St Jacob of Serugh talks to us about how we stain our souls today in A Year with the Church Fathers. He tells us to spend more time in church, because if we go out into the world too much, we absorb the "colors" of the world. We should, he says, spend more time absorbing the colors of God and getting stained by them. Like a stained glass window, one might say.
And I see his point. And I agree that it's important for us to stay focused on Jesus, and to put Him first. If we find ourselves being swayed by the world and its preoccupations, then we need to take some time away and immerse ourselves in God and His church and His Bible in prayer.
But. If we look at the life of Jesus, and if we study the saints, we see that they spent time with sinners. They mingled. They got their hands dirty, and met people where they were. They went in among the smelly, silly, goofy people whose minds were focused entirely on the banal, and lifted their minds to see God.
I think it's important to do both. To spend time immersing ourselves in God, definitely. But then, soaked in Him, going out into the world to share His glory with every soul we meet... especially those who don't seem to appreciate Him. You never know whose life you might end up changing.
Maybe even yours.
God, thanks for mingling with us. Please help us to do the same.
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