FREEDOM GAINED THROUGH OBEDIENCE

A good example of the freedom gained through obedience is found in family life. Children need attention, money has to be gotten, my wife must be listened to even when I feel my resources drained. Obedience to these limits within the discipline of family life brings with it a certain freedom which is found in love. Love as a father and as a husband is deeper than an I have ever known, and I know that this has been made possible through the countless acts of obedience to familial limits that i have made over the years: doing this or that because I know that I have to as a father and as a husband. Love without obedience to these limits and rules is a shallow love, unable to really give except when it feels good to do so…. I have found that through the limits of obedience I grow beyond the confines of the self with its desires and traps.

(Brain Taylor, Spirituality for Everyday Living)

HAITI OR “MY” BIRTHDAY?

This morning, I came across words from Mahatma Gandhi  

“Civilization, in the real sense of the term, consists not in the multiplication, but in the deliberate and vountary reduction of wants. This alone promotes real happiness and contentment, and increases the capacity for service”   

Here is where the rubber hits the road for me. I know that my faith community is planning on raising funds for meaningful ministry in Haiti. It is going to be a christmas push with the tagline, “It’s not your birthday”. In preparation for this I have been talking to my family about what we could do to be a part of this and not make Christmas about us. Although they have been responsive to the idea, we aren’t making much headway other than buying (some would say extravagant) gifts for our kids which is sure to take away from funding Haiti. I am so conflicted about this. I read Gandhi’s words and I want to kane myself. The “me and mine” mentalility is yet firmly planted in my soul… I will talk with my family about this again and see if we can’t redirect. I am going to need their help in deliberately reducing my wants and learn, yet again, what it means to be content resulting in the freedom to serve.