Sanctification Is A Process
Give Respect And Expect Respect
As lengthy as was the previous blog, In The World But Not Of The World, today's article regarding respect is considerably shorter.
Coming to a respect for God first, which is the up and down relationship of God and us, can be said to be the vertical beam of the cross. With that vertical beam firmly established, interacting with others will generally work well. These interactions are the horizontal beam of ‘the cross.’ Keeping this idea in mind, we will better understand the term: ‘pick up the cross and carry it,’ with He who dwells in us. We will always have our cross to carry as long as the flesh is part of us, for we are In The World, But Not Of The World.
One of the attributes of being respectful is having a quiet yet friendly nature. Such a quality gives God His 'due' that He is the Supreme Being, and we are His humble servants, doing or speaking as He so calls us to do.
When respect for God is first, there is no need to seek or demand respect from humanity. We will be humble and happy in feeling His love for us. The Anyway poem by St. Theresa of Calcutta says it best: the good we get to do is between God and us and not between ‘the world’ and us.
No matter what faith in practice one belongs to, we will know one another by the ‘fruit’ of God’s spirit, aka virtue, which the practice of worshipping THE God produces: charity, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, longsuffering, meekness aka gentleness, faith, modesty, self-control, and chastity. Where such authentic love for others is, which at times says NO towards actions not as the spirit of God, there is a soul ONE with the universal faith of God!
What ‘the world’ needs to see is respect FOR GOD first. With that, America can again say we are ‘one nation under God’ and the grace (favor) of God will return.
If peace and respect is not returned to you, shake the dust from the sandals of such place.
About the Author
Born and baptized in infancy into the Catholic Church, I have always been a practicing Catholic, living the gift of faith in God, with wisdom now understanding such living does take ‘lots of practice.’ For me, over 45 years worth of practice -- and that is as much as I will say about my chronological age. Please note by this introduction that I do enjoy lighthearted humor, which led to my 'call' to pursue the vocation of cartoon illustration. Such vocation is a very competitive field yet I do feel God directed my steps to both earning my daily bread and honing the illustration ability via the field of pre-press print production in such areas as community newspapers, retail advertising print production, and small print shop laying out text and image to be visually appealing.
From the repetitively doing of the graphic artwork of pre-press production, I came to realize that I can not only write with a picture (cartoon) but I can draw with words. What also came to be through the daily, dutiful, and disciplined service work for a living was the ever growing knowledge of my Catholic faith, as I persevered in 'offering up,' best I understood that, at each stage and age of my life, as I attended Catholic Mass weekly, and later in life daily Mass. Indeed the work-a-day world takes a lot of endurance and I found that attending daily Mass before going to the daily job in a print shop gave me an amazing 'strength' and 'endurance.'
I hope the articles I write for Catholic365.com are down-to-earth and fun, and that I have helped others to understand how special the Catholic faith practice is, and the grace that comes through the Catholic Church.
