Monday Morning Meditation #80

I missed posting last week because I was in the middle of a technological nightmare. I had landed in Yorktown, Virginia and was awaiting a colleague to arrive who is more skilled at technology than I am since everything I had touched last weekend had fallen apart -- including my blackberry, which meant I could not communicate with anyone at work except by laptop (i.e. when I was somewhere where I could use the big, clunky thing, which I guess I will have to carry around everywhere with me now). I can use my iPhone for getting personal email, but business email is supposed to come via our vpn and blackberries. Oh, well, I settled in and started preparing for my Tuesday presentation at a major conference with nearly 200 people in my "individualized" training session. Oh, the topic? The advantages of using technology in training!!!!!! (Long story short: the techies helped out, the computers and Internet worked, and the presentation was a smashing success.)

At least, reading Jeremiah draws me away from my tech woes, which continue at a very different level this week back at work in my California office. No tech in Jeremiah's life! Ah, to return to such a lifestyle. On the other hand, no way would I want to have been Jeremiah. All those negative messages he had to deliver...!

One of the many messages delivered by Jeremiah that I read this week was one that struck home big time:

“Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness,
his upper rooms by injustice,
making his own people work for nothing,
not paying them for their labor.

Reading: Jeremiah 22:13

Meditation: I once worked, not all that long ago, for an Egyptian mogul who called himself Dr. Abdullah. I say "called himself" because he held only a bachelor's degree. However, thanks to infusing large amounts of money into various educational institutions with which he formed partnerships that provided him with immense profit (yet was able to maintain accreditation and non-profit status because the institutions themselves were accredited). Because the institutions were located in the Middle East and American accreditors were afraid to travel so close to war zones and anti-American areas, they simply extended the accreditation of the home institution to the Middle Eastern campus without nary a visit. Dr. Abdullah happily provided all the paperwork requested although little of it reflected the reality.

I was thrown into that mix when I was hired as a senior administrator. I watched in alarm and sadness as Dr. Abdullah, prone to tantrums, would, for no apparent reason fire one person or another who crossed him, usually inadvertently. As for paying a fair wage -- the unfair wages Dr. Abdullah paid were a minor problem compared to the fact that sometimes he made faculty wait 3-4 months to receive their pay. That was one area in which I took him on -- and won -- when I arrived.

Another area, in which I quickly became embroiled, was the fact that no bookstore would order books for our students because Dr. Abdullah owed them so much money. Although he seemed to be rolling in dough, to use the popular expression, and was, at least, living high on the hog, to use another, he simply did not pay his creditors, moving from one to another until finally, in the case of books, he ran out of any store willing to serve our students. The last semester I worked for Dr. Abdullah as the senior administrator I purchased $30K worth of books for our students because no bookseller would give Dr. Abdullah credit. Dr. Abdullah promised to pay me back, but he never did. I ultimately gave up, writing him a letter, telling him that if his conscience ever poked him, he could give the money he owed me to a local charity for children that was desperately in need of funding. He never did; apparently, a conscience was not within him.

The verse in Jeremiah struck me because of a communication I received in relation to Dr. Abdullah. After I left his institution and moved on to better work, I would pray for him. I had no desire by then to be reimbursed or compensated for anything. I was simply concerned about his soul. If Jeremiah 22:13 is to be taken to heart, then Dr. Abdullah certainly needs prayer. However, one evening while praying for Dr. Abdullah, I heard the words, "Do not pray for that man."

Those words shocked me, and I had no idea how to respond. I never received any further clarification, but I did stop praying for him. I told a friend who is a pastor, and she said that she would pray for him instead of me. I have not heard from her whether she received any similar communication. Why would God not want me to pray for Dr. Abdullah? I have wondered about that for nearly five years. Now, reading what was said to Jeremiah, I am beginning to understand. Woe, I fear, awaits Dr. Abdullah. I feel terribly sorry for him although he is one of the richest people I know and seems to lack for nothing he wants in this life.

Contemplation: That is far as I can go with you this Monday morning. I now retire to private prayer to thank God for not granting me everything my family members or I might want, to promise to treat all God's people fairly, to repent for any time I have expected unfair "labor" (in the broadest sense of that word), and to ask for more opportunities to serve God and His people. 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 #79: Pay People Fairly

I have landed in Yorktown, Virginia and am awaiting a colleague to arrive who is more skilled at technology than I am since everything I have touched this weekend has fallen apart -- including my blackberry, which means I cannot communicate with anyone at work except by laptop (i.e. when I am somewhere where I can use the big, clunky thing, which I guess I will have to carry around everywhere with me now). I can use my iPhone for getting personal email, but business email is supposed to come via our vpn and blackberries. Oh, well, I am getting settled in and will start preparing for my Tuesday presentation at a major conference with nearly 200 people in my "individualized" training session. Oh, the topic? Use of technology in education and training!!!!!!

At least, reading Jeremiah draws me away from my tech woes. No tech there! Ah, to return to such a lifestyle. On the other hand, no way would I want to have been Jeremiah. All those negative messages he had to deliver...!

One of the many messages delivered by Jeremiah that I read this week was one that struck home big time:

“Woe to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness,
his upper rooms by injustice,
making his own people work for nothing,
not paying them for their labor.

Reading: Jeremiah 22:13

Meditation: I once worked, not all that long ago, for an Egyptian mogul who called himself Dr. Abdullah. I say "called himself" because he held only a bachelor's degree. However, thanks to infusing large amounts of money into various educational institutions with which he formed partnerships that provided him with immense profit (yet was able to maintain accreditation and non-profit status because the institutions themselves were accredited). Because the institutions were located in the Middle East and American accreditors were afraid to travel so close to war zones and anti-American areas, they simply extended the accreditation of the home institution to the Middle Eastern campus without nary a visit. Dr. Abdullah happily provided all the paperwork requested although little of it reflected the reality.

I was thrown into that mix when I was hired as a senior administrator. I watched in alarm and sadness as Dr. Abdullah, prone to tantrums, would, for no apparent reason fire one person or another who crossed him, usually inadvertently. As for paying a fair wage -- the unfair wages Dr. Abdullah paid were a minor problem compared to the fact that sometimes he made faculty wait 3-4 months to receive their pay. That was one area in which I took him on -- and won -- when I arrived.

Another area, in which I quickly became embroiled, was the fact that no bookstore would order books for our students because Dr. Abdullah owed them so much money. Although he seemed to be rolling in dough, to use the popular expression, and was, at least, living high on the hog, to use another, he simply did not pay his creditors, moving from one to another until finally, in the case of books, he ran out of any store willing to serve our students. The last semester I worked for Dr. Abdullah as the senior administrator I purchased $30K worth of books for our students because no bookseller would give Dr. Abdullah credit. Dr. Abdullah promised to pay me back, but he never did. I ultimately gave up, writing him a letter, telling him that if his conscience ever poked him, he could give the money he owed me to a local charity for children that was desperately in need of funding. He never did; apparently, a conscience was not within him.

The verse in Jeremiah struck me because of a communication I received in relation to Dr. Abdullah. After I left his institution and moved on to better work, I would pray for him. I had no desire by then to be reimbursed or compensated for anything. I was simply concerned about his soul. If Jeremiah 22:13 is to be taken to heart, then Dr. Abdullah certainly needs prayer. However, one evening while praying for Dr. Abdullah, I heard the words, "Do not pray for that man."

Those words shocked me, and I had no idea how to respond. I never received any further clarification, but I did stop praying for him. I told a friend who is a pastor, and she said that she would pray for him instead of me. I have not heard from her whether she received any similar communication. Why would God not want me to pray for Dr. Abdullah? I have wondered about that for nearly five years. Now, reading what was said to Jeremiah, I am beginning to understand. Woe, I fear, awaits Dr. Abdullah. I feel terribly sorry for him although he is one of the richest people I know and seems to lack for nothing he wants in this life.

Contemplation: That is far as I can go with you this Monday morning. I now retire to private prayer to thank God for not granting me everything my family members or I might want, to promise to treat all God's people fairly, to repent for any time I have expected unfair "labor" (in the broadest sense of that word), and to ask for more opportunities to serve God and His people. 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 #76: God Is Faithful

As I sat down to prepare this Monday morning's meditation, I noticed that I have not posted anything since last Monday in spite of having a computer at my beck and call now. There was, however, a small inconvenience that has made posting difficult: I fell at work (four-point splat in front of a couple dozen people) and injured my dominant hand. At first, it appeared to be broken, but the x-rays showed that not to be the case. It was just a really bad contusion, but it made my hand swell up beyond usefulness, accompanied by no strength that sidelined me and made me another workers' comp statistic. (The safety officer was among the witnesses.) It is still difficult to type, but this, too, shall pass. As for the Bible, I continued to read the Book of Jeremiah.

This week I spent time reading through the messages of Jeremiah 3. What stood out for me was the passage in which God says that He will not be angry with Israel (or, by analogy, with us) forever. All Israel has to do is confess her guilt for "I am faithful."

Reading: Jeremiah 3: 11-13.

Meditation: The first thing that came to my mind in reading this passage is the wonderful sacrament of reconciliation that I discovered in coming to faith and becoming Catholic. Of course, we can all repent and tell God directly that we are sorry for our unfaithfulness to Him. There is something seemingly more solemn and sacred when sharing the nature of the unfaithfulness with a servant of God, one of His priests. There is also the added benefit of getting some additional insight into the situations of our daily life that lead us astray. As many fellow penitents have said to me as we have stood in line, waiting our turn for confession, "This is the best therapy in the world -- and, to think, it is free!"

Our mission will be offering bilingual a reconciliation service tonight. As in past years, I anticipate that there will be only a few dozen of us there. There are many reasons that people offer for not taking advantage of the opportunity our parish gives us (among those being, of course, regular reconciliation hours during the week are also available). I am grateful that the parish continues to offer these services at Christmas and Easter (as well as weekly) in spite of low attendance for I want to do as God has asked: confess my guilt. Certainly, I am not without guilt as much as I would like to be guiltless.

Contemplation: That is far as I can go with you this Monday morning. I now retire to private prayer to prepare for reconciliation tonight. 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 #78: We Don't Need a Reason to Obey God

I hope you all had a beautiful, happy, and hopeful Easter. It is a bit difficult to return to the dark and despairing prophecies of Jeremiah after the joyful way in which the Easter triduum ends. Nonetheless, that is the reading in which I am soaked at the moment, both in my Bible Studies class and in my regular reading. Actually, I am not repelled by these prophecies; rather, I feel a good deal of compassion for Jeremiah. I can imagine how difficult being a prophet of God under such conditions was for him, given some of the difficult but far more modest taskings I have been given; yet, Jeremiah did as asked. In the chapter I read this morning, God told Jeremiah to buy a linen belt, put it around his waist, and not to let it touch water. Then God told him to take the belt to Perath, hide it there in a crevice in the rocks. After some time, God told Jeremiah to retrieve the belt. When Jeremiah did so, he found it ruined. Then God said:

"9 'In the same way I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem.
10 These wicked people, who refuse to listen to my words, who follow the stubbornness of their hearts and go after other gods to serve and worship them, will be like this belt—completely useless!
11 For as a belt is bound around the waist, so I bound all the people of Israel and all the people of Judah to me,’ declares the LORD, ‘to be my people for my renown and praise and honor. But they have not listened.’"

Reading: Jeremiah 13: 1-11.

Meditation: I can imagine how disconcerted with God's first, second, and third set of instructions Jeremiah might have been. Buy a belt, wear it, and keep it dry? Whatever for? Why a belt? What was the purpose of wearing it? But Jeremiah did not question; he simply bought and wore the belt. But then, take the belt to Perath and bury it? That was even more strange a command. Why should he do that? What was the purpose of burying the belt? Once again, though, as strange and senseless as the command may have seemed to be, Jeremiah did as asked. Ultimately, he did find out why God wanted him to do this. Not everyone does find out the reason, but the doing of the tasking is important whether or not we know why.

Some of you may know the story of how God told Beth Moore, when she was at an airport, to brush the hair of a man with straggly hair in a wheelchair. (If you have not read the story, you can find it here: Beth Moore's Airport OA...Revisited.) She did not want to do it, but she did do it. Just as Jeremiah did as asked, as have a number of other prophets, no matter how odd the request it sounded or how embarrassing or difficult for them -- and, the important thing in both the case of the linen belt (Jeremiah) and the hair brush (Moore), is that the request made no sense to them, but they did it, anyway, assuming/trusting that God had reasons that they did not need to know.

I have personally experienced this disconcernment when asked by God to do something that I have found to be awkward or embarrassing with no understandable reason as to why it should be do. Like Jeremiah and Moore, however, I have found myself doing as asked. In one of the more embarrassing taskings, I had to ask an employee by email about the condition of his soul! (Keep in mind that I work for an organization that insists on separation of work and religion.) Like Jeremiah and Moore, I had no idea why I was supposed to do this. Like both of them, in this case, I did find out the reason although there are times that I don't. I have learned that it is not important for me to know why God wants me to do something. It is only important that I do it. Developing a level of comfort with not knowing has taken many lessons from God. I am glad I was blessed with those lessons for now obedience alone brings me much pleasure.

Contemplation: That is far as I can go with you this Monday morning. I now retire to private prayer to thank God for entrusting me with one or another task, to promise to act without needing to know why, and to ask for more opportunities to serve God and His people. 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.