Monday Morning Meditation #100: The Value of Vegetables

Oh, my goodness! As I typed in the title for this post, I realized that it is #100, exactly. It seems pretty amazing that 100 weeks have passed since I have begun writing this column. It is especially amazing because I still have only scratched the surface of all the wonderful information, stories, advice, guidance, direction, etc., that one finds in the Bible. I do apologize for the late posting of this MMM. It is no longer morning. Doah stayed overnight last night, and his hyperactivity kept my attention riveted to matters that do not require quiet concentration.

Now, back to this week's reading. Having completed Ezekiel, last week, I moved on to Daniel. Not that I worked very far through that book...I stopped on the very first chapter on the story of Daniel and his friends choosing to be fed vegetables and water over the royal food and wine offered to them and ended up healthier than their peers at the royal table.

Reading: Daniel 1

Meditation: One could read this story from a literal point of view or from a metaphorical point of view. I read it from both.http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

Likely in the days of Daniel, medicine was not advanced enoughttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifh to know the value of fruits and vegetables over red meat and more popular foods. So, it is interesting to read that somehow Daniel trusted to plain food associated with a simple life. Today we would not be surprised to find that as a result Daniel and his companions were healthier than those who opted for the foods that were high in fat and cholesterol.

Similarly, one might look at a "simple" life versus a "royal" life. While riches (like royal food) might be "tasty" (attractive), they are not spiritually healthy for us -- as we are frequently told throughout the Bible, especially by Jesus in the gospels; simplicity and poverty (like vegetables), as those who have followed in the path of St. Francis and others like him have learned, are healthier.

So, I guess the take-away is what our mothers have always told us. We need to eat our vegetables!

Contemplation: That is far as I can go with you this Monday morning. I now retire to private prayer to praise God for demonstrating to us and telling us in so many ways throughout history that we should concentrate on eating our vegetables and not on the fancier fare of life. I will thank God for giving us vegetables, and I will ask forgiveness for those times that I have bypassed the vegetables and reached for the cordon bleu. I will also ask God to continue to guide me in the decisions I have to make on a daily basis on how simple or complex I make my life. Then I will move on to contemplation, my favorite part of the day, letting God take over the direction in which my relationship with Him moves.

I will leave you now to your prayer and contemplation. First, though, I would like to bring to your attention a Monday morning prayer post that you might enjoy:

Fr. Austin Fleming, priest of the Archdiocese of Boston and pastor in Concord, Massachusetts, posts a prayer each Monday morning that he calls "Monday Morning Offering." I enjoy his prayers very much. I think you also will find them inspirational. He has graciously given me permission to include a link to his blog on my Monday Morning Meditation posts. (During the week, he also posts great homilies and other thoughtful discussions. I enjoy reading those, too, as do readers of this blog who have taken the stroll over to his blog.)

For additional inspiration throughout the week, I would point out two sets of blogs: (1) the list of devotional blogs on my sidebar and (2) my blogroll, where I am following a number of inspirational priests and writers about spiritual matters. I learn so very much from all these people. I highly recommend them to you.

Monday Morning Meditation #44: When God Requires Something from Us, He Always Provides the Resources

Well, I continued on last week, but I was unable to post anything. Many apologies if you came here, looking for the MMM. The Internet went down in the hotel where we were staying, and we had to check out for our trip back to California from Ohio before the Internet went back up. So, my MMM was an alone time. This week, I finished reading I Chronicles. At the very end, my eye and mind caught onto the story of Solomon being selected for the task of building a temple for the Ark of the Covenant and Solomon being young and inexperienced. Solomon did not have the skills or resources for the task. David, knowing this, gave splendidly to the building of the temple. Yet, it was not enough. So, he turned to the people and asked the people of Israel, upon which "the leaders of families, the officers of the tribes of Israel, the commanders of thousands and commanders of hundreds, and the officials in charge of the king's work gave willingly."

Reading: I Chronicles 29: 1-9.

Meditation: I have noticed as I read through various Bible stories that God appears to have a habit of picking the most unlikely people to carry out his missions and tasks. They are often people without any desire to have the task and/or lacking skills for the task. They are also often people who lack the resources for the task. That is where trust comes into the picture.

I have been asked on several occasions to perform a task or give support to an undertaking. I have written about several of them in my various blogs. With tasks, I have usually felt that I lacked the skills, as in when I was told to take on a modern-day Goliath or to write a tome. I even usually argue with God initially, but we all know where those kinds of arguments have historically ended. So, I don't know why I react that way. My second "initial" reaction is to comply. Over time, I have stopped worrying about whether I have the resources, knowledge, or skills for the task because each time all of those things, as needed, have always appeared.

The appearance of resources, especially, has been marvelous to observe: one modern story of the fishes and loaves after another. For example, a remarkable example, I was asked to contribute to the rebuilding of our local St. Francis Retreat Center, which had burned down as a result of old, faulty wiring. For its director, Fr. Terry, rebuilding the center was reminiscent of what Solomon experienced in building the temple except that Solomon was too young for this sort of thing and at 80+ one would think that Fr. Terry might be a tad old for it -- unless you know him. There was no money for this, but the money came from all over. I had been making a small but regular contribution, simply turning over my book royalties to the center, when Fr. Terry, somewhat reluctantly and at the urging of the fund-raising committee, asked me if I could make a pledge, as opposed to regular donations. That way, a local bank would lend the funds upfront. Now, a pledge is a commitment; donations are not. So, I prayed about it, and I prayed about the amount. Into my hands at that point fell a note that there were still no funds for the kitchen, which cost close to half my annual salary. I could not believe that God would really want me to commit to this amount of money, but it became clear that He did. So, I did, relying on Him to find the money for me. The pledge clearly shocked both Fr. Terry and the fund-raising committee because they do know I do not have that kind of money, not now and not spread out over the five years of the pledge period. I have not worried, however, because where God asks something of me, He always provides the resources. This instance is no different. Extra money has fallen into my hands from higher royalties than anticipated from my various books, a large return on my taxes, per diem that I have not needed on business travel, merit pay bonuses, and, finally, overwhelmingly surprising to me, a whopping 125% pay raise that has more than covered the pledge amount, which will allow me to pay off the pledge in considerably less than five years. Yes, indeed, when God requires something, He will for sure provide the resources needed. We have no need to fear or worry -- and I don't.

That is far as I can go with you this Monday morning. I must retire to private prayer to thank God for always, always providing for me, to praise Him for the marvelous surprises He provides for me in that respect, to repent for each time that it took a second initial response (and not a first and immediate response) for me to acquiesce to whatever task God has set before me (Why, oh why, am I so contrary at times?), and to ask Him never to give up on asking me and tasking me in spite of my contrariness because deep down I am always willing to take on the tasking (I suppose God knows that). Now I retire to spend as much time as I can in contemplation, my favorite part of the day, letting God take over the direction in which my relationship with Him moves.

I will leave you to your prayer and contemplation, but first, I would like to bring to your attention a Monday morning prayer post that you might enjoy:

Fr. Austin Fleming, priest of the Archdiocese of Boston and pastor in Concord, Massachusetts, posts a prayer each Monday morning that he calls "Monday Morning Offering." I enjoy his prayers very much. I hope you also will find them inspirational. He has graciously given me permission to include a link to his blog on my Monday Morning Meditation posts.

For additional inspiration throughout the week, I would point out two sets of blogs: (1) the list of devotional blogs that follow the enumeration of Monday Morning Meditations on the sidebar of this blog and (2) my blogroll, where I am following a number of inspirational priests and writers about spiritual matters. I learn so very much from all these people. I highly recommend them to you.