Friday, March 02, 2007

consequences and the natural order

I have a nice little quote on the sidebar of my blog, it goes like this...

"What you live with you learn..."
"What you learn you practice..."
"What you practice you become..."
"What you become has consqeuences..." -Father Peter D.

Man, how true is that? Today's Scripture reading Ezekiel 18 5:13 talks about consequences. It talks about the man who sins, lives in evil and wickedness then turns to living the "good life" and refrains from wickedness. This man shall "go on living," no more consequences. While the man who lives the good life then turns to sin and wickedness well, he shall not "go on living" and have grave consequences...

I believe this speaks to me as a recovering alcoholic. I lived a life of "not-so-goodness" for a long time. And yet, I have changed my ways a day at a time, have made peace with God and those whom I have harmed, including myself. And, lo and behold, my life is now without consequences from my wicked ways. Interestingly enough, I know in my heart of hearts that should I decide to go back to that lifestyle... you know what happens! It's the same for sinning or doing wrong in sobriety... everything has consequences. There is (I believe) a natural order to things and it's impossible to escape the consequences of not living rightly... of not following God's Will, not grasping His Grace and sharing it with those around us. Everything has a result, has consequences, or so I believe.

Prayer for today...

God/JC/HP, I pray that my continued belief in You and Your Will, my continued attempts to seek Your Will shall continue to give the consequence of continued sobriety, stronger faith, more peace and calm in my heart. I pray that I might be an agent who spreads this Good News to whomever I find who seeks it. I pray that I might live as an example of one who tries his best to grow close to You, to Love You unconditionally, whethere I am "getting my way" or not. I pray that today, I might accept my circumstances as they are, knowing that things are exactly as they ae supposed to be: a mix of consequences for my actions and thoughts; and a healthy dose of Your Grace. Thank You for this day.

peace be with you all...

11 comments:

lushgurl said...

Today I am reading such great stuff. Today I am also learning to live in love, faith and recovery...
All the best to you my friend
*HUGS*

ArahMan7 said...

Thank you for sharing, my friend.

This man shall "go on living," no more consequences.

Sunshine said...

and also with you!!!!

I do miss that greeting in the middle of the service, the hand shake, the warm welcome, the peace wishes shared......... I didn't feel it when I was younger and sure couldn't see it. I went back about 6 months ago, same ol' ritual, but BIG TIME different feeling for me. I'm glad you're digging it all! You ROCK!!! Have a great weekend!

GOOOOOD ol Rockytop... rockytop tennesseeeeee! said...

Very nice prayer... ;)

Anonymous said...

As always, a lovely prayer.
Peace,
Scout
P.S. you just pooped online as I am posting this ;-)

Anonymous said...

OMG! LOL! I meant POPPED online--not pooped! lol!

Redhead Gal said...

I'm sorry, I can't post a real comment after Scout's. ROTFL!!!!!

Anonymous said...

hehe... he said "pooped" :p


Consequences - boy do we love to try to dodge them. This is a great prayer and reflection - thanks for sharing it. :)

God bless and enjoy your day, Scott.

Mary Christine said...

Pooped. That is funny.

Yes, I am doing a commitment for Perpetual Adoration. It is so wonderful!

Unknown said...

Hey Scott,

Great meter and congrats on your 7lbs.

Love the music.

Yes every lil ol thing sure does have consequences. I have a lil cricket in my heart today.

Hope your weekend is wonderful.

G~

TitanThirteen said...

I'm reading about Nebakanedzar [i just know i spelt that wrong!] at the moment. He's a nutter that guy, and i can soooo relate!
I wish there was some sort of bible study out there regarding him.