Monday Morning

"If You Truly Love", Mechthild of Magdeburg

If you love Jesus Christ more than you fear human judgment, then you will not only speak of compassion, but act with it. Compassion means seeing your friend and your enemy in equal need, and helping both equally. It demands that you seek and find the stranger, the broken, the prisoner, and comfort him and offer him your help. Herein lies the holy compassion of God that causes the devil much distress.

[from DailyDig 05/02/2005, Meditations of Mechthild of Magdeburg (ca.1207-ca.1294)]

I'm actually (write this down) looking forward to this week. Even today, a Monday, I'm looking forward to being a good husband and good dad to my wife and kids. It's PLAY WEEK in our house, and at the end of the week it'll all be OVER. In the past, it's been more about, "did we survive?" - but this year I really just want to take all the extraneous stuff off of my wife that I can, do my best with housework and other assorted chores, and have a good time in the process.

Why am I doing this, taking this attitude, actually looking forward to doing the extra to make it easier on others? Because I want to. Even before reading the quote above, I knew that I wanted to make this as smooth and painless for my family as possible. Working to make life better for my family is easy, though - working to make life better for those in opposition is harder, but I think I'm looking forward to what that might look like in my life this week, too. I don't know what "extra" this week might bring with it, but I want to face it head on, honor Christ in the midst of it, and see what happens next.

How's that for starting a Monday?