Heroes

 

There is not a single person who aspires to mediocrity. 

Not one. 

Every person aspires to greatness. 

Think back to when you were younger. I'm talking about 5 or 6 years old. What did you want to be when you grew up? 

A firefighter. A teacher. A pro-football player. An astronaut. A movie star. The list goes on. For my little sister, the current career of choice is a policewoman. 

When we were little kids, regardless of how we wanted to do it, we all wanted to be the same thing. 

We all wanted to be great. We wanted to be the best. We wanted to be the ones who overcame adversity and became what we were meant to be, the ones who did something worthwhile.

We wanted to be heroes. 

There is a desire inside all of us to be more than we are. To be part of something bigger. To go against the tide and be extraordinary. 

And that only applies to our careers, right? To the things of the world. No way that could have anything to do with our faith...right? 

Wrong.


Dictionary.com defines a hero as "a man of distinguished courage or ability, admired for his brave deeds and noble qualities".

Most of the time this brings to mind knights in shining armor in a land far away, battling fire-breathing dragons. Nice, but not immediately applicable in our lives. Because of this we tend to write off the whole idea of heroism and say there's little room for it in the modern world.

But it's not true. The world needs heroes as much as it ever will. The Church needs heroes as much as it ever has.


Heroism is absolutely applicable to our faith; in fact, it's essential. What is more noble than Christ's cause? What is more courageous than to go against the societal norm for His sake? What takes more bravery than to lay down your life for another?

As Christians, this is exactly what God asks of us.


Jesus isn't really Mr. Popular right now. Look around. Everywhere we look, virtue is ridiculed, goodness is mocked, and truth is silenced. It's an "every man for himself" world.

Everywhere we look, we see the fruit of this terrible seed. We see hunger, we see hurt, we see hopelessness.

But what if it wasn't "every man for himself"? What if it was every man for Him?

What if a radical group of people decided not to be afraid anymore? What if they decided that what the world had to offer them was just not good enough and that everyone deserves something more than the lies it tries to force on us? What if they died to their pride to be truly alive in humility? What if they chose to let their own desires waste away and strove to meet the needs of others? What if they committed the equivalent of social suicide by committing themselves to a life in Christ? What if they laid their lives down in that way?

The results would be unbelievable.

Hunger would be met, hurt would be healed, and hope would be restored.  

If we took the time to be the hands, feet, and voice of Christ in a world that so badly needs Him, we would start to see Heaven on Earth. Not because of us, but because of Him in us.


There's a quote that I love. Mark Hart, a popular speaker and prolific author, once said something along the lines of, "'Thy kingdom come' means my kingdom go." It couldn't be more true.


If we want the world to change, we have to change the world. Just a heads up, the world is not going to like it, and that means it's not going to like us. We will be hated, and shunned, and ridiculed. And that's okay. Heroism thrives in the face of adversity. And if we need anymore convincing:

Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:10

I'm convinced.


It's up to us. It's going to be difficult. It's going to be hard, and it's going to be uncomfortable. But as Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI said, "You were not made for comfort; you were made for greatness."

You were made to be a hero.

Peace be with you.
Caitlin

Not Ashamed

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel. It is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes: for Jew first, and then Greek.^" Romans 1:16

For I am not ashamed of the Gospel.

These were the words that stuck out to me and I wondered what they meant. That sounds silly, juvenile even. But what do those words mean?

What do those words mean to me?

 For I am not ashamed of the Gospel.

What does this mean for me in my life? It does not mean that I run around with my Bible all the time trying to get people to read it. (Well that's kinda exactly what I do with this project, but people choose to read it, so that's different.)

Talking about the Bible is one thing that I do on here, for one simple reason: I feel called to talk about and share the Bible in this way with all of you.

In my (non-virtual) life however, not being ashamed of the Gospel more often than not means not being ashamed to live it out.


We notice how people live, more than we care or even notice what they have to say.  Still we look at how they live and their lives scream volumes.

I want to live the Gospel out. I do not want to even have to talk about it using words or at least not explicitly.

I think we all know the over-quoted line often attributed St. Francis.

"Preach the Gospel at all times, and when necessary use words."

St. Francis got what it means to not be ashamed of the Bible and he preached the Gospel with his life, with the very way he lived and breathed.


So how do we do that? How do we live the Gospel in our day to day lives?

The way we live the Gospel is first to immerse ourselves in it. To read it. To spend time in the Word not just occasionally but on a daily basis.

I know just how hard this can be. I get distracted or busy. I  try to have a Bible time everyday; actually it is a Bible and coffee time first thing in the morning.

(Full disclosure: Sometimes I totally miss this or forget. Well, I forget the Bible part... but not the coffee part...)

When I do read the Bible, sometimes nothing hits. Nothing really stands out. Most days though, I read it and one part just jumps out at me.

One verse hits me. I try to take that verse, whatever it is, throughout my day. I try to have that verse influence my day and the way that I live.


To live the Gospel, to let your life be a living proof of the Gospel... that is living the Gospel and not being ashamed to do it.

It is less about telling others what to do and more about showing it. It has a lot more to do with living it out. When you make a habit of reading the Bible, even when nothing about it stands out to you, you will stand out to others.


Let your own life be a witness to the truth of the Gospel.

Do not just read it, live it.

Be not ashamed of the Gospel.

Be not Afraid,
-Emily

Be a Kid, Be Not Afraid

"My only criticism of you is that you need to learn to be a kid, to soak in the moment. To live in the moment."

My employer told me that. Think about that for a moment: my employer!

It's true. Not being able to be a kid is a weakness of mine. It is partly personality. I am always trying to get things done. I have goals, dreams and I am insanely driven.
 

So like any responsible person who was told they needed to be more of a kid, I started to think about kids, especially in how that relates to being a child of God.


First of all, kids think in a totally different manner than how I think, but they fascinate me. One of the things about them that fascinates me is how they live. They have no worries, no fears.

Most of all though, they are not afraid to fail.

Kids are not afraid to fail. Think about that for a moment.

What would you do if you were not afraid to fail?

A lot of things.


Kids are willing to try anything because they are not afraid to fail. Kids have an ability to live fearlessly because they are not afraid to fail.


Me, on the other hand, I live in the adult world where failure seems like the worst possible outcome ever. This makes me afraid, especially afraid to fail.

This fear leaves me stunted. Stuck.


Like the Taylor Swift song Fearless reminds me, kids are fearless. But why?


They are fearless because they know they are loved and they know that their worth is not dependent on what they do.

Pope St. John Paul II is widely known for saying "Be not afraid." There's  a good reason for that.  "Be not afraid." is one of the most often repeated verses in the Bible. (Be not Afraid)

Over and over again. "Be not afraid." Genesis 15:1

John Paul II also said, “We are not the sum of our weaknesses and failures. We are the sum of the Father’s love for us and our real capacity to become the image of his Son…”  I think there is a connection here.

Kids can be fearless because they don't find their worth in what they do. But neither should we. We can truly live out the phrase "Be not afraid." when we know that we are more than our failures.


So what does it mean to be a kid? What does it mean to be a child of God? It means not being afraid to fail.

It means not being afraid to go outside of your comfort zone. It means putting yourself out there. It means listening to the Lord and spending time with him, because kids don't have schedules. Then it means going out and not being afraid to tell others.

The Lord asks us to do a lot of things, if we listen to him. Things that are scary. But the Lord is calling you to be like a child, asking you to trust Him as a child trusts and to "Be not afraid."


You are so loved.
-Emily

 

{This is part two of about being like a child. Part 1 Be like a child}