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     I was thinking about the expression, “You either see your glass as half-full or half-empty”. I hadn’t thought much about it, but I guess I used to be a glass-half-empty-kind-of-guy. I used to feel like I had been cheated out of something. Thanks to many years with a supportive spouse, I learned that life really doesn’t owe me anything. I suppose that is when I became a glass-half-full-kind-of-guy.
     I have also heard the expression, “If you see your glass as half-full, pour it into a smaller glass and stop complaining!” Perhaps the glass is half-full because there is room for growth. Or, perhaps it is half-full because God gave us the first half, and the rest is our responsibility. If the glass were given to us full, we might not have anything to work for. After all, necessity is the mother of invention.
Picture the first half of the glass as being the talents, skills, and gifts we receive at the beginning of life. The second half would then be filled with the fruits of those talents, skills, and gifts as we do our part. The key here is to remember that effort on our part is required if we are ever to experience the feeling of being “full”. It is, in fact, the natural longing for God that causes many people to feel half-empty.
     At Luke 16:26, Jesus says that “a great chasm has been placed between us and [God]”. This “chasm” or gap prevents us from experiencing the fullness of God. That is what causes an “empty” feeling in unbelievers. Even some that claim to be Christian still experience that emptiness because they have not completely given themselves to God through Christ.
     St. Paul’s letter to Christians in Ephesus includes the words, “I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:18-19, NRSV, bold type is mine)
     The glass-is-full feeling comes from truly knowing Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. The things of this world (wealth, power, fame, etc., etc.) are meaningless without Christ as Lord-of-it-all. Nothing in this world can give you that glass-is-full feeling without Jesus. How do we come to “know” Jesus? How do we come to know anyone? By spending time with them. Spending time with Jesus in prayer, study, meditation, and worship are essential. Developing solid friendships with like-minded believers is essential.
     The empty part of the glass is perhaps waiting for you to do your part to fill it. Begin by deciding to spend time with Jesus, then stay at it until you experience the fullness of God. The people of St. Andrew’s want you to know that God loves you and we believe in you. Come see us.

Blessings and Peace to You All,
Fr. David+

     When our boys were little, they believed that I could fix anything. They would bring a broken toy to me and stand there until I fixed it. Sometimes they could hardly bear to let go of the toy long enough for me to fix it. If glue was required, they couldn’t wait long enough for the glue to dry before attempting to play with the toy again. It was frustrating at times.
     That is how many of us bring our concerns and requests to God. We are often so personally invested in the turmoil of brokenness that we can’t let go of it long enough to experience the fix, if we ever let go at all. Most of our worries, or our brokenness, stem from our perception of needs.
St. Matthew quotes Jesus as saying, “… your Father knows what you need before you ask him” (Matthew 6:8b, NRSV). That is a sobering thought; that God already knows what we need. What we ask for is what we want. That may not be what is best for us, or what we need, that is, what we really need. The question is, how do we know what we really need?
     Abraham Maslow developed his theory of the hierarchy of human needs in 1943. According to Maslow, our “Basic Needs” include Physiological Needs (food, water, warmth, rest) and Safety Needs (security, safety), and are primary for survival. Our “Psychological Needs” (intimate relationships, love, and self-esteem) are secondary in importance. This is where we find our place in the world. Third are our “Self-Fulfillment Needs” (creativity, reaching your full potential). This is where we find who we were created to be.
Meeting the first two sets of needs (Physiological & Psychological) consume the greatest amount of our time. So much so that the third level (Self-Fulfillment) often goes by the wayside. This is one cause of physical and psychological burn-out. If time for self-fulfillment is denied long enough, the mind and body will begin to atrophy (in a figure of speech). Why do some people who are the same age feel older than others? Perhaps it is, in part, due to the level of self-fulfillment an individual is experiencing.
     If we allow ourselves to be totally consumed with the lower two levels of needs, and ignore the third level, we are stunting our personal growth and wasting our potential. How are we to know what our potential is? By looking to our creator. Each of us have been given specific “gifts” for this life. Some individuals never notice their gifts and talents or have been too afraid to pursue self-fulfillment.
     Self-fulfillment does not mean fulfillment-without-God, or fulfillment-in-opposition-to-God. It does mean making the most of what God made you to be. To find your way, go back to the beginning. To find your gifts, go back to God. To find higher power, go to the Source of all power.

Blessings and Peace to You All,
Fr. David+