Blink moments

I just spent a couple of days with my mother, my brothers (youngest bro missing unfortunately) and my sis-in-law at a chalet in Changi. I was surrounded by the beauty of the sea which lay at the bottom of the garden.

Even in Singapore, a concrete jungle, the glory of God's handiwork is present. Beauty exists around us if we seek it. I found it in the tiny shell I found on the beach, and in the wild flowers that grow along the boardwalk.

I also found beauty in the time we spent together as family, as well as the convergence of the clans from both sides of the family for an evening of fun and laughter.

Sometimes when we expend a lot of energy and time on something, and we try and try without making any headway, we get frustrated and disheartened to the point of giving up.

It could be some area in our personal walk that we are trying to sort out, or it could be a situation, or in someone we are hoping to see a marked change. 

This is when we need to realize utter dependence on God, and His timing, is necessary. This quote from Saint Philip Neri says it all:

The Lord grants in a moment what we may have been unable to obtain in dozens of years.

This moment of grace, of healing, may be just round the corner, but when we give up too soon, and we stop trying to make it better, we may deprive ourselves of this grace.

So yes, sometimes, it is a painfully long waiting game. And yet, what we do in that time of waiting is crucial. We must remain faithful to the vision we conceived, maybe years earlier, and keep chipping away at the mountain we see in front of us.

We must keep on doing the right thing: be loving even in the face of hostility. Be true to who we are, refusing to allow circumstances, people, to change us for the worse. To not bow under the oppressive weight of unchanging, death-dealing negativity.

Because I have experienced one such moment before, when God intervened in a situation I had sought to change but remained mired in for years, I know He will continue to grant me such moments in future. He alone can erase the tensions and misunderstandings within my family in a blink. Even if it has been years, I must be patient - my concept of time is not His.

In the meantime, all is not lost. I can still enjoy the little moments of laughter and joy in the shared experiences of life; of unsought for grace, especially in the trouble spots. Until God decides otherwise.

And if those blink moments do not occur, I will remember today's Gospel message from Saint Matthew, chapter 10:

You will be hated by all because of my name,
but whoever endures to the end will be saved.