January 15, 2012--Listening–Have you got the time?

Here's my Second Sunday after the Epiphany Sermon.

January 15, 2012--Listening–Have you got the time?

I look the whole notion of "call" -- especially in our day and age when people search for a job, or yearn for success. Is it more difficult for us than it was for Jesus' 1st Century CE disciples? Are we more preoccupied than they were?

Perhaps the most challenging aspect of call is facing our own sense of fear and failure. Maybe we are too selfish. Nonetheless, people, young and old continue to search for meaning. Many believe that God is beckoning them to search beyond themselves to the needs of other people and causes. God is beckoning some people to be more prayerful. Generally, I think, God is calling us all to dig deeper, search more broadly, love one another more compassionately. Jesus calls us to follow in his manner of life and continue to offer the Good News of God's reign, boldly and unselfishly.

There are three "steps" to any call process. The first is to listen; to have open ears for God's voice in the midst of the babble and noise of daily living. The second is to respond; to affirm with the people around us that we are not listening to our own egos but to the Will of The Divine who yearns to draws us nearer to God and to the world around us. We must "Go and See." Finally, we being the pilgrimage of discernment, a journey that never ends and is hardly ever, direct in nature.

I hope that these words and sermon bring you encouragement as well as send you further along the path of holiness and happiness.

Blessings Along The Way, Jim+