Sherry Sterling
Dear friends,
Growing up, I liked school and learned how to be good at it. I’m comfortable in the world of ideas. And somehow along the way I struggled with perfectionism, which hampered my taking action, because, well, I wanted to do it right.
The gospel reading for today challenges me that Jesus’ teachings are not just good ideas, they’re meant to be put into practice, to shape both our inner and outer worlds, moving our motivations and affecting our actions.
Jesus points out that, like a tree brings forth fruit based on what kind of tree it is, people’s actions show what’s in their heart. And that a house (life) built on a deep foundation of putting into practice Jesus’ teachings will stand when the challenges come.
“But the one who hears my words and does not put them into practice is like a man who built a house on the ground without a foundation. The moment the torrent struck that house, it collapsed and its destruction was complete” (Luke 6: 49).
These parables teach us that the Christian life is not so much about what we learn or know, but rather what we do because of what we learn and know. It’s about moving and being moved. Taking action.
And that doesn’t mean a pursuit of perfection.
For Saint Philip’s Sowing Circle book group, I’ve been reading Episcopal Bishop of Washington Mariann Edgar Budde’s book, How We Learn to be Brave. She writes about the decisive moments when we’re called to take action, even when we don’t feel or think we’re up to it.
She recounts an experience of despair and the pull to sink deeper in it, then remembering that a neighbor was organizing a yard giveaway, and following that invitation. “Simply being in a community that was practicing love raised me out of my crippling sadness to a space of gratitude.”
She compares it to God using Jacob, despite himself: “God doesn’t excuse, condone, or seem bothered by Jacob’s past. God merely picks him up out of his morass and set him on a different path, giving him something worthy to do” (p. 126).
“Whenever it happens, I am, like Jacob, grateful for God’s willingness to work through my imperfections. It’s not a matter of being good enough for God or anyone else, but of answering the summons that beckons us on” (p. 128).
I pray to notice what beckons me today. And to answer that summons.
Peace and love,
—Sherry