a constant reminder

Ever since FBC was born two weeks ago, I've noticed that my short-term memory is shot.  I  answer the phone having already forgotten what the caller id said.  I walk down the stairs from my office only to return again having forgotten what I set forth to do.  I feed one dog but forget what I'm doing before the second bowl gets filled.

My current state of sleep deprevation and complete life alteration means that I need ways to be constantly reminded of the little things.   So I set alarms, I make to-do lists, and I write down just about everything somebody says to me.

This morning, my reminder came not from a to-do list or a hungry dog at my feet, but in the words of St. Peter in his second speech in the book of acts, "as though by our own power or piety we made him walk..."

One of my several character flaws is my ego.  I have, from time to time, been accused, and rightfully so, of being arrogant.  As a priest, the possibility of ego-inflation is ever present.  "Thank you for your wise advice."  "What a great sermon."  "You need to stay here forever."  "Are you sure you're not the second coming of Christ?"  I mean the accolades can flow down hill quickly and the temptation is to say, "it is all about me, my power, and my piety."

But it isn't.  It is all about Jesus.  It is about the Word who brings light to the world.  It is about the God who wants nothing more than to turn the world right-side-up again.  It is about the Holy Spirit whose words pour forth from our lips even when we have no idea what we're saying.

I need a constant reminder that, well, "I got nothin", and today it came in the form of Acts 3.12-19.  Thanks be to God.