Thursday May 8, 2014
Reflection
Surprise, surprise. When I was a young child I wasn't always well behaved. At times, when I became overly rambunctious, my mother would give me the look and say, "Don't provoke me!" When I would sometimes argue with my brother or sisters and I knew that I was to blame, I would sometimes use the excuse, "yeah but he/she provoked me!" These days we hear in the news how Russia is "provoking" the world community through its incursion into the Crimean peninsula. The word provoke carries with it many negative connotations. But we can also "provoke one another to love and good deeds."
We provoke others to love and good deeds when we first provoke ourselves to kindness and charity in our thoughts, word and deeds. Mother Teresa who provoked love and goodness throughout her life once said, “I believe in person to person. Every person is Christ for me, and since there is only one Jesus, that person is the one person in the world at that moment. I see Christ in every person I touch, it is as simple as that.” When we become negatively reactive, we incite others to return in kind. But when we view, treat and receive others as an alter Christus, another Christ, we engender or provoke the best in us and in them. It's a challenge that we face everyday.
Perhaps today we can resolve to try to live in open provocation of love and goodness in all whom we encounter. And, when we fail, we can provoke God's boundless mercy and forgiveness by remembering to forgive others as well. Whatever happens in the heart is the beginning of a revolution. Go ahead; openly provoke!
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