Scripture: Matthew 11:29
“Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, viagra sale for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

Thought for the Day: As usual, Jesus asks us to do something in stark contrast to our general nature: be gentle and humble. Humans are an incredibly pompous species. Humility does not seem to come to us naturally. We embrace blustering and egoism in almost every aspect of our society, from entertainment to politics. It no longer matters what’s good for the majority (if it ever truly mattered), it’s all about what’s best for me. It’s an attitude that’s become so systemic, entire nations now rattle swords at each other, lost to reason by their own over-inflated sense of self-importance. It’s like four-year-olds on a playground fighting over the sandbox. Only, these four-year-olds have nuclear weapons.

As beings of God’s light, we are not created to rattle swords at each other. Since humans lean toward the selfish, it seems obvious that our lives need God in the mix to keep us humble; to remind us we are created to care for each other equally; to inspire us to selfless acts of compassion. The differences we imprint upon each other are perceived and created by our egos. Because of this, our sense of community and communal responsibility is lost, now regarded as an unattainable ideal. Tell someone you envision a world of peace and love, and they’ll call you a naïve dreamer. Or a socialist. In Jesus’ time they crucified you for that sort of anti-establishment rhetoric.

But Jesus was convinced a peaceful, loving community is achievable. And he shows us how to get there every step of the way, and every step depends upon an active, personal, intensely intimate relationship with God. One of the most important steps is to check our egos at the door, and start acknowledging each other not as rungs on a ladder of success, to be stepped on and used on our way to the top, but rather as equally important parts in a complex universal system that is the very being of God. It’s a big responsibility. And we’re falling down on the job.

Prayer: Help me do your loving work, God of mystery, by always remembering I am a small, yet important, part of an unfathomably huge universe. Through humility and gentle service, may I help realize a world more concerned about the welfare of others, than the shameless self-promotion of ego. Amen.