I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.   ( Ezekiel 36:26)

Life-changing Institutions

   Our family is playing a game. The name of the game is Find a Suitable College for your Child. The object of the game is to find the most excellent education for the least amount of money in an environment that "feels" comfortable and welcoming to your precious progeny. This is a difficult game with very high stakes. If you succeed admirably, the child is placed on a strong foundation and you are tickled pink with contentment. If you fail outrageously, you risk the preposterous extremes of emotionally scarring your child for life...or going to the poor house...or both. Fortunately and unfortunately, there is a dizzying amount of information available to help you play this game. One source of help is a book that has been kicking around for about 15 years called, "Colleges That Change Lives: 40 schools that will make you change the way you think about colleges" by Loren Pope. Mr. Pope's assertion is that there are small, private liberal arts colleges begging for good students that will change your child's life by providing:
       A. Excellent student-teacher relationships;
       B. Service to the community;
       C. Emphasis on values and growth.
   As I read this book, it occurred to me that I also belong to an organization that promotes excellent student-teacher relationships, along with service to the community, along with an emphasis on values and growth...and is in every way capable of changing lives: My church.
   And yet, despite my baptism and my regular participation in the Holy Supper and my hearing of the Word, many times I do not feel overwhelmingly changed. I want so badly to represent Christ on earth but the fruits of the Spirit (...love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Galatians 5:22) are like so many ping pong balls bouncing around in the lottery-draw of my consciousness. Some lowlights of my existence are: I am judgmental and critical of everything; I get very grumpy when I am tired or my back hurts; I appear cold and insensitive at times when kindness is absolutely required. Why am I such a jerk...still? I know I have a sinful nature but I thought these were supposed to be the years when I kindle wisdom. Is my heart getting gnarled and leathery like the skin just below my knees and elbows? Do I need a spectacular event, such as being struck blind on the road to Damascus, or being visited on Christmas Eve by four different ghosts that would terrorize me down to my corpuscles so that white hair sprouts instantly from my ear lobes in abject horror?
   No.
   I need to know Christ better. The church is an institution created by God to help us find our Way. The Christian faith is a maturation process, slow and progressive, sometimes interrupted by doubt and dawdling. Few of us can point to an exact moment when our convictions flipped unalterably and we steamed forward towards a completely righteous life. My baptism secured a place; the Holy Supper remits my sins; and the daily exposure to the Word are all extremely important to the on-going process; but my church serves as an excellent supplement by affording me many opportunities for service, many resources for devotion, and a complete support network for worship and praise in times of fear or vacillation. (We "Carry each other's burdens..." Galatians 6:2). And as my faith develops, the natural extension is for others to be converted in whatever small wake I may create: Individuals changing individuals; communities changing communities; nations changing nations. With all due respect to the Pope (Loren, that is), the Christian church is truly a life-changing institution.

Dear Heavenly Father,
   I know that in Christ I am "a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" (2 Corinthians 5:17). As clay in your hands, use your church and any other means necessary to break my heart of stone and change my life. Amen

Contributed by Donald
Sunday July 18, 2010
Week 34 of Liturgical Year C
Sunday Gospel reading:
Lectionary 16 (Proper 11)
Eighth Sunday after Pentecost