Grow Well Where Others Will Not

When in the Middle East, eating dates comes into mind. Two interesting facts about dates:

(1) "The date palm is a very salt tolerant tree and will grow well in alkaline soils where other plants will not. They are sometimes irrigated with ocean water ... (2) Date palms are like giant solar collectors. They require at least 100 sunny days of 100 degrees for best fruit production. Over the 7 month growing season, which includes Summer, they store the intense energy of the desert in their fruit." (datepeople.net)

We can learn some lessons from dates. We can learn to "grow well where others will not" and we can "store intense energy".

Many of us are exposed to an environment where our Christianity is persecuted and mocked: places where corruption is a norm -- using words like "S.O.P (It's Standard Operating Procedure)" as a "gentle and justified way" to practice corruption; where cheating (especially amongst classmates) is considered being a true friend; where pre-marital sex is "okay" and those practicing chastity are ridiculed; where keeping your job means doing the illegal; and many more instances where many just succumb to the temptations of "practicality." In these situations, we are reminded by Mark 8:36: "What profit is there for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?". Let us decided to uphold our Christianity even when difficult; to bear fruit where we are planted by God by spreading His Gospel. Grow well where others will not.  How do we thrive in a "non-Christian" environment? We must absorb and store the intense energy of the Holy Spirit.  Through prayer and God's grace in the power of the of the Holy Spirit -- we can "collect energy" to be able to ward off temptations and have the strength to be true witnesses in word and in deed.

1. Describe your work/school environment. What are situations where you are "forced' to compromise your Christianity?

2. How can you improve your time of prayer to have the spiritual energy to battle these situations?

Growing Spiritually

A priest explained in his homily, "If you know it is sin, and you still deliberately commit it, then you have not gone beyond Grade 1 in your spirituality." The challenge was strong and even shocking, but true.  How can we grow in our spirituality if we lack the discipline and self control to resist temptation?

God is a forgiving god and He loves us immensely. He will always forgive our sins. But I think we should not abuse His kindness, for if we do, it will be to our detriment. We reflect on the Act of Contrition:

O my God,

I am heartily sorry for

having offended Thee,

and I detest all my sins,

because I dread the loss of heaven,

and the pains of hell;

but most of all because

they offend Thee, my God,

Who are all good and

deserving of all my love.

I firmly resolve,

with the help of Thy grace,

to confess my sins,

to do penance,

and to amend my life.

Amen.

I have a long way to go Oh Lord, give me strength to overcome. Help me to amend my life so I may glorify you  in my thoughts and deeds. Allow me to grow in knowing You and loving You. Amen.

Dare To Trust

To trust is not as simple as it sounds. Trusting is an act of faith.  It involves risk.  But in exchange of the risk we take in trusting others, there is a heightened sense of empowerment for the entrusted.  Jesus exemplified this when he said, "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father (John 14:12)."


The same is said in one of General Patton's quotations:

 Once in Sicily, I told a general who was somewhat reluctant to attack that i had perfect confidence in him. To show it, I went home.
Never tell people what to do, and they will surprise you with their ingenuity. (General George S. Patton)


Imagine. God entrusts us fully to continue the work He started. He even went home to His Father.  Whether at home or at work, how do we build trust with the people God gave us under our leadership?


T - Train with them
To give someone such a big responsibility without preparation or adequate training is like letting your friend pilot an airplane without going to flying school. It's bound to crash. With the training comes the discipline and expectation. With this you are positioning them to be trustworthy.


R - Respect their gifts
Each of us are endowed with talents.  By acknowledging a person's strength and matching it to the right task will help build up confidence.  By respecting their God-given gifts, they will do better than expected.

U - Understand their situation
Genuine empathy will help them realize that you care.  As John Maxwell says, "They don't care how much you know, until they know how much you care."  To doubt the validity of their reasons for being absent or failing to deliver is an indicator of a weak foundation of mutual trust.

S - Space to grow
Give them room to initiate and innovate. If you are there to meddle at every step of the way, they won't feel that they have achieved something.  Without creative space, there is no true empowerment.  A smaller tree cannot grow under the shade of a bigger tree.  Trees are planted at a distance from each other so they can have sufficient sunlight and water.


T - Time for bonding
The more time you spend with the people you trust or hope to trust, the deeper will be the foundations of trust.  Time is also about attention.  It makes the other person feel important and listened to. Trust is built over time. Recall a person you trust.  Your cherished memory of this person will most likely be your times of bonding.


More than 2,000 years after Christ's death, through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit, Christianity continues to grow because the He entrusted to us His mission to "Go therefore and make disciples of all nations... (Matthew 28:19)."  He also said, "As the Father sent me so I send you (John 20:21)."


Jesus trusted His apostles like no other.  Although some of them betrayed Him, His love for them remained unchanged. Let us dare to trust like Jesus trusts.