encouragement

Today’s Word: Forgive

Steve · August 4, 2013 · 5 Comments

Forgive. Wicker Park graffiti, Chicago. SJG photo

I’ve been tryin’ to get down
To the heart of the matter
But my will gets weak
And my thoughts seem to scatter
But I think it’s about…forgiveness.
-Don Henley, 1995

Is forgiveness at the heart of matter? I guess it depends on the matter we’re taking about….But the truth is, when we harden our hearts and refuse to forgive or accept forgiveness, we set ourselves up for heartache and separation from those we once loved and from God. We hold on to so much pain, sometimes thinking that “we’ll show them” by our silence and refusal to forgive. In reality, we’re only hurting ourselves, of course.

Pain is real, and I’m certainly not trying to make light of it. We get hurt by people and by circumstances. We can feel we’ve been hurt by God. God certainly understands the human pain we feel. God understands that we may need to hold on to this pain for a while, to own it and make it our own. But at some point, God calls us to release ourselves and others from pain, no matter who is at fault. Over and over in the Gospels, Jesus calls us to forgive, to turn the other cheek, to move on so we can repair our own lives and our fractured relationships with God and others.

Ask yourself in silence: Where in my life am I holding a grudge? Who do I need to forgive? Where do I need to seek forgiveness? Do I have the courage to do something about this today?

Today’s Word: Busy

Steve · August 3, 2013 · 5 Comments

cross — The Great Cross, St. Augustine, Florida. SJG photo.

In the Biblical story of the two sisters Martha and Mary (Luke 10), Martha is buzzing around the house, cooking, cleaning, waiting on everybody and “getting stuff done.” Her sister Mary, on the other hand, has seated herself at the feet of Jesus, resting serenely in his presence and words. When Martha objects to her lazy sister (can’t you just hear and see this story unfolding?), Jesus sets her straight: “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things. There is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part and it will not be taken from her.”

So we should just pray all day and not worry about keeping house or going to work, right? Hardly. We still need to do the stuff of life. But we need time at the feet of Jesus, too. If we make prayer and the presence of God the foundation for the rest of our lives, we will find ourselves with less anxiety and worry, and with more peace of mind and heart. There is one thing we need. The rest will fall into place. The work will get done. But the better part — peace — will not be taken from us.

Ask yourself in silence: Do I use busy-ness as an excuse to not spend time at the feet of Jesus? Do I let the presence of “stuff to get done” keep me from the presence of God?

Today’s Word: Mirror

Steve · July 31, 2013 · 4 Comments

In his Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius encourages us to pause before we begin to pray and “become aware of God aware of me.” Consider, he suggests, that God “beholds me.” What an idea! We believe this at some level, of course, or else we would not pray at all, but this idea caught me off guard when I heard it a few weeks ago at a retreat preached by Paul Coutinho. We are so focused on God when we pray that it can be hard to fathom the idea of God being focused on us!

But that is exactly the gift that God offers us when we commit ourselves to times of solitude and prayer. Our all-seeing, all-loving God looks upon us as we pray, like a parent staring down into the crib of his or her new-born child, waiting for the child to move or breathe. (Remember that feeling, parents?) Just so, God watches us for signs of our spiritual life, listens for our words and encompasses us in a divine embrace when we place ourselves in his presence. God beholds us.

When we pray, we have the chance to see ourselves in the mirror of God’s eyes…to see ourselves as God sees us. With that in mind, how much more should we yearn for times of intimacy with God, times for us to look at each other in amazement and wonder?

Ask yourself in silence: While in prayer, can I somehow see myself as God sees me? How does that idea sit with me?

Today’s Word: Rest

Steve · July 29, 2013 · 5 Comments

larry — Rest. My friend, Larry, about halfway up our climb up Volcan Cerro Negro in Nicaragua in 2009. SJG photo.

We are called, in the paraphrased words of St. Teresa of Avila, to be the body of Christ to the world:

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.

In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus issues an invitation that reverberates down through the ages: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28) Jesus doesn’t promise to take away the hard work of our lives. He never says we will always be healthy or happy or that following him will be easy. He prepares us for quite the contrary, actually. But he promises rest and relief for those who have the courage to walk in his way and the faith to bring their burdens and weaknesses to him in prayer.

When we place ourselves in the service of others and nearly collapse at the end of the day, it is Jesus’ tired arms and legs that fall into our beds. When we work as Christ for those around us, we can know that our labor will never be in vain and the effect of our work will be blessed and multiplied by the divine energy that pervades and transforms our efforts. And perhaps best of all, we are promised rest at the end of the day in the loving arms of God.

Ask yourself in silence: Do I let myself just rest in God once in a while?

Hard at work in Chenendega, Nicaragua, 2009. SJG photo.

Today’s reflection is for some of my friends and a bunch of teenagers from our church who are back in Nicaragua working hard this week at Amigos for Christ. But believe me, they rest well at night in the arms of God…

Today’s Word: Falling

Steve · July 28, 2013 · 2 Comments

Jon & Jess at Joshua Tree National Park. SJG photo.

I was about 14, I think, when I first “fell in love.” It didn’t stick. I sort-of tried it a few more times before I found the one with whom I was meant to spend the rest of my life. (Full disclosure: I met my wife when I was just 16!) Falling in love is a tricky thing, it seems. Some of us get lucky and blessed. Others experience heartache and disappointment. Falling and staying in love has much to do with having mutual respect and faith in each other, as well as allowing ourselves to be changed for the good by the other.

And so it goes with God. When we really decide for ourselves that we are going to allow God to be part of our lives, it is akin to falling in love, to opening ourselves to God’s love and allowing God to change us in ways that we cannot fathom or expect. Nevertheless, we open ourselves to just that kind of transformation, trusting that we’ll come out better than when we started. I can’t imagine how different my life would be if I hadn’t spent the last 35 years or so slowly and hesitantly falling in love with God. This is not a “love at first sight, head over heels” kind of love. This love is a gentle “turning toward” what is already present in all of our lives, a recognition and acceptance of the perfect love that lies within our reach if we will only stretch across the short distance and grasp it.

The following poem/prayer by Fr. Pedro Arrupe, SJ, speaks more eloquently than I ever could about this idea of falling in love with God:

Nothing is more practical than finding God, than
falling in Love
in a quite absolute, final way.
What you are in love with,
what seizes your imagination, will affect everything.
It will decide
what will get you out of bed in the morning,
what you do with your evenings,
how you spend your weekends,
what you read, whom you know,
what breaks your heart,
and what amazes you with joy and gratitude.
Fall in Love, stay in love,
and it will decide everything.

Ask yourself in silence: Am I willing to allow myself to be changed by the One who loves me?