God waits to be asked

Bernard Bro writes:

It is not we who wait for God, and draw God's attention, but it is God who awaits us. It is not we who are anxious to see God realize our desires, but it is God who wishes to enter into our plans, and to invest us with God's own strength. And in prayer it is God who anticipates us, giving us an opportunity to work for and with God, in the absolute certainlty of success.

This is the first response of God, the secret of our hope, and what should be the foundation of our certitude.

In this connection, it seems that too often we believe that the essential element in hope is the desire to possess happiness and to possess God. Yet the essential role of hope is not primarily the desire for beatitude, but the assurance that God comes to our aid.

These words carry a profound truth...we want God to be there for us. Heaven is fine, but heaven is the end hope. Right here and now, hope consists of God being there for me.

As monastics say at the beginning of liturgy, "Oh God, come to my assistance, O Lord, come to my aid."

May God be with us today and come to our aid.

Be the change you wish to see

The sermon yesterday was about change. It came because the Gospel was about Jesus changing water into wine (John 2: 1-11). The sermon concentrated on the inner change many of us are afraid to make, and how we would rather do some outward change of place, job, or home, than deal with ourselves, especially our insecurities.

That got me to thinking of the challenge of change. I think most of us find real change a scary thing. But I think we are afraid only because we do not know the gift of God that is within us (John 4:5), and gives us amazing inner strength. As I work with clients, I have seen that most individuals are not aware of their own talents or abilities. This is especially true of individuals who have been a victim at one time or another. Somehow, being victimized has taught them to believe they are helpless. They continue to struggle many times because they feel powerless to take control.

And yet, each of us has this inner strength. To change from a powerless victim to one empowered, I first need to believe. I  then need to call upon this inner strength, and step into the challenges of life. If I wait for others to affirm me, I may wait forever. In truth, I have an inner strength, here, today, now. I just need to access it.  

The good news is, I can do all things in him who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13).

For I am stronger than I realize.

Every day begins now

We hear the words, "a new year begins with new hope." Why do we delineate time this way? As if one day gives more than another.What am I talking about?

I mean that this year started badly for me. A loss, an illness, and a near tragedy. When I was asked about it, I realized, this is not how "my year begins" as if the rest of the year is shot. It is a few incidents that happened to come in the beginning of January. They could have come in any month.

I find that we tend to think too linear. As if the only time to hope begins Jan. 1. I am fighting that image, and seeing that time is a human construct. Because each day, each moment allows me a new step. And what happens is not indicative of my future and the rest of 2013, but only of how things are now. This is my journey at this moment. It is not my New Year, or 2013.

I am saying this because I know I tend to wait for signature days for something good or new to happen. I am working to see life as an everyday opportunity. Every day I can begin something new. Every day I can see that what happens is only what happens, and not some prediction of the rest of that year.

Every day. That is my New Year's resolution. To take life one day at a time.

Living with an honesty that counts

In the Fathers of the Desert, a story is told about Abba Paphnutius. He knew his end was near, so he entreated the Lord to show him who was most like Him upon earth. God showed Abba Paphnutius a street musician who had been a thief, a wealthy Alexandrine merchant, and a mayor of a busy village. Abba Paphnutius did not take these revelations lightly. On his deathbed, he is quoted saying to those kneeling around him: No one in this world should be despised, be he a thief, an actor, a farmer, merchant or husband: for in every condition of human life there are souls that please God and have their hidden deeds wherein He takes delight: whence it is plain that it is not so much profession or habit that is pleasing to God as the sincerity and affection of the soul and honesty of deed.

Sincerity and affection of the soul – that is what desert spirituality is all about. Leaving all to live in the desert meant becoming radical for love. And who is loved, but God Himself. All the penances, prayers, and fastings had one purpose…to bring the heart to a purity that performed honestly. To concentrate on the desert practices without consideration of their spirit is to negate their value. As Basil Pennington says, the value of this literature is not to know it or to know about it but to know it was lived. I would go further, and say, the true value of this literature lies in discovering how we too can live this same desert spirituality…in our own times, in our own form of life. It isn’t about finding that deserted place so much as it is about realizing that God is personal to us. To Whom does He speak if not to us? (Thornton & Varenne)

Honesty of Deed. Make it a mantra. Carve it upon your wall, your book, your heart. Honesty of Deed. This is one of those practices you can take out of the desert without losing that desert flavor.

Begin a new year...

I have a fascination with the concept of forgiveness, not as a bystander, but as one who actively works with Jesus' command to "forgive, and you will be forgiven" (Lk 6:37). I know no individual who has not been injured in some way. Injuries give us two choices, to remain angry and resentful, or to forgive

I, too, sometimes struggle with the concept of forgiveness. If God is a just God, should not someone pay for making us suffer? All the more when we are weak and vulnerable and are preyed upon by the powerful with authority. And yet, the precept to forgive is always there in front of me. Even when I think I have come to terms with those who have harmed me, I find that the forgiveness once proffered sometimes threatens to retreat. Anger is always waiting in the wings to take over.

As a counselor in training, I know the clinical benefits of forgiveness. Studies have proven that anger is destructive to one's own body, as it not only eats away at the heart and soul, it damages the mind, hardens the blood vessels, prevents tissue reproduction, weakens the immune system and wreaks havoc on one's emotional health.

In contrast, forgiveness offers better emotional health. It allows for physical healing, frees the spirit from the memory of the trauma or injury and allows it to grow past the incident. Forgiveness broadens the mind and lifts the spirit. Forgiveness tempers and matures an individual, brings him or her to a deeper understanding of human weakness. Forgiveness enlarges our soul, so that we are bigger than the incident, and we are not held back by it.

In a word, forgiveness is the stepping stone out of the cave of darkness and sorrow. Forgiveness is necessary for good emotional health. But I believe it cannot be done for purely health reasons. One must believe in something redemptive to be able to forgive. One must believe in a bigger plan, a redemptive power of God that brings good even out of evil. One must believe in a power that is above and beyond our imaginations.

And so I close these thoughts with words given to me many years ago, words meant to help me in my own struggle to forgive: For those who love God, all things work together for good (Romans 8:28).