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God's Words For US
by Cecelia Lester
The women’s small group I participate in is reading and discussing the book, Wounded Women of the Bible. The book deals with different Biblical stories involving women who have faced unusual or difficult circumstances.
In reading our first selected chapter, we each, independently, were caught by a question posed by an NFL quarterback at a sports banquet. The question: If everything immediately changed and all was taken away, would Jesus be enough?”
Think about it. We see this question floating around cyberspace from time to time but do we really understand what the crux of the question is?
Our Reaction
When we hear this question, do we pause and reflect on what this could mean? Or do we in a haughty voice with matching attitude say, “It couldn’t happen to me”?
Reality is we can lose everything we own through fire, earthquake, or flood. We can also lose our children and loved ones through interpersonal conflicts or through personal choices either we or they make, and even through their death.
If this topic, losing all we have, bothers us might it be because we are attached to material things? Do we love these ‘things’ more than we love or families or more than we love Jesus?
Our Society’s Outlook
At some point in my life, I thought that Madison Avenue in New York—the advertising industry—was to blame for all the ‘things’ I have. But, I am finding out, just like Pogo the comic strip character of my childhood, “We have met the enemy and it is us.”
A term I remember hearing as I grew up was sales resistance. We don’t hear it used anymore. We, as a society, tend to purchase as a way to prove our importance to the world. Some of us choose to buy someone’s love by showering them with gifts. But what happens when we lose our jobs, when we retire, or when we become ill? Do we love our family and close friends any less? No, we don’t.
Thoughts on Black Friday
The Christmas shopping season begins with the retail merchants racing to be open earlier and earlier on what they call “Black Friday.” I find it interesting they try to clean up their bottom lines through this one day. Those stores have encroached on Thanksgiving Day by being open, forcing their workforces to forego time with their families in order to increase their financial well-being. I personally, choose not to shop on that Thursday. If I go out to shop on the day after Thanksgiving, I venture out at mid-afternoon.
Another Alternative to the Stress
In my lifetime, I have met two women who chose not to purchase any gifts for Christmas for their friends or family members. In each instance, these women prepared a nice dinner and had people in to enjoy the meal and share good memories with one another. By their having this tradition, the believed they were keeping Christmas as they should. I don’t know if I could have done this in my family but I admire these women because they stood by their beliefs in the face of those in their communities and did seem to waiver. The first lady I worked with in the late 1960’s and into 1970. The second one was a woman I saw when she came into the library I worked at in the 2000’s.
How does this tie into the title question? If we seem to value ‘things’ as the be-all-end-all of life, we may find ourselves guilty of worshipping those things.
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Cecelia Lester has been serious about her writing for over two decades..
She composes Christian essays and posts them to her blog quietspirit-followingmyking.blogspot.com/
She has served in a faith-based organization, Grace In Action by writing two newsletters and searching for possible grants.
In July 2017, she published her first book, 'Times of Trouble Bring Rays of Joy.'
She and her husband of 54 years live in central Indiana. They have one grown son.
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