Holy Work

I am now well into day two of a three day fast.

Yesterday, as hunger gnawed in my belly, I thought of Christ . I imagined Him being betrayed. I imagined the chaos of the moment when He was taken in the garden of Gethsemane; and as my inner eye imagined the bloodied Christ silent before his accusers, my own rumbling innards quieted.

This was a miracle of sorts, for me anyway.

Several friends know that I am fasting over this holy weekend, and they have given me prayer requests.

I cannot help but feel that these requests are like precious gems. They are priceless bits of each persons hurt and hope. They burn in my heart, and I find myself taking each one out, one by one, over and over. As I do, I cradle each request gently in my shaking hands. I whisper words of love and then I hold it up in the light of God's grace and I offer it all to Him.

This is not a contest to see how long I can deny myself food before cracking. Nor is my prayer a contest to see how many intercessory prayers I can rack up and breathe out into the universe. No, I think for the very first time, I sense that this process of self-emptying and praying is holy work.

Holy work in which I am more tool than master.

It is a mystery to which I say "Yes!"

"Yes Lord, use me!"

This is the same cry I imagine Christ offering God that awful morning when the weight of all that He was about to undertake nearly crushed Him.

"Take this cup from me" Christ pleaded.

....and as He anguished and sweat drops of blood, Christ prayed.

.......and then Christ, the living mystery of love incarnate, whispered "Yes!"

He said yes to God's holy work.

....and the rest is history.

God's history. An eternal, timeless history that includes all that has ever been and all that ever will be.

And through it all, Christ has been there and is still there, pursuing each one of us with His relentless love....

And so now I must ask you, what's stopping you from saying "yes" to God's holy love?