The following was posted on Facebook by a friend of mine last week. Called The Paradox of Our Age, I’ve not been able to get it out of my mind….it rings very true. It was written by Dr. Bob Moorehead, former pastor of Seattle’s Overlake Christian Church. I’d suggest reading it slowly.
Photo by Philipp Birmes from Pexels
The paradox of our time in history is that we have taller buildings, but shorter tempers, wider freeways, but narrower viewpoints. We spend more, but have less; we buy more but enjoy it less. We have bigger houses and smaller families; more conveniences, but less time; we have more degrees, but less sense; more knowledge, but less judgment; more experts, but more problems; more medicine, but less wellness.
We drink too much, smoke too much, spend too recklessly, laugh too little, drive too fast, get too angry too quickly, stay up too late, get up too tired, read too seldom, watch TV too much, and pray too seldom.
We have multiplied our possessions, but reduced our values. We talk too much, love too seldom, and hate too often. We’ve learned how to make a living, but not a life; we’ve added years to life, not life to years.
We’ve been all the way to the moon and back, but have trouble crossing the street to meet the new neighbor. We’ve conquered outer space, but not inner space. We’ve done larger things, but not better things. We’ve cleaned up the air, but polluted the soul.
We’ve split the atom, but not our prejudice. We write more, but learn less. We plan more, but accomplish less. We’ve learned to rush, but not to wait. We build more computers to hold more information to produce more copies than ever, but have less real communication. These are the times of fast foods and slow digestion; tall men, and short character; steep profits, and shallow relationships.
These are the times of world peace, but domestic warfare; more leisure, but less fun; more kinds of food, but less nutrition.
These are days of two incomes, but more divorce; of fancier houses, but broken homes. These are days of quick trips, disposable diapers, throwaway morality, one-night stands, overweight bodies, and pills that do everything from cheer, to quiet, to kill.
It is a time when there is much in the show window and nothing in the stockroom; a time when technology can bring this letter to you, and a time when you can choose either to share this insight…. ….or to just hit delete.
Remember, spend some time with your loved ones, because they are not going to be around forever. Remember to say a kind word to someone who looks up to you in awe, because that little person soon will grow up and leave your side.
Remember to give a warm hug to the one next to you, because that is the only treasure you can give with your heart and it doesn’t cost a cent.
Remember to say “I love you” to your partner and your loved ones, but most of all mean it. A kiss and an embrace will mend hurt when it comes from deep inside of you.
Remember to hold hands and cherish the moment for someday that person will not be there again. Give time to love, give time to speak, and give time to share the precious thoughts in your mind.
AND ALWAYS REMEMBER: Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.
I know the above is different than my traditional blogs…hope you enjoyed it. As always, feel free to get to me with questions or comments.
God Bless you on your continued Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!
This is the 13th of our 14-week program, where we provide Lesson #13, on You Being Made for Greatness. Let’s start with my three favorite Scripture verses:
Jeremiah 1:5 – “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. And before you went forth from the womb, I sanctified you. And I made you a prophet to the nations.”
Jeremiah 29:11 – For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.
John 10:10 – I have come so that they may have life, and have it more abundantly.
To me, these verses mean that we are made for Greatness:
God conceived of us thousands of years ago
Made each of us with special gifts, talents, desires
He made us for a specific purpose
He made us in His image and likeness
As part of His grand plan, individually and as a part of all of humanity
God doesn’t make mistakes; He doesn’t make junk
On a scale of 1-10, we are all 10s
God loves you more than you’ll ever know, no matter what you’ve ever done
He wants the very best for you
He wants you to be happy
In fact…God made YOU for Greatness
We all want to live good lives, to be successful and to be happy. To do so, we have to embrace God’s plan for our lives (simple, not easy)…that’s how we find our Greatness. That’s how I found mine; that’s how you can find yours’.
Photo by Min An from Pexels
Simple Doesn’t Mean Easy
With what the world emphasizes as making us happy, I’m not suggesting that surrendering to God’s will is an easy thing. It can be done though by following the steps detailed in these lessons. As discussed, it takes conversion. For me, it also required understanding just how little control I had (have), in addition to coming to a place of finally believing that God:
Loves you more than you love yourself,
Knows what’s best for you, and
Wants your happiness more than you do.
Greatness here isn’t defined as wealth or power or prominence; it’s not notoriety or fame. The greatness we are talking about is being the very best you can be with the significant and unique gifts God has given you. It means responding with a full YES to whatever God is asking of you. You’ll know you’re on the right track because when you start living this way, you’ll no longer feel overwhelmed. Instead, you’ll be fulfilled; you’ll experience peace and have joy in your life.
Lastly, I’m not suggesting that living this life will eliminate all of your problems. We all encounter challenges in our lives. You will continue to do so. What I can guarantee you is that you’ll be able to endure those struggles in an entirely different way. I can also guarantee you that living this life of Greatness that God calls you to will change your life forever….for the significant BETTER!!!
Suggested Actions
So, here’s my suggestion for this week:
During your morning prayer routine this week, think about two things:
What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?
Given your talents, desires, and needs, what is God calling you to? Listen for His voice, which will lead you to your God given purpose….your GREATNESS!!!
Watch this Friday’s video on this same subject….it will be emailed to you.
Please join us next Wednesday for Week #14 when we conclude these lessons by talking about True Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment. As always, please feel free to get to me with questions, comments, or concerns at [email protected].
God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!
Mark Joseph
Week #1 – Being Overwhelmed Week #2 – Earning the love of others Week #3 – Lack of self-love Week #4 – Fear Week #5 – False gods, False happiness Week #6 – Life’s Tragedies Week #7 – Wounds, Resentments
Week #8 – Discovering God’s Love Week #9 – Forgiveness and healing Week #10 – Becoming the best Possible You Week #11 – Path to Peace Week #12 – Finding your Purpose Week #13 – You were made for Greatness Week #14 – True Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment
This is the 12th of our 14-week program, where we provide Lesson #12, Finding Your Purpose. Have any of the following questions occurred to you, as they had to me:
Why am I here?
What is my purpose?
What is life really all about?
What mark do I want to leave on this world?
In talking to folks, although we may arrive at this place at different times, possibly not asking the specific questions above (there are many others), most of us seem to reach a point in our lives, where we come to believe that life is about more than what we’ve been doing to date.
For those of us on this Christian walk, that “purpose” most often has to do with our faith, what we feel God is calling us to do. I know that was very true for me. Having had my conversion in 2006 and growing in faith since, I felt a call to combine ministry with career in 2012, when I joined the Conference Office of Franciscan University of Steubenville. Recently appointed Vice President of Outreach and Evangelization, I absolutely love the direction of the University, the people I get to work with, and my job. Not sure what retirement looks like, they’ll have to kick me out of there.
Photo by Elly Fairytale from Pexels
Living Your Faith Doesn’t Mean that You Have to Work for the Church
Don’t misunderstand me. I often say, “you don’t have to be in ministry to do ministry”. Although that was my direction, it doesn’t have to be yours’. In fact, in most cases, I’d suggest that you can accomplish much more outside the Church…in sharing our faith, the love of Christ, than you can in working for the Church.
Why do I say the above? In objectively looking at our massively secularized society, with all of its challenges as spelled out in the first 7 weeks of these free lessons, people are starving for peace, joy, and fulfillment in their lives. As you and I know, the only true path is through Jesus Christ, the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6).
You have that opportunity, we all have that opportunity, in all that we do, with all who we encounter, to share the love of Christ and change lives forever. That doesn’t mean hitting people over the head with the Bible, but loving them, caring for them, being compassionate…and present to them. As a friend who spent years and years in ministry would put it, “spending the necessary time to earn the right to share the Gospel”. And as I like to say, “people don’t care what you know until they know how much you care”. In my book and the online course that we’re launching this fall, I detail a process on how to zero in on your God given purpose by identifying and praying through your talents, desires, and needs. That said, I decided to dedicate today’s blog to what is universal to the individual and unique purposes that we’re called to. That is to love, love, love our brothers and sisters, sharing the love of Christ with all who we encounter.
Suggested Actions
So, here’s my suggestion for this week…something that could possibly become a norm going forward.
During your morning prayer routine this week, think about two things:
Those who the Lord puts on your heart for that day, praying through how you can serve and love them….tangible things
Given your talents, desires, and needs, what is God calling you to? Listen for His voice, which will lead you to your God given purpose.
Watch this Friday’s video on this same subject….it will be emailed to you.
Please join us next Wednesday for Week #13 when we talk about how You Were Made for Greatness. As always, please feel free to get to me with questions, comments, or concerns at [email protected].
God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!
Mark Joseph
Week #1 – Being Overwhelmed Week #2 – Earning the love of others Week #3 – Lack of self-love Week #4 – Fear Week #5 – False gods, False happiness Week #6 – Life’s Tragedies Week #7 – Wounds, Resentments
Week #8 – Discovering God’s Love Week #9 – Forgiveness and healing Week #10 – Becoming the best Possible You Week #11 – Path to Peace Week #12 – Finding your Purpose Week #13 – You were made for Greatness Week #14 – True Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment
This is the 11th of our 14-week program, where we provide Lesson #11, The Path to Peace. Some questions to consider as we kick this off:
Do you have a sense of peace in your life?
In reflecting on this program to date, what’s stealing your peace?
Who’s stealing your peace?
When you boil it down, my thesis (sounds so official…ha, ha) is that being overwhelmed doesn’t allow us to experience the peace, joy, or fulfillment that God intended for us. I’ve shared the life lessons that have allowed me to go from there to here….by God’s grace.
My experience indicates that a full life, an impactful life, the life all of us really yearn for, includes all three…peace, joy, and fulfillment. That said, it all starts with peace.
Several years ago, in a moment of unconscious competence (they ring as true today as they did then), I defined the Path to Peace as Surrender, Gratitude, Humility, and Love. Although the sequence isn’t absolute, my experience would indicate that there’s something to it. Let’s explore each individually.
1) Surrender First, we cannot control life, no matter how much we try. Many might think that isn’t true. With a good plan and solid people around you, it’s possible to control things. Sure, when it comes to planned events, we have a certain amount of control, as long as we allow for contingencies, but even then, things don’t always go perfectly. In fact, most of life is beyond our control. Other people and their choices and behavior are beyond our control. Tragic events, disease, accidents — these things are all way outside the scope of our control.
Second, we have God, who loves us more than we can imagine, who wants to see us happy, who designed us for a specific purpose, uniquely and individually, who knows best for us — the God who made us for greatness.
So why not surrender to the God of the universe, who is all-powerful, almighty, and all-loving? Instead of conceiving of something on my own, relying on myself to get it done, and then facing the consequences alone, I can choose to follow God’s will, discerning what He wants for my life and particular situations, and relying on Him for whatever happens. I use my unique and God-given gifts to do my very best, leaving everything up to Him and understanding that everything in life is part of His grand plan. As long as I know his love, it just doesn’t matter what others think. All of this takes the pressure off of me…..a big win!!!
2) Gratitude Be thankful. As important, believe that everything happens for a reason, that there are no coincidences in life. It’s true. Everything is part of God’s grand plan. So, live in a place of gratitude; be grateful for everything that happens, even the crises you experience.
God wants only the very best for us. We can trust that absolutely, regardless of life’s obstacles and challenges. Surrender teaches us to let go of the need to have things our way. Gratitude allows us to look past any short-term pain and be grateful for what God wants to do with it for our good.
Gratitude isn’t just good for the soul, it’s good for the body, too. Experts have indicated the benefits to living a life of gratitude, including being happier, healthier, more optimistic, more spiritual, a better friend, a better boss, etc. A true “attitude of gratitude” is one that allows us to see the hand of God in all things and trust that everything will turn out for our best.
3) Humility Humility is the opposite of ego, which we previously defined as our false self, the identity that we create that is often very far from the truth of who we are. The truly humble person lives from the truth of who he is and can step back from the chaos of trying to prove himself to others.
A humble person has a sense of self-worth, believes in himself, even loves himself, and doesn’t live in fear. Humility has much to do with self-love. This is because humility helps us know exactly who we are, with all of our weaknesses, yes, and even more with all of our strengths given to us by God. Those who have a healthy self-love, who are humble, have no need to look down on anyone, nor do they look up to anyone except Jesus Christ. We were all created by the same God, with the same perfection, in his image and likeness. To God, we are all “10s”.
A humble person is genuinely happy for others in their successes. He is accepting of others’ ideas and thoughts (accepting doesn’t mean always agreeing), always very willing to engage in dialogue and even friendly debate. The humble person doesn’t always have to be right, doesn’t always have to be in control, doesn’t always have to win. Humility allows us to accept others for who they are, rather than judging them or trying to change them.
Humility means accepting and loving others unconditionally. This does not mean we shouldn’t discern right from wrong, but we must never condemn others. Being humble is understanding that it is only in God working through us that we can perform or achieve anything worthwhile. It is his doing, not ours.
BTW, this isn’t easy stuff. On this journey now for a while, my biggest challenge is humility. It’s that old sin of “pride” that keeps creeping up on me. We’re all a work in process.
4) Love The final step (and the ultimate goal of this journey) is love. Above all else, we are called to love. Jesus tells us to love our neighbors as ourselves, second only to loving God with our whole heart, mind, soul, and strength. We need to love. When we fail to love, we leave those around us empty, and we are empty, too. Yet we certainly can’t love others if we can’t accept them, if we’re always competing with them or judging them. We can’t love them if we always have to be right or always have to be on top.
Without relationships, life is meaningless. True relationship is impossible without love. To love, we need to be vulnerable; we need to trust; we need to care. Having gratitude for the people in our lives is vital to loving them. And gratitude brings joy, which is also essential to love.
As I have learned since my conversion, you cannot truly love others unless you first love yourself. It can be a slow journey, but practicing surrender, gratitude, and humility strengthens and confirms us in who we are, which opens us up to loving ourselves and others.
Suggested Actions This blog has been longer than most in this series. As such, let’s wait till this Friday’s video, where I’ll share suggested actions you can take to get on and stay on the Path to Peace. Please join us next Wednesday for Week #12 when we talk about Finding Your Purpose. As always, please feel free to get to me with questions, comments, or concerns at [email protected].
God Bless you on your Path to Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment!!!
Mark Joseph
Week #1 – Being Overwhelmed Week #2 – Earning the love of others Week #3 – Lack of self-love Week #4 – Fear Week #5 – False gods, False happiness Week #6 – Life’s Tragedies Week #7 – Wounds, Resentments
Week #8 – Discovering God’s Love Week #9 – Forgiveness and healing Week #10 – Becoming the best Possible You Week #11 – Path to Peace Week #12 – Finding your Purpose Week #13 – You were made for Greatness Week #14 – True Peace, Joy, and Fulfillment
