Focus

As you quiet yourself for this brief time, be willing to be open to God in whatever way that may take place.

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Read

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Reflect

I teach a world religions class at a local community college. One of the points a student always brings up is that Jesus wasn’t original. A student will always, without fail, mention that the Golden Rule is thousands of years older than Jesus. Forms of it can be found in most ancient societies. The one that is most known outside of the Gospels is from Confucius, found in the Analects of Confucius 12 which says, “What you do not wish for yourself, do not do to others”

The genius of Jesus in this instance wasn’t the principle of the matter. Jesus goes deeper. Instead of stating the negative, Jesus states the positive. In other words, the goal of a Christian isn’t simply refraining from doing evil to someone, but going the extra mile to do good to someone. 

We are not called to be passive in the Christian faith, thinking that in some way we are being virtuous. We are to be active, always seeking to spread the grace of God to all people, everywhere, and all the time. 

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Pray

God, give us the strength to do your will and to do good wherever you have placed us. Amen