I had a priest friend, Tom, whose personal email address began with this: as4me. It aroused my curiosity but, unfortunately, I never asked him why he chose those words for his address. He is deceased now, but I think I know where he got these “words” and maybe even why he might have chosen them.
The phrase “As for me” is found numerous times in the Bible. Perhaps the most famous place is in the book of Joshua 24:15. After the death of Moses, Joshua, Israel’s new leader, gathers all the tribes of Israel together and says to them, “Choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served, which were beyond the Euphrates River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living.” With these words, Joshua is underscoring the power of personal choice and personal commitment when it comes to faith. He then adds these crucial words: But as for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.” He is telling the people, regardless of which gods you choose to serve, my family and I are going to serve the Lord, the God of Isarel.
This strong phrase is found in other places in scripture–either expicitly stated, or implied if you read the words in their context.
But as for me, I will walk in integrity (Ps 26:11).
I hate those who cling to worthless idols; as for me, I trust in the Lord (Ps. 31:6).
But for me, to be near God is my good (Ps. 73:28).
But (as for me) I will call upon the Lord (Ps. 55:16).
(But as for me) I know my redeemer lives (Job 19:25).
Someone has said, we cannot merely live the faith of our ancestors, that is, the faith of our parents, grandparents, or past generations. We cannot live the faith of a particular saint we love and admire. Yes, we can learn a lot about faith from these individuals. We can even be inspired and strengthened by their example of faith. But sooner or later we must discover and live our own faith. Our faith may, in significant ways, resemble the faith of our ancestors, the saints, and other people living today, but unless we make our Christian faith personal, unless we are intimately committed to our faith, that faith will fall short. It will probably be inadequate to help us face the specific rough storms and dark times we are apt to experience along life’s road.
Our faith has to be lived in our particular times. Previous generations had their unique challenges which formed the backdrop of their faith–for example, the persecutions of the early Christians, specific heresies, plagues, slavery, industralization, colonization, scientific discoveries. Closer to our times, my parents’ generation faced overt hositility to Catholics, the Great Depression, World War II, the most destructive war in human history. Some challenges of our contemporary times would include the widening gap between the incredible wealth of “the few” and the growing poverty of the masses, consumerism, the role of technology, climate change, the vast numbers of refugees all over the world, and the ever present nuclear arms race. Our personal faith is not lived in a vacuum but in the reality of the times in which we find ourselves.
One day Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” (Mt. 16:13). In other words, “As for other people, who do they say that I am?” The disciples gave him the results of the latest Gallup poll: “22% say John the Baptist, 18% say Elijah, 12% say Jeremiah, 19% say other prophets, and 29% are undecided.” Then Jesus asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” It was easy for his disciples to answer the first question. They just had to report what others were saying. But the second question was more demanding. Each disciple had to dig deeply into his heart and soul to begin to answer that one.
Jesus’ second question is the one we keep trying to answer throughout our lives. That question takes many forms. I offer you these for your personal reflection:
As for me, who do I say Jesus is?… As for me, what do I really, really believe?… As for me, how is my faith responding to the issues of my time in history? As for me, how do I practice and live out my faith in my daily life?
PS #1: I’m working with the team that manages my blog. Here’s one tip. If you, as a subscriber, get the notice about a new reflection on my blog and click it on, you should get the new reflection. However, you probably won’t get any readers’ comments because you are accessing the reflection as it was originally posted by me. To read the version with comments, I suggest you access my blog through google or safari or another search engine to get the current reflection–with comments–, and to add your own comment if you wish. My blog is posted at 1:00 AM (ET) every Monday morning. Then my 5,000 subscribers are notified. The team has sped up that notification from 30 emails every ten minutes to 100 emails every 10 minutes. You can go directly to my blog and not wait for the notification as a subscriber. Try this and see if it works. I don’t want you to be prevented from adding a comment or to miss the other readers’ comments, because the comments are a vital part of my blog! Thank you!
PS #2: Thank you for your prayers for this past weekend’s retreat I facilitated at Villa Maria, PA. The 37 retreatants were eager, lively, prayerful, and fun. I especially appreciated their sharing and good questions. Thank you to Rebecca for inviting me to return to Villa Maria. And thank you to Dominic who served us well as hospitality coordinator.
Our video today is “As for Me and My House” by Greg and Glenda Bostock from Blastoff Music videos.
As for you, is there anything you’d like to say below?
22 Responses
Having returned from the retreat you facilitated, this is my first encounter with this blog. Thank you for this thought-inspiring article for a Monday morning! I am especially pondering the question, “ How do I live my own faith?”
With so many ideas and influences from this past weekend, swirling around in my head, I am really going to pause in prayer and ask the Holy Spirit to guide me.
Thank you…as for me, as grandma walton once said on the Waltons, “because theres nothin else”.
Peace
Melannie, I tried to find it through Google, and all I get are the old ones. The current one is not there. I tried on my cell phone and the same thing. I then talked to Microsoft CoPilot AI and they suggested the I clear the cache on my laptop but that did not help. So CoPilot said that all things point to the fact that the author has not PUBLICLY released it. So I don’t know if you will ge tthis or not. Good luck=
Joni Dugan
Sr. Melannie,
I have tried several times to access your blog through other search engines and it always comes up with the previous reflections, including those responses. I don’t understand why things changed as I could previously access through the email notice. I miss being able to read the current responses and I hope the issue can be resolved.
As for me, I want to stand with Jesus during these uncertain times.
As for Me….with all my heart is inspired by the compassion I see in others and then I choose to be that love in my own humble way…with all my heart.
Not always easy but knowing that love is responded well by love alone empowers me to stir a bit of compassion into my words and deeds each day.
And ~~ also to be grateful to receive it.
As for me…to be an apostle of love in the ordinary of everyday living…and sometimes the every extraordinary too.
Good morning,
I attended the retreat at Villa Maria in PA this past weekend and it was wonderful. I loved meeting new people and of course you Sr. Melannie. You are a ray of sunshine!!!
Good morning, Melannie…
Good morning, all…
Happy Tuesday!
A good blog is always an invitation for thought, reflection, and prayer, and your blog, Melannie, does just that. As for me, I will serve the Lord, for the Lord has the words of eternal life. Those “words” are living words, which, to me, mean they evolve over time. When God says to Abraham that he will make his descendants more numerous than the stars, and then tells him to “count them if you can,” Abraham had no idea that beyond those stars were more stars and beyond those even more. But we do now. We know other things as well — that slavery is always wrong, that the sun does not revolve around the earth; the earth revolves around the sun, and that evolution isn’t just a theory. We used to believe or allow all sorts of things, so when I hear of the possibility of a live-streamed public execution, I am saddened and appalled. As for me, I will pray to Jesus, who knew something about the horrors of public execution, that this never happens. Pope Leo says the death penalty is “inadmissible because it is an attack on the inviolability and dignity of the human person.” As for me, I’m with him!
As for me I ENJOY Reading your blogs. THANKS KATHY
Thank you for your blog. I try to serve God, but this blog reminds me i can always go deeper
Just what I needed to read this morning. Thank you, Sr Melannie.
As for me and my house
In these turbulent times, I have faith in God and His promise of life after death with no strife.
Thank you Sr. Melannie,
Again a lovely reflection, and I am so happy that my friend Mary, who let me know about your blog many years ago, sent me an email with the current reflection. I never get the emails anymore like I used to, and even going to Google only takes me to the previous week’s reflection. Not sure if this is the case with anyone else, but it certainly has been frustrating. I appreciate your team working on the problem.
As for me, I will keep on, even if I am a week behind and can’t add my own comments, because your blog has become an important part of my Monday prayer time.
As for me, my faith has kept me tethered during some crazy times lately, and I keep the refrain “be not afraid” going in my head.
Thanks so much again, and I do hope the tech troubles will be ironed out finally.
Melannie. First of all congratulations on your new blog as such.
Secondly I never saw those words as for me in the scriptures. Hats off to you. It was an interesting blog in every way. Thank you Melannie. As for me I am so glad I get your blog.
🩷
Good day, I really enjoy your blogs, thank you! I wrote a poem after some difficult shepherd’s work I was doing in Las Vegas of all places. I wrote an entire anthology. You blog reminds of one and it is as follows:
Fiat Voluntas Tua
The timber grows heavy, the shoulders bow low,
But weight is the measure of trust that you know.
The Maker of mountains has need of your reach,
And speaks through the silence His sorrows can teach.
Count it all joy as the blessings descend,
In every deep shadow, a luminous friend.
It is love, the great ocean, that holds up the skies,
And uses the broken to make the soul wise.
For what is this cross but an anchor of grace?
The darker the midnight, the holier the place.
The heavier the timber, the truer the sign:
You serve all that is, in a purpose divine.
No feeling is final, no limit is drawn—
the darkness but heralds the weight of the dawn.
God bless you!
Your poem is beautiful! I especially liked: “but weight is the measure of trust that you know… In every deep shadow, a luminous friend… The Maker of mountains has need of your reach… the great ocean uses the broken to make the soul wise… The darkness but heralds the weight of the dawn.” Thank you so much for gracing my blog with your lovely poem! Melannie
Dear Sr. Melannie: Still not seeing any comments. I can read your post entirely, but that’s where it ends.
I absolutely love this post. I have these words on a plaque above my doorbell so that anyone who approaches my door will see them. Thank you!
Happy Friday,
As I read Give Us This Day this morning, I smiled to come across psalm 12:
As for me, I trust in your faithful love.
It just so happens that my Word for this year is TRUST. How perfect
Oops, psalm 13
To those who might feel frustrated with when and how this blog arrives —
I haven’t officially subscribed, but I have Sunflower Seeds listed on my favorites bar, and I read it every week. I use Google Chrome browser, and have discovered that the current blog shows up on Friday instead of Monday. So I’ve changed my mindset to waiting for it on Friday, not Monday. This way I get both the blog and the whole week’s comments. I agree with you, Sr. Melannie, that the comments are a vital part of your blog. They take it to a whole new level, which is already very high!
Sr. Mary Seton, Thank you for this advice to readers who are frustrated–especially with not being able to read the comments on this blog. And thanks too for acknowledging that the comments are a vital aspect of this blog. Readers, you might want to try Sister’s advice–or at least return to the blog Friday or later to read the comments! Thanks so much! Melannie