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Great crowds were traveling
with Jesus, and he turned and addressed them, “If anyone comes to
me without
hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters,
and even
his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever
does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my
disciple. Which of you wishing to
construct a tower does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see
if
there is enough for its completion? Otherwise,
after laying the foundation and finding himself unable to
finish the work the onlookers should laugh at him and say, ‘This
one began to
build but did not have the resources to finish.’”
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“I
am unwritten, can’t read my mind, I’m undefined. I’m just beginning, the pen’s in my
hand,
ending unplanned. Staring at the blank
page before you, open up the dirty window, let the sun illuminate the
words
that you could not find. Reaching for
something in the distance, so close you can almost taste it. Release your inhibitions, feel the rain on
your skin, no one else can feel it for you, only you can let it in. No one else can speak the words on your lips,
drench yourself in words unspoken, live your life with arms wide open. Today is where your book begins, the rest is
still unwritten.”
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What kind of life will
we choose from now on? Such is the
question of Jesus as he tells a story about a man who must plan
well. A person who is wishing to construct a tower
must be thinking about the future, and preparing for it. Jesus
makes his point, even exaggerating by
saying that people do not need to worry about the past—their
families, even
their own lives. The future is what
counts—what kind of disciples are they going to be. The
clear implication is that disciples can
begin their lives again, and from that moment on, can follow
him. In terms of Natasha Bedingfield’s song, their
lives are yet unwritten.
Her song, “Unwritten” is a poetic statement about a fact of living: we are determining what kind of life we are going to lead right now. No matter what has happened in our lives in the past, from now on, we will be able to live our future with arms wide open. We can begin again. We can recognize that perhaps we have not done as well as we should have, but now it’s different. Today is where our book begins, the rest is still unwritten, and we are beginning to write it now. We choose what kind of life we will lead from now on. In fact, we can begin to write a better story right now. If we are mature Christians, we will write a story based on the principles of our leader and guide Jesus, that is, we will bring about a good life for ourselves and others. |
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THOUGHT
If you
would write an autobiography, what would be the most important points
of your life?
PRAYER Good and gracious God, I
am writing the
story of my life as I live from day to day. Help
me see that I can write a better story
if I want to, and give me the grace to begin to write the story of my
life
with your Son’s principles as a guide. Be
with me, I pray.
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©2007
Capuchin Province of Mid-America
Fr. Mike Scully is a member of the Capuchin Province of Mid-America |