Forged Day 2 - Who Am I to Be?

 Run. Fly. Break your chains; break all the bonds that tie you down to flesh and blood.

Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet

What kind of man do I want to be?

I want to be a man with a generous, over-flowing love who, through my actions, helps my sisters and brothers see the love of Christ. I want the strength and selflessness to sacrifice my own immediate desires, to fight through the temptation to give less -- at work, at home with my family, with my friends, and with my future spouse. I want to know and love God's Will for me so deeply that I act on that Will habitually with grace and humility, even in the face of pain and struggle and trial. I want to be a co-creator with God and a co-healer: to serve the wounded and broken, to inspire and lead others to Jesus on the Cross. 

How do I want to be remembered when I die?

Steady at the Wheel. Ready to Serve. I want to be remembered as someone who lived a beautiful life, a man who was simultaneously a witness and a sign, both to God's reckless, bountiful love and His enduring Mercy. When people were in trouble, they knew they could come to me for support, understanding, and hope. Not because I was so awesome in and of myself, but rather that I was a sign of God's great power and endless love for His children. I want people to know that I loved Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, that I lived a virtuous life according to the Holy Family's example. 

"Like an hourglass with a certain number of grains of sand within it, God has appointed your life to last only a certain number of days, and you have absolutely no idea how many there are. ... In God’s presence, consider: I have no idea when my life will end. All I know is that death will come for me eventually. Am I doing anything to prepare for the real possibility that God may call me, sooner rather than later? If he called me into eternity today, would I be ready?"

— Patrick Madrid, 

A Year with the Bible: Scriptural Wisdom for Daily Living (p. 190)

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with devotion, devotion with mutual affection, mutual affection with love. If these are yours and increase in abundance, they will keep you from being idle or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 1:5-8

"Jesus Heals on the Sabbath"

(5)One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. (6)When Jesus saw him and knew that he had been lying there a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be healed?"

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(8)Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your pallet, and walk." (9)And at once the man was healed, and he took up his pallet and walked.

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(14)Afterwards, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, "See you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse befall you."

John 5