"both-and"

The only times I’ve ever been able to lose weight is when my outside and my inside were in agreement. Doing the things I needed to do, eating the things I needed to eat. With my mind focused on doing it.

It’s like that with every part of our lives.

If we’re just doing the outside stuff, eventually we’ll start cutting corners. Or doing it in ways that actually hurt us. Or quit entirely.

The outside stuff needs the inside stuff to support it.

If we’re just doing the inside stuff, only thinking about it. We’ll never see any results. We’ll just get more and more frustrated. Because nothing’s happening.

The inside stuff needs the outside stuff to support it.

We can’t thrive by doing just the inside stuff. Or by doing just the outside stuff. We’re not built for “either-or.” The only way it works for us is as a “both-and.”

It’s no different with our spiritual lives.

That’s the point that Jesus is making in today’s Gospel.

He’s talking with people who are doing the outside stuff, doing good things. But without the inside stuff, without being close to God. Without the relationship with God that human beings need to be whole, to be healthy.

Jesus makes it clear that both are essential, telling them “these you should have done, without overlooking the others.”

Today, step away from the false choice of “either-or” living.

Take care of your outside. And your inside.

Do the good. And stay close to God.

Make time for God’s “both-and.”

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Why don’t you ever talk about “X?”

A long-time reader asked me why I never talk about “X” (an issue dear to her heart and, I’m fairly confident, to the heart of God as well).

It was a great conversation. I always learn something when I get to see things from other people’s perspectives. I appreciate the time she spent explaining why “X” is so important to her.

I’d like to share with you my answer to her question.

Why I am so focused on the person who wants to do the good.

Why I understand that to be even more important than the good that desperately needs doing.

It comes down to two things. Something from Tuesday. And Mother Teresa.

From Tuesday. You can’t give what you don’t have. It doesn’t matter how good and noble, how absolutely critical “X” is. You’ve got to fill yourself first.

If you don’t have something to give, you can’t do any good.

And if you’re filling yourself with anything but God, even something as good and noble as “X?” Then slowly, almost imperceptibly at first, that will become your god. When it does, it will actually prevent you from doing the good you set out to do.

Not to mention the damage it will do to you along the way. And to others.

Henri Nouwen opened my eyes to this problem in his classic, “The Wounded Healer.”

And Mother Teresa? Her wisdom in understanding the real source of our problems.

Cardinal Dolan tells the story like this. Once, on New Year’s Eve, a reporter asked Mother (now Saint) Teresa of Calcutta, “If you could change one thing in the world this New Year, what would it be?”

Her reply: “myself.”

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The only real help

One of the most damaging ideas about Christianity is the idea that if you believe hard enough. If you do all the things you’re supposed to do. If you’re good enough.

That nothing bad will ever happen to you.

I’m not sure where we got that idea from. Certainly not the Gospel, where Jesus says,

“No servant is greater than his master
nor any messenger greater than the one who sent him.”

If we’re really followers of Jesus, we shouldn’t expect to be treated any differently than Jesus.

So how was Jesus treated? From a slow burn of being misunderstood, attacked, and more to betrayal and abandonment by His closest friends. Ending in a state-sponsored torture killing. Not a pretty picture.

If Christianity doesn’t get you out of life’s problems, why bother?

Because the truth is that we’re going to go through life’s problems. No matter what.

We probably won’t die in a state-sponsored torture killing. But the odds of us being misunderstood, attacked, betrayed, abandoned, and more? As close to 100% as it gets.

The only question is whether we’re so full of ourselves that we think we can handle it on our own. Or if we’re wise enough to take the only real help available.

From the One who loves us more than we will ever know. So much that He went through all of it Himself.

Just so He could help us get through it.

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The path

In England, there’s a shortcut between two towns. It takes miles off the trip. But it’s only there at low tide. Across the waterlogged sands of Morecambe Bay.

The sands are dangerous. As the sands move, the safe path shifts. If you don’t know where to walk, you can get stuck. People have died that way when the tide came back in.

Which is why there’s a guide. Someone who goes out at low tide. To mark a safe path across the sands.

By tradition, the path is marked with tree branches. Branches that are swept away with the tide. But there’s no point in doing something more permanent. Since the path with will change with the next tide.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus refuses to rebuke people doing good things in His name. But who aren’t a part of the close circle of the disciples.

As a convert, I can tell you why.

For those of us who have been outside of the Church, good things outside of the Church – good works, holy places, holy people – stand out in the shifting sands of life.

They draw you in.

If you look up from the one that drew you in, you will see another. And another. And another.

Soon a pattern emerges.

The path across the sands. The one that will lead you to Him, to Home.

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Your name here

In the Gospel, Jesus warns us - “Take care not to perform righteous deeds in order that people may see them.”

Finally, a problem you and I don’t have to worry about.

It’s not that we don’t give to the church or to charities. We’re pretty good about remembering to support the church and the causes that are dear to us.

It’s just that, with what you and I are able to give… Well, let’s just say that there’s not going to be a building with our names on it anytime soon.

So we’re good, right?

Not exactly. Because Jesus’ warning isn’t about having your name on a building. Or even about other people finding out that you did something good.

What Jesus is warning us about is pride. About how easy it is for pride to poison something as good for others, and good for us – something as necessary for our relationship with God – as good works.

As James tells us, “faith without works is dead.”

Jesus isn’t warning us away from doing good. Jesus want us to guard our hearts while we do good.

To never miss a chance to help, but to never lose sight of why we’re helping. To ensure that our good works remain, first and foremost, acts of love.

It’s about you and me, giving back to God. In gratitude for the love that God pours out for each of us, without measure or price.

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