Calvary Episcopal Church
Memphis, Tennessee
THE CHRONICLE
The 22nd Sunday after Pentecost
October 24, 1999
Volume 44, No. 40

"OUR COLLECT FOR TODAY IS . . ."
". . . make us love what you command." That is the last phrase of the collect (a prayer that seeks to gather or "collect" all teachings of the day/season into one major theme) appointed for worship this Sunday, the Twenty-second Sunday after Pentecost.

By (human) nature we often love what we want to love; e.g., consumer goods, power, independence, etc. It is not our (human) nature to love sacrifice, powerlessness, giving way to the will of others.

That is where the Divine enters in. It is by the action of God in our lives that we move slowly (and often screaming and kicking) towards loving what God commands. It takes years and decades, and the process is called "sanctification."

When we have lived the major portion of our life, we may find that our agenda is more God's and less our own than was the case when we started (this presumes that we have been willing to allow God to change us; God rarely forces Himself upon us).

Our Collect this coming Sunday, then, is a prayer that asks God to open our hearts to God, so that our deepest desire is simply and profoundly, God's will for us. May it be so!
~Bill Kolb+