Can you imagine how uncomfortable life would be if you had to live without access to the basic necessities in life? Imagine that day after day you did not having access to a bathroom for basic hygiene, or access to a kitchen for food, or access to a bed for rest, or access to a home for shelter… imagine not being able to do so many simple things that you take for granted every day like being able to go and use a bathroom when you need to, having toilet paper to clean yourself when you are done.. not having access to soap and water to wash your hands after using the restroom or before eating… not having access to a shower and soap and shampoo and a clean towel every day… not being able to use a tooth brush and tooth paste; being able to put on clean clothes every day… imagine not being able to do these very basic things because you don’t have them?
Imagine being hungry and not having a refrigerator to go and stand in front of for several minutes searching for a snack… forget about a snack, imagine being hungry and not having more than half a meal a day… or having to tell your child that you don’t have any food…
Imagine not having a roof over your head and a door to close and lock when it’s time for sleep… imagine not having a bed and pillow and blanket to go to sleep with…
Imagine waking up in the dark after a nightmare and not even being able to turn a light on… Imagine the nightmares you would surely have night after night…
There is so much more that I could ask you to imagine… but for thousands of adults and children in Fresno they don’t have to imagine these things, they live with them each and every day… just imagine…
These struggles happen each and every day all around us yet we don’t see it. Instead we focus on things like the type of car we drive, how many toys we have in the garage, how large our flat screen TV is (and how many we have), what restaurant we want to go to tonight, whether or not we have an xbox or ps3 or iphone or a host of other “stuff”. And we focus way to often on “stuff” that we don’t have or need, but that we want… we usually say things like “I need that” or "I deserve that" or "I've gotta have that" or "I can't wait to get that"... Imagine that…
Why do we, who have so much, who are blessed in so many way, go through life being anxious about the “stuff” we have or don’t have?
We all need to listen to, and learn from, the words of our Lord Jesus; “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. “Therefore do not be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will be anxious for itself. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble.” Matthew 6: 25-34.
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This Friday (March 12) our Youth Group will begin a 7-session study based on the movie To Save A Life that the group went to see in February. All are welcome to participate in this fantastic study program which will be led by Josh Metry. Remember: The Youth Group meets from 6-9pm and supper is provided. See you there!
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This morning I came across the Youth of the Anglican Church in North America (“YACNA”) website. The address is http://www.yacna.org/ . I recommend that you check it out when you have time.
The Anglican Church in North America (“ACNA”) is the ‘Province’ that Saint Mary’s is part of. What does that mean? Well Saint Mary’s Anglican Church in Fresno, CA is a parish (a Parish = a Congregation or a Church Family led by a priest) that along with 40 or so other parishes makes up a diocese (a Diocese = a Group of Parishes or a Network of Congregations led by a bishop). Our diocese is called The Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin, and our bishop is Bp. John-David Schofield. The Anglican Diocese of San Joaquin, along with 28 other diocese that total about 800 parishes across North America, all make up our Province (a Province = a group of Diocese led by an Archbishop). And our province connects us to the larger extended family of about 77 million Anglicans in other provinces all around the world which connects us to the even larger family of 2.1 billion Christians living on planet Earth!
Blessings,
Fr. Michael+
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