisible God” by Phillip Yancey, I read that a Scottish preacher in the last century lost his wife suddenly and after her death he preached an unusually personal sermon. He admitted in the message that he sometimes did not understand this life of ours. But, still less, could he understand how people facing loss could abandon faith. “Abandon it for what” he said ? He continued. “You people in the sunshine may believe the faith but we in the shadow MUST believe it. We have nothing else”. As we continue to support those we love who are experiencing illness or hardship, continue to pray for their openness to the Lord’s unconditional love and support. Thanks you ladies for a wonderful Journey of Hope class last week. You are all so special. Enjoy the Grey Cup this Sunday all you football fans. See you next month during Advent. Love MJ. xo