2240AFC093022 – Unfolding the M.A.P.
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Luke 17:5-6 – 5 The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!” 6 The Lord replied, “If you had faith the size of a mustard seed, you could say to this mulberry tree, ‘Be uprooted and planted in the sea,’ and it would obey you.
2 Timothy 1:7 – 7 for God did not give us a spirit of cowardice, but rather a spirit of power and of love and of self-discipline.
Habakkuk 1:2-3 – 2 O Lord, how long shall I cry for help,
and you will not listen?
Or cry to you “Violence!”
and you will not save?
3 Why do you make me see wrongdoing
and look at trouble?
Destruction and violence are before me;
strife and contention arise.
E pili mau na pomaika‘i ia ‘oe a me ke akua ho’omaika‘i ‘oe, ʻŌmea! (May blessing always be with you and may God bless you, Beloved!) today we are going to use a few quotes from other authors. The first selection is from that famous artist, author, and playwright Author Unknown. Perhaps you’ve read this previously.
The Rosebud
A young, new preacher was walking with an older, more seasoned preacher in the garden one day and feeling a bit insecure about what God had for him to do. He asked the older preacher what was his purpose. The older preacher walked up to a rosebush and handed the young preacher a rosebud and told him to open it without tearing off any petals. The young preacher looked in disbelief at the older preacher and was trying to figure out what a rosebud could possibly have to do with his wanting to know the WILL OF GOD for his life and for his ministry. Because of his high respect for the older preacher, he proceeded to TRY to unfold the rose, while keeping every petal intact.
It wasn’t long before he realized how impossible it was to do. Noticing the younger preacher’s inability to unfold the rosebud while keeping it intact, the older preacher began to recite the following poem.
UNFOLDING THE ROSEBUD
Unfolding the Rose
It is only a tiny rosebud,
A flower of GOD’s design;
But I cannot unfold the petals
With these clumsy hands of mine.
The secret of unfolding flowers,
Is not known to such as I;
GOD opens this flower so sweetly
When in my hands they fade and die.
If I cannot unfold a rosebud,
This flower of GOD’s design;
Then how can I think I have wisdom
To unfold this life of mine?
So I’ll trust in Him for His leading,
Each moment of every day;
I will look to Him for His guidance
Each step of this pilgrim way.
The pathway that lies before me,
Only my Heavenly Father knows;
I’ll trust Him to unfold the moments
Just as He unfolds the rose.
Here are a couple of passages that might show us a path to understanding the necessity of patience:
Romans 12:12 – 12 Rejoice in hope, be patient in suffering, persevere in prayer.
Colossians 1: 11-12 – 11 May you be made strong with all the strength that comes from his glorious power, and may you be prepared to endure everything with patience, while joyfully 12 giving thanks to the Father, who has enabled you to share in the inheritance of the saints in the light.
In these two verses, Paul is using the Greek word ὑπομένω hupomeno {hoop-om-en’-o} for “patient” or “patience.” In Strong’s notes, this word is used to denote endure, to tarry behind, to abide, suffer, remain, abide, preserve, and persevere under misfortunes and trials to hold fast to one’s faith in Jesus. Some days we don’t really want to endure, to wait, to be suffering. We might find being patient with Jesus to be difficult! It’s time to look for a better way. Maybe I should pray as Habakkuk did?
There are nine prayer-points in Paul’s words to the Colossians.
- Seek to know Jesus’ will, (it’s in the M.A.P.)
- Grow in spiritual wisdom, (all the rest of these are in the APP)
- Honor and please Jesus by
- Continually do good, kind things for others, then
- Continue to expand our knowledge of Jesus as Jesus more and more so we can – (Read that sentence carefully.)
- Be strengthened with Jesus’ glorious power so that we will
- Have great patience and endurance, enabling us to
- Feel in our hearts and show to others we are full of Jesus’ joy, and of course,
- We all hope and pray we have the wisdom, courage, and strength to give thanks always.
You may also remember the story of the boy who tried to help the butterfly out of its chrysalis only to see it die because the struggle of freeing itself was what made the butterfly’s circulatory system functional. Sometimes what we think we must do is inconsistent with Jesus’ plan. When we realize that we’ve been working against him while all the while insisting we were working with him, we might at times feel embarrassed, or tricked, or even get belligerent with Jesus and say, “Well you could have told me sooner, you know, that I was wasting my time on that!” And then we think, “What’s wrong with me? Why am I talking to HIM like THAT?!” And often we realize we are talking to him like that because he’s been talking to us and we’re not listening.
What’s really needed here is to give our attention to God. He has a really beautiful way of helping us with that. We see it throughout Scripture. It’s called suffering. Sometimes it is to fall victim to a stronger foe. Sometimes it is illness, or pain, or both. Sometimes it is punishment. Many of us see punishment as a blow from God’s fist; but that’s not the nature of suffering.
We’ve stated several times that the Universe is not God, and that God created and controls the Universe. There are Rules, all of which are spelled out in the APP, and when we try to live outside the Rules, we suffer. God doesn’t have to hunt us down and whack us a good one. We get the whack we need when we go outside the Rules. There’s a film on Netflix called “Fr. Stu.” It is the story of Father Stu Long, a former champion boxer. I found it difficult to watch because it is chockfull of gratuitous profanity. At one point he is in a very messy motorcycle accident which he felt somehow drew him closer to God. About 2/3 of the way through – around 1995, he is diagnosed with inclusion body myositis (IBM) – a debilitating muscle disease that eventually lead to his death at age 50. At that point, he had been a Catholic priest for seven years. Here’s what he said about his suffering:
FATHER STU LONG: It’s a profound experience, suffering. And the struggles of this disease helped me, and help others, to learn the way that we should have been living all along. It’s taught me a little humility. It’s taught me dignity, respect for others. And sometimes people like me – there’s an extreme example – we need things like this to be able to make those changes, and decisions in our life that are gonna help us become better people, become the people that Jesus has created us to be when he sent us to this planet.
C. S. Lewis made this comment about suffering:
“You don’t know in advance whether Jesus is going to set you to do something difficult or painful, or something that you will quite like; and some people of heroic mold are disappointed when the job doled out to them turns out to be something quite nice. But you must be prepared for the unpleasant things and the discomforts.” — C. S. Lewis from Jesus in the Dock (↔ Learning Link) In this, I see three elements which bear repeating:
- God has a plan for me (and you, and them, and they, and everyone)
- The plan is for our good and based in HIS hope.
- God will not only direct our way but also help us find and follow it.
Unfolding and then trying to refold the M.A.P. is like trying to unfold then refold the rosebud. If we open up the M.A.P. and read, listen, follow, decipher – however our form of learning works best – the M.A.P. is showing us our actual progress in that region of our lives. “You can’t get to where you’re going if you don’t know where you are.” Stop messing with the M.A.P. and “you will hear a voice behind you saying, ‘this is the way. Walk in it.'” That’s an easy lesson to learn, and apparently one easily forgotten. Another learning link can be found here: 1935AFC083019 – (↔ Learning Link) … And me, your worthless servant (↔ Music Link).
Sometimes the suffering we endure is something that does not come from our own missteps. We need only recall the story of Job to know that at times the Enemy, the Accuser, gets the upper hand and makes life more difficult. We would be wise, then, to follow the example of Job and praise God for the strength he gives us not only to endure these trials, but also to prevail. There’s a great song I’d like to share with you about how to get past those stages in our lives. Relying on F.A.I.T.H., we take up the tools we need to defeat that Old Rascal. I’m going to give you two versions – one by the composer and a cover by another gentleman – and as you listen to them, contemplate what tools you already own to deal with whatever Satan has cast over you: DIG ANOTHER WELL (↔ Music Link→ cover) Pick Up The Shovel (↔ Music Link→ composer). It is essential that we remember that God does not cause or bring evil into our lives; however, – as with Job – he may allow it. I am sometimes asked about “and lead us not into temptation.” Please look at Matthew 6:13 for this insight: 13 and do not subject us to the final test,[1] but deliver us from the evil one. Satan wants our attention, and will do heinous things to get it.
Another scrap of poetry comes from Poetry for Going Home, probably written around 1982:
sojourner
I am changing the way I change myself.
Someone keeps refolding the map.
Where I am is always
on the other side.
Where is my destination
if my location is someplace else?
And how do you pack, I wonder?
Did you spot the problem there? It is in “refolding the map,” or in this essay the M.A.P. How can the M.A.P. be refolded if it wasn’t first folded? Who folded it and why? I’ll bet it was some impatient joker trying to override God’s plan with her/his own plan. My, oh my! That does sound familiar! The first Catholic Priest I got to know personally was Fr. John McMahon, and Air Force Chaplain on Lackland AFB. He oversaw my conversion catechesis, found me a sponsor for my Baptism (and we are still good buddies to this day), baptized me, and then latter presided over the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony for Crucita and me. One of his favorite catchphrases was “Mother of God, why does there have to be suffering?” Back in those days I did not know the answer. Now, after a bit over five decades later, I know: suffering is God’s antidote for arrogance, disobedience, and/or selfishness – in a word – PRIDE.
When we learn to suffer for others, we have learned to disdain pride and embraced charity (once again, please refer to 1607AFC021216 – 2016 Lenten Series, #1) Why must here be suffering? Because it is one of God’s most precious gifts. “A Gift! You’ve got to be kidding us!” No, it is true. God’s disciplining us is part of the way the APP works. It’s called THEODICY (thee-OH-duh-see). We are aware of and participate with God’s “perfect Integrity, endless Mercy, everlasting Love, and eternal Salvation through Christ, our Lord.” Nonetheless we still recognize that there is also evil in this world, and that God has commanded that we not participate in that in any way. Evil is not part of the APP; in fact, it is contrary to the APP and works vigorously to keep us from consulting the M.A.P.
If that’s the case, then why are so many earthlings so enamored with evil and so many others indifferent to God and his plans for every earthling’s life? Let’s turn again to The Apostle Paul in 1 Corinthians 2:14 – 14 Those who are unspiritual do not receive the gifts of Jesus’ Spirit, for they are foolishness to them, and they are unable to understand them because they are spiritually discerned. If we know the APP and have the M.A.P., we are using spiritual discernment. Included in that bundle of gifts from God’s Holy Spirit is the boldness that overcomes the cowardice of sin and strengthens in us power and love and self-control. I confess, from where I sit this looks difficult. Do you, do I, do we have strength of faith enough that we can toss a mulberry tree out of the way or send a mountain to sit at the bottom of the sea? That’s what he told the Apostles.
The Apostles – who walked in the flesh with The Creator – asked him to increase their faith. Well, Belovéd, what will it take to increase our faith? How much can we trust God? We are reminded of the story of the possessed child brought to Jesus by his father after the disciples could not heal him. Jesus asked the crowd, “You faithless generation, how much longer must I be among you? How much longer must I put up with you?” The boy’s father said to Jesus, “… if you are able to do anything, have pity on us and help us.” Jesus ‘ response was that believing was needed. The man’s reply is a great prayer to use when consulting the M.A.P. “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief.” Lord, I love; help my lack of love. Lord I obey; help my disobedience. (See Mark 9:17-29)
Ignoring or trying to override the APP will indeed result in discipline, Read Psalm 95 to get a glimpse of that. The message is clear: Carry the M.A.P., follow the M.A.P. use the M.A.P., but DON’T MESS IT UP BY FOLDING IT TO OUR SPECIFICATIONS. Once again, what is the M.A.P.? It is an examination of our conscience. When we compare what we see there with what we do here, any differences noted must be reconciled. Jesus took care of that for each and all of us. We simply need enough humility to accept that Truth as proof of his Everlasting Love.
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.
For further edification, please check out Deuteronomy 8:3-6, 1 Corinthians 3:16-17, and Luke 9:22.
Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
