"The times are bad! The times are troublesome!" This is what humans say. But we are our times. Let us live well and our times will be good. Such as we are, such are our times. "
This insight from Saint Augustine reminds me not to just gripe or be defeated by circumstance but rather to rise up against adversity and manufacture light in the darkness, to be a star maker as Margaret Silf suggests in chapter 14 of Landmarks.
In the Third Week of Saint Ignatius's Spiritual Exercises we are invited to unite our sorrows with Christ's Passion and allow Him to redeem our "bad times", just as He first redeemed our lives by dying on the cross.
No matter what life throws our way, there is always a way out and a way up. As long as we walk alongside Jesus to Calvary, the irrevocable, heinous mistakes of our lives and its tragic losses, all our personal griefs, they can be crucified on the cross and be transformed into beacons of hope in the landscape of our lives.
For through Christ we are offered glimpses of God's eternity, kairos moments that will mark a change in how we journey forward.
While constantly grieving our less than glorious and painful moments is not a recommended activity, contemplating these events in the garden of Gethsemane or on the road to Calvary can bring solace, enlightenment and reveal to us a meaningful and joyous path that we can walk.
In this deliberate choice to experience death, or kenosis; we can be born again, a new creation. And thus, through the bitter seeds of our suffering, shoots can emerge and blossom so others can enjoy the eventual fruit.
We are saying to God, in Paul Baloche's words: As bread that is broken, use our lives, as wine that is poured out, a willing sacrifice. We are allowing Him to direct our hearts and hands beyond the personal hurts and universal horrors we experience on a day to day basis.
Today is Gaudete Sunday where the third candle of Advent was lit and we are reminded by the readings that we are made to be happy and the way to happiness, as Luke points out is to live in a way that reaps happiness: honestly, helpfully, generously and righteously.
Thus to live well is not beyond our reach and is irrespective of the times we live in. We just have to make the choice to live out the good news in our lives, that Immanuel, God is with us, is here.
This insight from Saint Augustine reminds me not to just gripe or be defeated by circumstance but rather to rise up against adversity and manufacture light in the darkness, to be a star maker as Margaret Silf suggests in chapter 14 of Landmarks.
In the Third Week of Saint Ignatius's Spiritual Exercises we are invited to unite our sorrows with Christ's Passion and allow Him to redeem our "bad times", just as He first redeemed our lives by dying on the cross.
No matter what life throws our way, there is always a way out and a way up. As long as we walk alongside Jesus to Calvary, the irrevocable, heinous mistakes of our lives and its tragic losses, all our personal griefs, they can be crucified on the cross and be transformed into beacons of hope in the landscape of our lives.
For through Christ we are offered glimpses of God's eternity, kairos moments that will mark a change in how we journey forward.
While constantly grieving our less than glorious and painful moments is not a recommended activity, contemplating these events in the garden of Gethsemane or on the road to Calvary can bring solace, enlightenment and reveal to us a meaningful and joyous path that we can walk.
In this deliberate choice to experience death, or kenosis; we can be born again, a new creation. And thus, through the bitter seeds of our suffering, shoots can emerge and blossom so others can enjoy the eventual fruit.
We are saying to God, in Paul Baloche's words: As bread that is broken, use our lives, as wine that is poured out, a willing sacrifice. We are allowing Him to direct our hearts and hands beyond the personal hurts and universal horrors we experience on a day to day basis.
Today is Gaudete Sunday where the third candle of Advent was lit and we are reminded by the readings that we are made to be happy and the way to happiness, as Luke points out is to live in a way that reaps happiness: honestly, helpfully, generously and righteously.
Thus to live well is not beyond our reach and is irrespective of the times we live in. We just have to make the choice to live out the good news in our lives, that Immanuel, God is with us, is here.
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