I couldn’t finish my blog this week. Can I have an extension? Looking at my current schedule I think I could have a blog ready for you by next, ….um, do you have any plans for Mardi Gras? I’m sorry but I’ve been really busy. Lately, It feels like whenever I finish my project I’m already late on the next project. And if I ever do get a moment between projects well then I start a new project. Which wont get done because I have to finish the first project.
And then I have all these decisions to make! I have big decisions and small decisions. I can’t decide what I need to decide on next. I’m so busy and stressed. Do you know what I mean? Have you ever had one of those weeks, this week? Well fine! Just wait you’ll feel busy and overwhelmed to one day! We all do. Then what are you going to do about it?!?
I didn’t have time to explain this picture…
Alright stop, lets calm down. Lets think about how we can manage this stress a little better. Sorry we’re feeling calmer now. Sometime on weeks like this I just got to remember to.
Live life one moment at a time.
My father sometimes tells me that no one has ever died with an empty in box. Everyone has goals they feel they need to accomplish. And our goals are a good think. But we need to remember that life doesn’t begin after we have accomplished our goals. God isn’t waiting to bring us peace after we have finished something. God wants is with us to bring us peace in this moment. Faith is a journey not the destination. A God is part of every step in that journey. So When though journey gets tough, stop and reflect on where God is right now.
This is doubly true for big decisions. I had a wise friend who recently became a nun. But for a long while before she made that decision, I saw her struggling with it. She would often say that she had discerned for that day. That day she knew she wasn’t ready yet. So she asked God how to serve him that day and that is what she could decide. By taking her path one day at a time and finding Gods peace along the way she was eventually lead to the big decision. Only God could see the whole path. If you get ahead of God you will only get lost. So take your Journey one step at a time.
Save time for your neighbor.
Luke 10:29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” 30 Jesus replied, “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and he fell among robbers, who stripped him and beat him, and departed, leaving him half dead. 31 Now by chance a priest was going down that road; and when he saw him he passed by on the other side. 32 So likewise a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. 33 But a Samaritan, as he journeyed, came to where he was; and when he saw him, he had compassion, 34 and went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; then he set him on his own beast and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
You ever wonder why we call it the parable of the good Samaritan instead of the parable of two busy Jews? Because I think its really a parable about two busy Catholics. Weather we are the priest walking home from mass or the parishioner who going towards it we all believe we are doing Gods work. Whatever makes us busy probably is very important. But to be justified in the eyes of our lord we must always make time for our neighbor in need.
Sometimes that neighbor is not who we expected. Often that neighbor feels like an intrusion in our busy schedule. Then this is even better. When we help those in need we help Jesus in need. And when our neighbor intrudes in our lives it is Jesus who is breaking up our busyness. One good encounter with God can transform your business completely. Always leave Jesus some time to interrupt.
Listen for the language of God. I think Christians worry far to much about the voice of God. Scripture is the voice of God. The Magesterium is the voice of God. I know a priest who discerned his vocation because a Bee landed on his finger. I know this guy who learned about the Virgin Mary from a Batman movie. The voices are everywhere!
It is Gods language that is always the same. Because the only language God can speak is Love.
1 Corinthians 14 “4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.”
So when you hear the words that are patient and the words that are kind turn towards those voices. When you here the words that make you angry, the words of the self-seeking, hold those voices in contempt. Listen even harder when you feel like giving up. Because the language of love will “ . . . always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” [More of Corinthians 4]
Beware the seasons. Some Catholics believe we should live lives of prayer, be silent and retreat from worldly cares. Others claim we are called to live lives of action, to speak out for the oppressed and to reshape this world. Who is right? Well they both are. To be Catholic means to take action and to pray; be silent to speak out. We must retreat from the world even while we save it. We can’t always do these at the same time. That is why Gospel teaches us our lives will have many seasons.
Ecclesiastes 3 1-8
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavensa time to be born and a time to die,
a time to plant and a time to uproot,
a time to kill and a time to heal,
a time to tear down and a time to build,
a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,
a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing,
a time to search and a time to give up,
a time to keep and a time to throw away,
a time to tear and a time to mend,
a time to be silent and a time to speak,
a time to love and a time to hate,
a time for war and a time for peace.
Do not live in Lent forever. We all must fast for a season but we should all feast when our savior returns. Do not live in summer forever. We will all have times of laughing but we will all need out time to mourn. And do not stay busy forever. If you have been busy for a long season then you should take a season to rest. If you have been resting stand up, your heart can not rest until it rests in him, take a season to serve. Either way this should not be the only way you meet God. God is a good of all seasons, feasting and fasting, serving and resting. Spend some days in every season and find God in all seasons.
I couldn’t finish my challenge this post. I’m just to busy and stressed and I don’t know what I want it to be. I guess I should listen for God in my busy season and let him guide through it step by step but that has been a real challenge this post. So I’ll have that for you as soon as I can. Is Martin Luther King Day good for you?
