Just

By -

Do you not know or have you not heard? The LORD is the eternal God, creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint nor grow weary, and His knowledge is beyond scrutiny. He gives strength to the fainting; for the weak He makes vigor abound. Though young men faint and grow weary, and youths stagger and fall, They that hope in the LORD will renew their strength, they will soar as with eagles' wings; They will run and not grow weary, walk and not grow faint.


~Isaiah 40: 28-31


In a post I wrote elsewhere, I used the word 'just' as in 'do enough to just get by'. It's a little word with a lot of influence. 'Just' gives permission for mediocrity, doing as little as possible. 'Just' is wimp of a word, but it can be dangerous, because it can seduce us into being comfortably numb.


Isaiah 40 encourages us to seek the Lord, and promises us that despite our hardships, He will give us strength not 'just' to survive, but to run and to fly. Some people believe that if you pray just right, God will bless you with success and abundance. I've heard this called the Prosperity Gospel which is essentially that turning your life over to Him brings riches and happiness. That sounds warm and fuzzy, but it overlooks some important points, the foremost being that God's priority is our salvation, not our wealth, stature, success and so on. The prosperity gospel takes the easy way out: it's 'just enough to get by', the mediocre effort. Salvation requires transformation - rebirth. Ask any mother: birth is a painful, uncomfortable experience.


"They that hope in the Lord..." Hope is expectant, it is desirous, it is alive and vibrant. 'Hope' is not compatible with 'just' because 'hope' does not settle, but reaches for more. God really wants that from us. He is "eternal God, Creator of the ends of the earth", and certainly that is big enough for us to place our hope in.

Comments

  1. Terry6:53 pm, August 08, 2011

    That's interesting.

    Have you noticed that in certain groups the word "just" is used in petitionary prayer. "Lord, we just ask that..." or "we just pray Lord that You might..."
    It sometimes seems as though the person is saying "Sorry to bother you Lord, and we are not making demands but would it be possible that you might just..."
    It strikes me as lacking the confidence Our Lord offers us when we pray. For example "Give us this day our daily bread" No "just" there.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous4:32 am, August 09, 2011

    Prosperity may be the last thing God wants you to have, the earths riches are dust and ashes.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Tess1:24 pm, August 11, 2011

    Terry, yes, I have noticed that! When we pray, let us pray with humility, but also with confidence. With God, if you're going to say it, you'd better mean it!

    D - very true. Not only are we not to become attached to the things of this life, but when life is 'easy' (when we prosper) it is all too often too easy to forget how much we need God.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Memorare

By Helen Gonsalves -
Image
This popular prayer, a favorite of many Catholics, dates back to the 15th century and takes its name from the first Latin word of the prayer, "memorare," which means "remember." The Memorare is of unknown authorship, although it has been attributed to St. Augustine (354-430), St. John Chrysostom (c. 347-407) and, with more reason, to St. Bernard of Clairvaux (c. 1090-1153). St. Bernard's sermons on Mary were famous, and it was his Cistercian monks in the monastery of Citeaux in the 12th century who popularized the name "Our Lady" for Mary. The Memorare has also been attributed to the French cleric Claude Bernard (1588-1641), known as the "poor priest" of Paris, whose homilies contain passages that echo its words. No matter who wrote this prayer, it was Father Bernard who did much to popularize it, teaching it in hospitals and prisons, where Mary's intercession was effective in working miracles of grace. The first manuscript of the Mem
Read more

The Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary

By -
Image
This is the image most often associated with the writings of the Belgian mystic Berthe Petit. She promoted devotion to the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary. During my preparation for the retreat I am giving at the end of the month in Pantasaph, North Wales, I began reading a book by the late John Haffert (once the lay leader of the Blue Army of Fatima). His theory in the book, which speaks of God's "last effort" to convert the world before the coming chastisement, is that we are now living in the third or fourth "day" of the Fatima week. At this time, according to Haffert, we should be promoting devotion to The Immaculate Heart of Mary. I also consulted another book by Dr. Courtnay Bartholomew (whom I have been privileged to meet) which also speaks of the importance of this devotion, linking it with the writings and visions of the mystic Berthe Petit, and the importance of the full title of the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart. These things will feature in
Read more

Why Modesty Is Not Subjective

By -
Image
Hi there, ya'll!  The modest fashion world is one very diverse place.  Even among Catholics, the definition of "modest apparel" can vary greatly from person to person.  Recently I joined a Facebook group that advertised itself as a haven for Catholic women of all ages to share ideas for modest style and makeup and was hoping to learn more about modesty from my fellow Catholic sisters.  After a few days of being a member, though, I sadly left the group feeling a bit discouraged.  No two members seemed to agree on ANY aspect of modesty whatsoever, and the prevailing theme of the whole group was that modesty is subjective, it means something different for each woman and each woman gets to decide what she considers is "modest".  One woman very emphatically declared that she wears bikinis every summer to the beach and doesn't feel that this violates the virtue of modesty in the least.  The same woman also announced that she was never going to caution her d
Read more