The first day of spring has always been regarded as a new beginning by many. In the ancient civilizations that arose after the flood, springtime was the time for festivities to celebrate the end of winter, the beginning of planting season, and rituals to appease the various gods worshiped in hopes of gaining favor during the growing season. For modern societies, we are no longer directly tied to the seasons unless we have agriculture-related or other seasonal jobs. Many see the seasons as simply a cycle of life repeated each year without any regard to what our ancient forefathers once celebrated.
Each spring, Christians around the world celebrate Easter. The community college where I teach is in an area of Kentucky that has a large Catholic population so one of the many signs of spring are the ashes on the foreheads of the faithful and dutiful Catholic student. The week before spring break I had a student walk into the classroom a bit early and found me taking a moment to pray for the class. Not only was I praying for the souls of the students, but I was praying that I would not only be effective in what I was teaching, but also be found as honoring to God as well. The student quietly entered into the room, and after I had finished, she began asking questions about my faith. As I answered what seemed like one question after another, she finally began to focus on the difference between my faith and the Catholic faith that she was accustomed to.
The one thing she wanted to talk about was my faith, which she could tell was inward based, unadvertised and real versus the outward appearance of the Catholic faith. She commented on how some of her best friends claimed to be good Catholics, went to mass, but other than their claims and outside appearances, there were no differences between them and other students. They wore the crucifixes, ashes, and if they remembered to pray at lunch, they did make the sign of the Cross. Other than that, there was no difference; they cussed, smoked, made fun of those different or that were perceived as being weak. She then began contrasting what she had seen of her friends versus what she had seen from me in class: she had never seen me ridicule or belittle a student in front of the class; I had always maintained an attitude of wanting to help the student learn; I was genuinely concerned and wanted to help students; and, I took the time to listen to students when they came to me with problems or difficulties rather than ignoring them.
Until that moment I was unaware of how Christ had become evident in my life. I began to wonder how many other college students I had come in contact with had also noticed what this student had noticed. I was simply acting in a way I thought would be honoring to God: The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit: a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise (Psalms 51:17). As I mentioned in several posts, in 2004 I made a decision to literally study the word of God as intently as I was studying the information for my preliminary exams.
As a part of that and much later in 2007, I was determined to reach beyond myself and to focus on the lesson provided by Christ during his earthly ministry: Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me (Matthew 25:34-40). Simply stated, I want to serve others as I would as if I knew I was personally serving the Lord Jesus Christ.
