Our Worldly Problems

Today's Verse: 2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NIV) - 16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

According to A Handbook on Paul's Second Letter to the Corinthians, Paul sees our worldly troubles as being secondary and short-lived. The troubles which we see now are minor, as compared to the glory that we will see in the future. So, we should not fret.

Today's Comments: I wonder if the current problem in the Episcopal Church is one of these "little problems" that Paul might have talked about. Does the denomination in which we worship define what we are as Christians, or is it the community in which we worship? I am beginning to think more and more that it is the latter. It is those with whom we will share eternal life that seem to be most important. The denomination has to do with the physical building. The community in which we worship has to do with the real building--- building ourselves up to do that which Christ wants us to do--- to love the Lord our God, and our neighbor.