Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Be of Good Cheer


Dear Friends,

Be of good cheer, because you belong to Jesus Christ … we all do … the whole of humanity, and all creatures great and small.

Today, you will face challenges – it’s the nature of life to challenge us, even frighten us, because life is so large and we all know how tiny we are. The best way of meeting such a challenge is to be honest about it – life is huge and we’re tiny. And all the bravado in the world, all of our huffing and puffing and chest-thumping doesn’t change it one lick.

Huffing and puffing, we get red in the face.
Chest-thumping, we hurt ourselves.

In reality, we can only be truthful, and that means God!

And what God has given to us in Jesus Christ …

A cross in which the worst is met … and the empty tomb, in which the worst is overcome.

In Christ, we have our daily hope, our daily bread … in Christ, however the worst may come our way, whatever its dimensions, it has already been met in the cross of Christ, and overcome in the empty tomb … the risen Christ takes us by the hand through all of it.

So, be of good cheer.

Face your life with the faith of Christ – that Christ is faithful to us, no matter what … in all of life, and in all of death … in the best of times and in the worst of times … in body and soul, here and now, then and there – all of it, the whole of it – nothing overlooked and nothing beyond the work of grace.

Face your life with honesty … for we are small.
Face your life with faith … for Christ is good.

Live your life with good works … for this is the way of Christ.
Live your life for others … for this is the love of Christ.

Tom

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