Monday, December 3, 2012

Instructions That Add Up

Friends of Faith:

We probably all have things that we think “add up”— that always seem to come out the same way—that are clearly right.
I have always appreciated black and white, a clear right and a clear wrong, and knowing that numbers added correctly would always add up to the same number.

And when I am struggling, when I am in the midst of a problem and asking for help from an “authority” on the problem, I still tend to try to “manipulate” either the problem or the instruction into something that will add up, that will produce MY own desired end result.
And of course, not every problem, not every choice, is as clear or as easily solved as adding 2 plus 2 and getting 4.

But easy or not, even the basic instructions and the daily chores that I do, don’t always have the same end results, end answers, or produce the same feelings each and every time. Recipes, music, tax returns and even hugs, call all to have a different outcome, a different taste, touch or feeling.
Actually I can’t think of anything else, other than simple math, which always achieves exactly the same answer. Even those things that happen by nature—some would say science—are ultimately things that we have no control over, things that God controls.  

This is because anything created by humans, can or could be changed by God—even simple math.
In fact, HE is the only thing that always Adds UP!! To forgiveness, To Love and To an Ultimate Goal, Heaven.

This is what my faith has taught me, that there is only ONE right that matters.
A right God and a right-given Godly plan: a plan which was designed by God, in His image, and in His desire to get me to be in heaven with Him.

A right way that isn’t always easy and doesn’t always work into me and my plan, and will in the end have a result greater than anything I can currently even think about having a desire for here on earth.
To this end, God gives us many instructions. Instructions which for the past 2000 years He has kept “right” thru Peter, upon whom he built his rock, the Church.

“And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.* Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Mt 16: 18-19
And He left us a continuous succession of Popes from Peter, the first Pope, have been continuously bound to carry out and pass down His truth to us, His kingdom, the Church.

Yet for some reason we continue to search for some other instructions that will more easily “add up” to the same end—an imminent end which will escape the tribulations, so that it might be easier to stand before God—to be with Him in heaven.
"Beware that your hearts do not become drowsy from carousing and drunkenness and the anxieties of daily life, and that day catch you by surprise like a trap. For that day will assault everyone who lives on the face of the earth. Be vigilant at all times and pray that you have the strength to escape the tribulations that are imminent and to stand before the Son of Man." Lk 21: 34-36

I am very thankful for a God who keeps putting His instructions in my daily path: the instructions which remind me that not only is He is in charge, but that I must not be anxious, and that I must continue to pray – for His presents/presence because that is how life will truly “add up” to His unfailing love and His unfailing promise, the gift of heaven.
Heavenly Father: All glory and honor be to Your One Church, Your One Truth, Your One Holy and Apostolic succession, thru Peter, here on earth. I pray that you continue to have mercy on me when I am anxious or when I want to become “drunk with human pleasure, or drowsy through the weariness of earthly works.” Help me to stand up for you, to stay strong and vigilant and to follow Your words, which will always “Add UP” to heaven. Amen.

When something isn’t adding up in my life, it usually is because I am not “adding up” to God.
This week: Search for the way to “Add up” with One God, One Faith, One Love, One choice for Heaven,

Blessings,
Charlotte

 

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