I have been thinking about Galatians 1 11-24.The verse is considered seminal because Paul clearly defends and justifies his ministry and teaching authority. He states that the Gospel he proclaims came directly from Jesus Christ and not from any man.


Consider how different the revelation to Paul was than it was for the rest of us. We hear the word proclaimed from other humans from texts written down by other humans, all of which has been handed down to us over time. While the other apostles witnessed the ministry of Christ, it was revealed to Paul directly by the Lord. We would have expected that Paul would have learned about the faith like everyone else did – from eye witness accounts passed along person to person in story form. God, once again, confounds our expectations by reaching out directly to Paul.

What does that mean to us? It means that what Paul taught us about how be Christians was revealed directly to him by God. There is no other way he could have learned as much he needed to know to nurture the early church. The Gospels define what our faith is but Paul taught us how to live it. The early Christian Church needed Paul to guide the way.

More on humility

Chapter 7 versus 31-33: The second step of humility is that one does not love one’s will…


The constant struggle I face is to discern God’s will and how to separate it out from I am projecting out of my own selfish wants and needs that get me headed down the wrong path. The only thing that I figured out so far is that if what I am called to do works to the benefit of others before it works to my own- if it ever does - it is probably something that comes from God. The caveat is that I can’t just assume that is the case if what I really looking for is the secondary gain from the accolades and praise that can be the reward for service to others. Actually, the bigger struggle is to remember to step and sit quietly to ask for the Lord to reveal himself to me.

On Obedience

From chapter V on obedience:

This obedience, however, will be acceptable to God and agreeable to men then only, if what is commanded is done without hesitation, delay, lukewarmness, grumbling or complaint, because the obedience which is rendered to Superiors is rendered to God.

I continue to struggle with the idea of obedience. There are times when I really look forward to retirement – not just so I don’t have to work but so I no longer have to answer to any kind of superior. Fortunately modern business environments don’t function with the same kind of command and control mentality as they did when I first started in business and our management culture is more steeped in problem solving and empowerment than a strict adherence to rules. Even so the thought of following orders can give me heartburn. For me, there is even worse news. Not only are we challenged to not only do what is commanded but to also be compliant, according Norvene Vest. I feel like I am being told to eat dirt and be glad I have it to eat. This is nothing new for me. Even when I owned my own business, I was still not my own boss. Our clients were the real bosses. Why is obedience such an issue? I was not raised in an authoritative home where rules were strictly enforced but at times I sure act like I was. The real issue is that to obey means that we have to convince our egos to yield. In my case, your response to me should be, “Good luck with that.”

From St. Peter Canisius:

From St. Peter Canisius:


“I received a promise from you of a garment made of three parts: these were to cover my soul in its nakedness, …. They were peace, love and perseverance.

I think first of Adam being afraid in the garden when he realized that he naked. While God has not restored us to our pre-fall state, He has through his grace offered to cover our souls with a garment of his design. In my mind this garment is named courage. It is courage that Adam needed when confronted with his nakedness. He needed to courage to accept responsibility for his part in the fall and not just blame Eve, who, in turn, blamed the serpent. When we are clothed with the garment described by St. Peter we find courage to draw closer in to another who is hurting and needs out comfort. It brings the courage to answer anger with softness. The garment gives us courage to face the moments we feel alone or are feel we are lost. It brings us courage to offer amends when we have caused harmed to others. A small child does not know why a favorite blanket can calm fears, ward off the cold, and feel comfort. As adults we know the gifts that come with faith in a God who will cover our every need with garment made of peace, love and perseverance.

Webs and threads

We exist in a web of relationships - links to nature, people, God. We can trace out these links, giving thanks for the life that flows through them. Some links are twisted or broken: we may feel regret, anger, and disappointment. We can pray for the gift of acceptance and forgiveness. We pray that have the strength and wisdom to re-knit broken threads that connect us together in a the tapestry we call life.

Christ as mine with may treasures.

St. John of the Cross describes Christ as being a rich mine with many pockets that contain treasures, so many treasures we can never dig them all up. This is fascinating imagery that is far different from many of the other more common images used to depict the essence of our Lord. The next step in the imagery is that we can’t just reach in a pluck out a juicy plum. We have to suffer for it first. Rarely are the finest of gems just found lying on the surface waiting for us to pick them up and head off to the assay office. We have to dig for them. We have to sweat, get tired, run out of breath and get discouraged before we find the best stuff. I wonder sometimes if we have to suffer before we can truly recognize the value of the treasure we uncover when we finally begin to prefer nothing to Christ.