WHO, WHAT, WHERE OR WHEN?

WHO, WHAT, WHERE, OR WHEN?

“Above all, trust in the slow work of God.

We are quite naturally impatient in everything

to reach the end without delay.

We should like to skip the intermediate stages.

We are impatient of being on the way to something

unknown, something new. And yet it is the law of all progress

that it is made by passing through some stages of instability—

and that it may take a very long time.

And so I think it is with you;

your ideas mature gradually—let them grow,

let them shape themselves, without undue haste.

Don’t try to force them on, as though you could be today what time

(that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will)

will make of you tomorrow.

Only God could say what this new spirit

gradually forming within you will be.

Give Our Lord the benefit of believing that his hand is leading you,

and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself

in suspense and incomplete.”

― Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

What you have just read is the recipe for living a life of peace.  Trusting in God is a very, very difficult thing to learn, but like anything worth doing, the result is worth the effort.  Think of the times in your life when you were learning something.  If the something was not your choice, like Algebra, the process is extra hard, but if the something is your choice, like playing the piano or juggling, you will put in the time.  Believe me when I say that living your life in the full knowledge that God has your back is worth every effort to achieve.

When Jesus was confronted with someone in dire need of healing, he put his hands on them in the sure knowledge that God would heal them. That kind of confidence comes with practice and experience.  (It is probably why it took Him 30 years to begin his public ministry.)  We are not trying to do spectacular things or change the world, but to us the things we struggle with are just as important and of all the tools we need to solve them, trust in God is the most important.  When you know you are not struggling alone, it colors your choices, your attitudes and your outlook.  We are constantly asking ‘who, what, where or when?’ The uncertainty about the outcome is the tough part and that prompted the words of de Chardin; “Accept the anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete.”

A beloved friend of mine jumped out of an airplane to celebrate her 80^th birthday. She said that the there was no sense of falling but of flying and the professional diver who held her in his arms as she descended made her feel completely safe and confident that she would land easily and without mishap.

That describes a life lived in God perfectly.

Blessings,

Carol Lemelin OPA