Teach Me Your Ways O Lord

We are Christians, followers of Christ and in the biblical sense, followers of Christ are disciples. We live the reality that it is Christ who calls us and we are here because we have answered that call. We have come to believe and see and our coming and believing lead us to transformation.

We believe that the teachings and life of Christ are the best way to live and in here we become who God intends us to be – to become the best version of ourselves. To become the best not as the world sees us with its own secular standards of being “best” but to become the best as God sees us.

In our culture today that puts emphasis on appearance and entertainment. We have come to realize that we are lacking and seeing the shortage of spiritual heroes or models.

The models that our culture exults are those who have achieved their American and/or Canadian dreams. That the summit of all our dreams seem to be based on the success in one’s profession or their financial lives. Most people will work tirelessly to be able to afford their dream house, land their dream job and buy a new car every year only to find out that 
after reaching one dream to the other - that we are still lacking.

This could probably be summed up with what St. Augustine has said – “our hearts are restless until they rest in God.” Because deep inside us, we yearn for love and to be loved and our true longing is to belong to God and feel the blessings of being his child.

This should be our ultimate dream – our heavenly dream? Have we not dreamed of going to heaven and be with God for eternity? If we understand these questions, it should lead us to shift our focus and make that the ultimate goal of our life.

Each year, we are given a symbolic opportunity to mark the passing of the old and the beginning of a new better life. But the renewal of one’s self and the growth of our character do not happen with the change of calendar year. They require acknowledgment that there is something wrong with our philosophies or our understanding on how life should be lived. They require a decision to change those ways and return to God. To realize that all this time - I have been dreaming the wrong dream.

This year, starting today, we can decide to do something new. Whether we’ve ever done it before or not, we can set ourselves to becoming what God intended us to be. If we follow the teachings of Christ, if we embody the character qualities, the virtues, that he laid out for us, and if we make the Kingdom of God our primary goal, then with the help of the Holy Spirit we will move toward fulfilling the nature that God created in us. We will flourish. We will be happy. Because we will have learned that happiness itself is not the goal but is a side effect of the goal that God set for each of us.

In the great commission, Jesus asked all of us to go to the ends of the earth – not as theologians or bible scholars – but to be a witness. People want to see someone. Gandhi, when asked why he did not become a Christian, his answer was “I did not meet one!” I know by experience that the presence of God in our innermost interior calls us to move beyond the surface of our humanity. We need to learn to listen and have the courage to respond.

Be a witness!