Last week a bunch of relatives came to visit and only one, my uncle, remains, with a few more weeks of vacation time.
It was a treat to see them all and it set me to thinking about family and how the family is a microcosm of community, a diverse group of people living together.
I have three brothers and it is never ceases to amaze me just how different we are as people in terms of lifestyle and beliefs. We should not get along but we do, in some weird and wonderful fashion.
Then we have parents who drive us crazy with their idiosyncrasies, while we, in turn, cause them innumerable headaches and heartache.
We also have naggy, often stubborn grandparents who can be doting and lovable. Not least we have an extended family of cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews in whom we see an array of personalities that irk, frustrate yet make us laugh in parts.
What was God thinking when He put me in this family of crazy people? This is a thought that has crossed many a mind I am sure.
That we are in the families we are in is no accident. Thus the way to sainthood must surely be to accept our relatives and love them unconditionally. Certainly oceans of patience, forbearance, compassion and forgiveness are needed, while a spark of divine help does not hurt either.
As the saying goes, we can choose our friends, but not our relatives. This does not mean we choose to have nothing to do with them. We can, of course, choose that, but if we truly seek spiritual maturity, then turning to our families is the shortest route to holiness. Try putting up with a difficult and demanding parent or a brat of a child and you will understand what I mean.
The sad thing is most of us choose the easy option of making our friends our family, while keeping a safe distance from our true families.
Sure, friends are important and vital for our emotional and spiritual well-being, but most friendships are not deep enough or altruistic enough to proffer a life-giving candour and honesty that may be necessary at times.
Like how we may need a kick in the pants when we wander off the path and it is often a family member who can deliver a home truth we don't want to hear. Friends, even well-meaning ones, mostly do not overstep the boundaries that families trample all over in good and bad ways.
When families fall short of healthy, life-giving love, we are called to rise above our familial circumstances and shine the light of God's love and mercy in our families. This means forgiving seventy times seven times, and more, even if you feel like murdering someone. No one said it was going to be a walk in the park.
I believe the call to mission begins first within our own families. Not the easiest thing to accomplish for as Jesus commented, a prophet will always be rejected in his own hometown. But, I reckon, it is the most rewarding for when we see people we love prosper and thrive, basking in the sunshine of God's abundant love, we rejoice with them, even as we enjoy the warmth of His love ourselves.
We are in the families we are in for a reason. If we take up the gauntlet of living with and loving our family through the differences, creating peace and harmony in our homes, then the world will indeed become a better place. World peace will no longer be unattainable then.
Make time for your family.
It was a treat to see them all and it set me to thinking about family and how the family is a microcosm of community, a diverse group of people living together.
I have three brothers and it is never ceases to amaze me just how different we are as people in terms of lifestyle and beliefs. We should not get along but we do, in some weird and wonderful fashion.
Then we have parents who drive us crazy with their idiosyncrasies, while we, in turn, cause them innumerable headaches and heartache.
We also have naggy, often stubborn grandparents who can be doting and lovable. Not least we have an extended family of cousins, aunts, uncles, nieces and nephews in whom we see an array of personalities that irk, frustrate yet make us laugh in parts.
What was God thinking when He put me in this family of crazy people? This is a thought that has crossed many a mind I am sure.
That we are in the families we are in is no accident. Thus the way to sainthood must surely be to accept our relatives and love them unconditionally. Certainly oceans of patience, forbearance, compassion and forgiveness are needed, while a spark of divine help does not hurt either.
As the saying goes, we can choose our friends, but not our relatives. This does not mean we choose to have nothing to do with them. We can, of course, choose that, but if we truly seek spiritual maturity, then turning to our families is the shortest route to holiness. Try putting up with a difficult and demanding parent or a brat of a child and you will understand what I mean.
The sad thing is most of us choose the easy option of making our friends our family, while keeping a safe distance from our true families.
Sure, friends are important and vital for our emotional and spiritual well-being, but most friendships are not deep enough or altruistic enough to proffer a life-giving candour and honesty that may be necessary at times.
Like how we may need a kick in the pants when we wander off the path and it is often a family member who can deliver a home truth we don't want to hear. Friends, even well-meaning ones, mostly do not overstep the boundaries that families trample all over in good and bad ways.
When families fall short of healthy, life-giving love, we are called to rise above our familial circumstances and shine the light of God's love and mercy in our families. This means forgiving seventy times seven times, and more, even if you feel like murdering someone. No one said it was going to be a walk in the park.
I believe the call to mission begins first within our own families. Not the easiest thing to accomplish for as Jesus commented, a prophet will always be rejected in his own hometown. But, I reckon, it is the most rewarding for when we see people we love prosper and thrive, basking in the sunshine of God's abundant love, we rejoice with them, even as we enjoy the warmth of His love ourselves.
We are in the families we are in for a reason. If we take up the gauntlet of living with and loving our family through the differences, creating peace and harmony in our homes, then the world will indeed become a better place. World peace will no longer be unattainable then.
Make time for your family.
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