“In the name of God, stop a moment,
cease your work, look around you.”
Leo Tolstoy
(this little pile of “work” has only multiplied since two weeks ago with a new highend
formula due to the reflux and more meds / Julie Cook / 2018)
When we think of work, we think of, well…work.
That whole 9 to 5, 8 to 4, 7 to 11, 11 to 7 or the on 12 off 12 gig…
As in work.
The daily grind…
A profession…
A career…
A calling…
The thing we do to pay the bills, afford some stuff, have a life…
The proverbial climbing of the ladder…
The thing we do until we either retire or die…or whichever comes first…
The end to our end really…
However, according to Thomas á Kempis,
from his best selling 1418 book The Imitation of Christ…
a book that according to Christian History, Sir Thomas More,
England’s famous lord chancellor under Henry VIII
(and subject of the film A Man for All Seasons)
said it was one of the three books everybody ought to own.
Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits,
read a chapter a day from it and regularly gave away copies as gifts.
Methodist founder John Wesley said it was the best summary of the Christian life
he had ever read…
Thomas á Kempis tells us that:
“No one who follows Me will ever walk in darkness (Jn 8:12).
These words of our Lord counsel all to walk in His footsteps.
If you want to see clearly and avoid blindness of heart,
it is His virtues you must imitate. Make it your aim to meditate on the life of Jesus Christ.
Christ’s teachings surpasses that of all the Saints.
But to find this spiritual nourishment you must seek to have the Spirit of Christ.
It is because we lack this Spirit that so often we listen to the Gospel without really hearing it.
Those who fully understand Christ’s words must labor to make their lives conform to His.”
Thomas á Kempis, p.15
An Excerpt From
The Imitation of Christ
And so we are reminded, schooled, scolded, informed…
that in order to have the Spirit of Christ within us, there is much work on our parts to be done.
A sort of work that should be our primary life’s focus rather than that of time clocks,
paychecks, ladders, and promotions…
And whereas that’s all great and grand… as it does help pay the bills…
in the end, when it is all said and done, “those who fully understand Christ’s words
labor to make their lives conform to his…”
“We must imitate Christ’s life and his ways if we are to be truly enlightened
and set free from the darkness of our own hearts.
Let it be the most important thing we do, then, to reflect on the life of Jesus Christ.”
Thomas á Kempis
cookiecrumbstoliveby 
This is so timely. I’m writing a talk on discipleship for the people who have just been received into the Catholic Church, many of whom are new Christians. As I’ve been praying and discerning what to say in a short period of time, the Lord seems to be emphasizing “being in Christ” rather than the behaviour of a disciple. I do believe that when the very centre of our being is rooted in Christ, our behaviour becomes Christ-like and we follow God’s leading in our choices. Blessings on your very busy day!
So much work to do, so many sitting on the sidelines.
And by our examples of having that Spirit, that which we have worked so hard to attain, we hope to motivate the bench warmers — and talk is good but that living Spirit filled example is key— not easy, but key
The people sitting on the sidelines are just missing out on the fun.
That’s a great attitude, Tom!
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
We went to Sunday church last night, because the infamous Minnesota April
Blizzard closed almost every church in town. Our sermon talked about the time we are all allotted on any given day. 86,400 seconds per day. We all have been gifted with that amount of time each day. How we spend those seconds is setting up for eternity. We can’t recapture any of them. We must spend every one of them in the time allotted or they will be lost. We do have a lot of work to do, but God has blessed us with the gift of time.
Amen!! Sometimes, it is a bit overwhelming… But thankfully, Christ promised us the Comforter who guides us unto all truth, and fills us in order to empower us to walk in faith. Wonderful post, dearest Julie! Praying for you and yours! ❤
A great reminder Lynn— that the Helper is our guide and advocate