We talked about how God speaks to us last Friday and many things came up. Scripture. Sacraments. People. Events. Books. Television. Movies. Music. Nature. Art. Beauty. Conscience. Truth. Prayer. Reflection. Journalling. Dreams. Stillness.
The possibilities are unique and numerous, especially if we can, like Ignatius of Loyola, find God in all things. It does presuppose we are looking for God and listening hard though.
S put it most pithily: When I am conscious, He speaks to me; when I am un-conscious, I speak to myself.
To develop mindfulness, we must fine-tune the ears of our hearts to the pitch of His voice for He talks to us constantly, but in whispers as subtle as the breeze playing with the leaves. As Saint Paul recommended we need to pray without ceasing.
This attitude of heart recognizes the primacy of God. In Matthew's Gospel, he says: Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
The problem is righteousness is never an easy choice when we are faced with the realities of office politics, and when other peoples' agendas or realities are quite different from our own.
I struggle with how to make the right decisions at times when faced with situations where things are not so clear-cut.
I begin to wonder how much I can bend the rules at times, without putting my soul into perdition. How long is a piece of string?
Even though my intent may be good, what others want may alter how a situation turns out and it is not always within my control to influence the outcome much.
I forget that there is always a choice, even in a Mexican standoff, and the choice is to go with a decision where I may be at the losing end, but my conscience is clear.
To swim against the current of convention if I know in my heart of hearts what is the right thing to do. And I do, if I listen to His whispers, even if He is telling me something I do not really want to hear.
So rather than crack my brains to come up with a legalistic answer that will prevail in a court of law, I submit murky situations to His will and keep an open mind to how He will "arrange" things.
He usually comes through with ingenious answers that leave me marvelling in wonder and with the realization that I did not need to agonize that much in the first place.
As they say, father knows best and this Father certainly does, so listen well.
The possibilities are unique and numerous, especially if we can, like Ignatius of Loyola, find God in all things. It does presuppose we are looking for God and listening hard though.
S put it most pithily: When I am conscious, He speaks to me; when I am un-conscious, I speak to myself.
To develop mindfulness, we must fine-tune the ears of our hearts to the pitch of His voice for He talks to us constantly, but in whispers as subtle as the breeze playing with the leaves. As Saint Paul recommended we need to pray without ceasing.
This attitude of heart recognizes the primacy of God. In Matthew's Gospel, he says: Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
The problem is righteousness is never an easy choice when we are faced with the realities of office politics, and when other peoples' agendas or realities are quite different from our own.
I struggle with how to make the right decisions at times when faced with situations where things are not so clear-cut.
I begin to wonder how much I can bend the rules at times, without putting my soul into perdition. How long is a piece of string?
Even though my intent may be good, what others want may alter how a situation turns out and it is not always within my control to influence the outcome much.
I forget that there is always a choice, even in a Mexican standoff, and the choice is to go with a decision where I may be at the losing end, but my conscience is clear.
To swim against the current of convention if I know in my heart of hearts what is the right thing to do. And I do, if I listen to His whispers, even if He is telling me something I do not really want to hear.
So rather than crack my brains to come up with a legalistic answer that will prevail in a court of law, I submit murky situations to His will and keep an open mind to how He will "arrange" things.
He usually comes through with ingenious answers that leave me marvelling in wonder and with the realization that I did not need to agonize that much in the first place.
As they say, father knows best and this Father certainly does, so listen well.
No comments:
Post a Comment