For Palm Sunday Carl and I spent our worship Sunday at the Core at Rochester UMC. Jon Reynolds inspired me to think a bit about life and living faithfully.
I'm a pretty competitive person, I don't know if you know that but I . Put my brother and I in a room with a stack of board games and you will figure it out before long just how competitive I am. So when I was sick and I had a subpar doctor I thought to myself, man...I could do better than this guy! Seriously. That's how I decided as a late sophomore early junior year student that I was being called into medicine. It was my competitive streak that told me I could do it but it was God that told me how I would do it.
It is interesting how God works in our lives because as much as I'd love it to be all happy and fuzzy it turns out God has a different idea of what my life should look like than I do. I'll be the first to admit, I'm pretty selfish. And I like nice things. I like vacations to far of lands, I like Patagonia fleeces, I like Zingermans deli, I like shoes. I like expensive things sometimes and so I have had to rethink those desires and selfish wants. And sometimes I give in, but sometimes God strengthens me enough to overcome those desires. One of those moments was when I decided to go into family medicine. I have been told by multiple rich physicians that I won't make any money in family but I think that money that I won't be making is all relative. I won't be making what they are used to but I am sure I won't ever go hungry or be out on the cold.
This lent I have been practicing a certain type of self deprivation which is tough in this day and age. We get plenty of free lunches And as I see it there on the table I think instead of how I could eat it and enjoy it, I think who else could benefit from it. As I go hungry by choice, others don't have one. So I take my serving to the guy begging on the corner by my street.
And I live in a place where intentionally that is near to me so I can continue to be reminded and not isolate myself too much that I forget that others are hungry and I can help them by giving them one meal of mine, I will live without that meal, but others may live too.
So in all, God calls me to live uncomfortably. Because if you get too comfortable it leads you to forget too much of what others need or don't have. God calls us to live in harms way. So that we may be the armour of the homeless and the bed of the weary. Don't forget to give yourself up so that others may live.
