DIAMOND

 

Mariam felt disheartened. Her journey along life's path seemed never-ending, full of thorns instead of roses. Further, she experienced disrespect from others.

Rabbi Jesus told her, "They do not see the diamond beneath the stone.

For every insult and illness you suffer, you will receive a crown.

For every hardship, a blessing.

For every hard word, a gem.

For them all, a throne for eternity.

This is my promise to you. "

When we suffer difficulties, we need to look at the Savior and ask for the gift of strength. Below the surface of who we appear to be, is the reality of who we actually are. 

We start our spiritual life as uncut diamond in stone. The vagaries of life and God's work planes our inner self into precious gem. 

Our reward for a life well lived will be the greatest crown and throne of all - living in the Presence of God forever.

VILIFIED

 

Mariam was undergoing persecution for holding fast with regard to unpopular views.

She wept to the Rabbi, "I am hated and vilified wherever I go."

Rabbi Jesus answered her gently, "Yet you are the most treasured of all."

It is when we follow God's Way and subsequently are called harsh names, that we are most close to the Saviour Who was the most badly treated of all.

TRUE LOVE

 

Mariam saw a couple who had weathered the storms of life, yet still loved one another.

She said to the Rabbi, "They are ..."

The Master replied, "Two faithful hearts, beating as one."

True love never dies.

RABBONI - WRITTEN BY A JESUIT PRIEST

 

RABBONI

(Written by a Jesuit priest just before he expired.)

Rabboni, - when I am dying

How glad I shall be

That the lamp of my life

Has burned out for Thee.

That sorrow has darkened 

The path that I trod,

That thorns and not roses

Were strewn o'er the sod.

That anguish of spirit

So often was mine,

Since anguish of spirit

So often was Thine.

My cherished Rabboni,

How glad I shall be

That the lamp of my life

Has burned out for Thee.

(Holy Hour for a new people. Compiled by Rev. James F. Seculoff. Page 25)

HOME

 

Mariam had to move house and felt stressed at the need for relocation. 

Mariam stuttered to the Rabbi, "Home . . . "

Rabbi Jesus reassured her calmly, "Home is a state of heart."

Wherever you go, whatever roof (or none) you lay your head under to rest, you are always at home if you rest calm within the peace of the Lord.

DIFFERENT CULTURES

 

Mariam felt caught between two cultures. 

She told the Rabbi, "I was born to parents from two very different cultures. To which ethnicity do I really belong?"

Rabbi Jesus answered her, "Neither. You are a new creation in God."

Our true inheritance is not from human societal values; it is from our universal Father, God.

DECLINATION OF MATRIMONY

The issue of a man who determinedly chases a woman, and once the woman is enamoured refuses to place a wedding ring on her finger.

Mariam said, "So many women are so deeply hurt by men . . . "

Rabbi Jesus answered her, "Wanting the thrill of the chase without the responsibility of the capture."

Do not trifle with another's feelings. Lives can be disfigured by disrespect.

FREEDOM

Mariam and Rabbi Jesus spoke about freedom. 

The Master said, "Freedom without self-discipline is no freedom at all."

Those who do as they wish with no regard for the lives, rights and feelings of others are enslaved to the god of their self-will without mastery. They are as ships without a captain at the rudder, at the mercy of every storm and current. 

Discipline your self-will and obey the commandments. Then the tears that are shed at love betrayed, finances stolen, bodies and livelihoods disfigured, souls disrespected and children fathered with no love or responsibility will cease. 

Live with the knowledge that you yourselves are the temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:16): do not shower contempt on that temple.

FOLLOW THE POOR CHRIST

Mariam witnessed clerics expecting dues lower-income parishioners were unable to pay.

Mariam said to the Rabbi, "When one accepts the mantle of priesthood one must ask oneself. . . "
Rabbi Jesus answered, "Are you doing this to help the poor or exploit the poor?"

We follow the poor Christ, born homeless in an animal's stable, fled refugee to a foreign land, no home to rest His Head, buried in borrowed tomb. He ministered unfailingly to the poor in body, mind, spirit and finances. 

Let us do likewise.

QUANDARY

 

Mariam was in a quandary whether to inform her employer regarding irregularities.

Rabbi Jesus told her, "Tell him with confidence. In order to make sound decisions he needs proper facts."

THEOLOGY

Mariam studied theology for years.

She said to the Rabbi, "I have studied theology for years and have come to realize that God's directives are . . . "

Rabbi Jesus answered her, "Utter simplicity from utter complexity."

LOVE TRIANGLE

 

Mariam witnessed the deep hurt resultant from irregular relationship.

She said to the Rabbi, "A philanderer leaves . . . "

Rabbis Jesus answered, "Two women with their lives disfigured."

INSULT

 

Mariam was wounded by another's contemptuous behaviour towards her.

Rabbi Jesus told her, "You may be treated as a scornful object. This does not make you an object of scorn."

BODY DYSMORPHIA

 

Mariam heard of a friend who struggled to come to terms with personal outer appearance.

She spoke with the Rabbi about her friend's sufferings; "When you have body dysmorphia, the problem isn't your body ..."

Rabbi Jesus answered, "It's your spirit."

A distressed mind and spirit leads to a distressed view of your body.

UNFOUNDED ALLEGATION

 

Mariam was unjustly accused by another. Her peers declined to accept her proof of innocence.

Rabbi Jesus remarked, "Guilt by accusation."

MORALITY

 

A moral choice faced Mariam: she took the road less travelled. Afterwards, she suffered from loneliness.

Rabbi Jesus told her, "Doing the right thing doesn't make it easy."

LIVES MATTER

 

Mariam was pondering movements which accord greater worth and dignity to some children of God as opposed to others. 

Mariam asked the Rabbi, "Whose lives matter most in the Eyes of God?"

In return Rabbi Jesus queried, "Why is it that when people say some lives matter less, it's never the lives in their ancestral group? I came to earth to die for you all.

All lives matter."

SUFFERING

 

Mariam did what she could to ease the hardship of others.

She sadly told the Rabbi, "There is so much suffering in the world."

Rabbi Jesus answered her, "And you take so much suffering out of it."

Good deeds flowing from faith in God diminish universal misery.

STEWARDSHIP

 

Mariam witnessed torture, murder and body-part sale of animals as commodities. Torture through snares, hunts and cruelty. Murder by means of killing in institutionalised systems. 

Rabbi Jesus told her, "God made you stewards of the world, not executioners."

THE LAW

 

Mariam was appalled to witness an action which was lawful in the area yet morally corrupt. When she protested, she was told by the administration, "This does not violate the law."

Rabbi Jesus told her, "This violates the law of human decency."

FREEDOM

Mariam heard that implanted microchips are linked to cancerous tumours. There were rumours that human microchipping would possibly affect her world.

Rabbi Jesus told her, "They want to take away your God-given sovereignty."

Free we were created. Free we must remain.