A Call to Action

 

We were discussing the New Evangelization.  What’s new?  What needs to be changed in this post-Christian culture, and how do we go about it?  At one point I considered the simple things I can and try to do.  I attribute the good things that I end up doing these days as being not my ideas but the result of a “nudge” from the Holy Spirit.  In my heart, I think that over the many years I’ve been blessed to live, that I have grown some spiritually --- something we are all called to do --- so my accomplishments are nothing special, or I shouldn’t think of them that way.  I’ve just become more who I was created to be --- with still a long way to go.  But I had further thoughts, on my earlier years.  Was the Holy Spirit there then, giving me “nudges” which I just shrugged off, for one reason or another?  From a faith perspective, I know God was always there for me, even when I didn’t perceive His presence.  And thinking on those earlier years of mine, I think perhaps I DID perceive his presence, but I didn’t know it was Him.

“Someone ought to do something about that.”  “Someone should help that man.”  “Someone tell them not to swear like that.”  Thinking back, I can’t begin to count how many times I’ve spoken or thought those words over the years.  And I can’t recall any responses I made when those words were said by someone else, except my saying “Yeh, I agree.  That’s terrible.”  And moved on.

I wondered if the Holy Spirit WAS giving me “nudges” in my younger life.  Thinking back, I now think I can say with conviction (and sadness): “Yes, He was.”  That “someone” I often called for was me, and I ignored the nudge to action.  So many, many times.  I did nothing.

“Someone should help that person?”  It’s a call to action --- for you also.  When you hear or think those words, don’t let the opportunity slip by.