Daily Reflection of Creighton University's
Online Ministries -----January 31st, 2012
http://onlineministries.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/013112.html
by Tom Purcell
2 Samuel 18:9-10, 14b, 24-25a, 30-19:3
Ps 86:1-2, 3-4, 5-6
Mark 5:21-43
My reflection today on these readings
focuses on the line from Mark "Jesus, aware at once that power had gone
out from him. . ." This idea of power - held, shared, used - applies
in so many parts of our lives. Here is an example of Jesus allowing
His power to be accessed and used.:
27She had heard about Jesus and came up behind him in
the crowd and touched his cloak.
28*
She said, “If I but touch his clothes, I shall be cured.”
29Immediately her flow of blood dried up. She felt in
her body that she was healed of her affliction.
30Jesus, aware at once that power had gone out from him,
turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who has touched my clothes?”turned
around in the crowd and asked, "Who has touched my clothes?"
It is interesting in the reading
from Samuel that Joab is one of the main characters - he was one of
David's most powerful warriors and most trusted confidants - truly a
man of power.
16
Joab then sounded the horn, and the soldiers turned back from the pursuit
of the Israelites, because Joab called them to halt.
Where do we obtain our personal power?
As we grow and develop our innate talents, as we nurture strengths,
as we overcome weaknesses, we build power. We may be fortunate
by birth to be in a position of power. We may obtain power by
advancement in our jobs and professions, by our work within organizations,
by our sharing of our talents. We build power by the integrity
with which we lead our lives, by the honesty we manifest when we interact
with people, by the trust that we create in the people around us as
we treat them with dignity and respect. I don't think we normally
have a light bulb moment that we suddenly know we have power, but I
think as we reflect on our lives and capacities we grow into a realization
that we have the ability to shape events and have an impact on people.
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