Gratitude!

I am so thankful for those who testify, like John, to the Light, to those who can bear witness that His words are true!  (from the last entry)

 

I am so grateful for:

 

St. Peter, the chief of sinners, who denied not only his God, but his friend....

St. Paul, who in arrogance persecuted and put to death the followers of Jesus....

St. Mary Magdalene, out of whom Jesus cast seven devils.....

St. Augustine, who pursued the lusts of the flesh and of the mind for 33 years before he encountered the Word of God, Jesus Christ.....

almost any saint you can name, whose encounter with Jesus transformed his or her life.

 

I am grateful that we are a church of sinners who become saints by knowledge of Jesus Christ and His power in us.  When St. John says, "The light shines in the darkness," he means the darkness not only of this world, but the darkness in our hearts.  None of us begin as "holy;" holiness comes by the light shining on our sinfulness and transforming it.  The more the light shines, the more conscious we become of our sinful nature and our need for redemption. 

 

And redemption of our sinful nature comes only through walking daily with Jesus Christ, who transforms us from "glory to glory" (2 Cor. 3:18).  St. Paul tells us that where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom -- and the freedom comes from knowing that, though we do not even know our own sins, there is One who continually cleanses us.  Occasionally, we see ourselves as God sees us, and we are horrified to know what we are capable of thinking, believing, and doing.  But our "seeing ourselves as sinners" allows us to turn to God, knowing that we cannot help ourselves.

 

The secret to the success of AA is reliance on a higher power to do for us and in us what we are unable to do for ourselves.  Added to reliance on a higher power is the support of witnesses and mentors all around us who "testify" to their own redemption from alcohol, which held them bound.  This is the story of the "saints," -- not perfect people, but those who have been redeemed from the chains of sin which bound them, those who have been set free to live a life beyond their own strength.  I am thankful for these people who, in acknowledging their own weakness and inability, have become a source of strength to so many others.

 

Reading the stories of the saints is to see people who  have been set free to love God and their neighbor by the compassion and work of Jesus Christ working in their human nature.  We are all "saints" if only we allow Jesus to do His work in us and stop relying on our own strength.  He can do more in us than we can ask or imagine (I Cor. 3:10).  By keeping the witness of Peter, of Paul, of Mary Magdalene, of all the saints in mind, we have the courage to allow Jesus Christ to transform us into His Image.