Thought for the DayGood Morning Scotland
BBC Radio Scotland
Thursday, March 10th, 2011
We all know people who spend an inordinate amount of time fretting about whether they’re any good. It’s almost a caricature of religious types that they walk around whacking themselves on the head with a length of board proclaiming that they’re no good.
It might be low self esteem. It might all be a show of some sort – something “put on”. It makes them almost as difficult to sit next to at a dinner party as the ones who’ve never considered that they weren’t God’s gift to the world.
In this season of second thoughts about our lives and futures – i.e. the season of Lent – we certainly don't need our egos puffed up but neither do we need to be knocked down a peg or two on principle simply because it’s the right season to do so.
We need a sober and realistic analysis of who we are.
Part of that is recognizing our weakness – which is not a matter of beating ourselves up but recognizing that there are certain things we are going to have to do in community, or in conjunction with other people – people we love or perhaps even people we don’t particularly get on with but who have the skills and the abilities we don’t.
It might also mean that we have to look beyond ourselves in order to find strength and inspiration, courage or forgiveness. It’s not for nothing that many Lenten programmes have a chapter called “beginning to pray”.
Another part of it is recognizing that our time is limited. This earthly life has finite edges – it’s like a canvas of a definite size and area and that’s all we have on which to paint our colours.
So time is not to be wasted. Opportunities are to be seized.
And if any of this makes you feel bad – then this is the time do something about it!
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Audio available for a limited time HERE. TFTD begins at 1:22.37 - halfway along the audio bar.
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1 comment:
And how will your canvas change this day aside from being the exhorter as you also stumble for the right brush and colour.
Life is funny as when we are young our ability to work on a canvas is limited but joyful, think small child back of church making picture of Jesus upfront who is preaching that day. They do have imaginations.
Now a young adult, ability to make picture much improved but not at back of church nor middle of church and forget front of church, only for visitors. Still getting over last nights pup outing.
Middle aged now, married, children , maybe a second wife, maybe a grandchild , life's experiments have caught up.
Able to paint scenes of life and even the minister he thought was Jesus who is still sporting his beard to look wise but now white and frizzy, Got it on canvas now though.
Whipped through life all of a sudden and now retired, many paintings of subjects and travels.
Whoops, body is starting to act up, canvas takes awhile and colours painted are not what the eye saw.
Ah.. the mind though is now painting the perfect canvas regardless of the way the body moves/
Message, you painting time is less then you think but know that Christ is with you always, just listen and place on the canvas what he wants as more will be on the canvas than you think.
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