The summer for us usually is not a time for relaxing and laying back, re-charging the batteries, etc. It's our most hectic time of the year. Tough to find is the quiet time to spend with Our Lord, a few moments to sit on a large grey rock and say the Rosary or to just think about the day. To survive in this world one must push on to get ahead. And so it seems. I know my mindset is like that at most times, from morning till night; this needs doing, plants need watering, a lawn calls to the mower, where you been? The whole thing can easily get away from someone (like me). Fortunately my wife Helen helps to keep me grounded, helps to bring me back around to the Truth when stuff, the everyday stuff begins to overwhelm me. I'm still under the way of thinking that I can take care of all problems first, and ask the Lord for help later. Very rarely do I, when confronted with a problem, take a deep breath, speak to Our Lord or the B.V.M, and ask for help or guidance, to put the whole problem in their hands, and then to listen in silence. My wanting to help sidetracks me to places I don't want to go, don't belong. Helen addresses almost everything in the same way; Lord Jesus, Blessed Mother, what do you want of me? Show me the way. She is so grounded in her faith and love of God that I'm like a small child, tagging along, who mostly whines and cries.
Woe to me, mother, that you gave me birth!
a man of strife and contention to all the land! Jeremiah 15:10
I don't know if I'm a man of strife and contention to all the land, but I think I am to myself. At times my internal world is so uneasy, a seeming battleground of tensions and images, that, where I not somewhat grounded, not focusing on things above, I could not remain where I am. I find the pull of this world, well, not strong, but perhaps overwhelming. It is everywhere, and to me, it is not good. When I do find the time to quiet down the inside, when prayer comes in its fits and starts, I long for a more peaceful life for the two of us. The long hours at work have taken their toll and the Lord is calling. Perhaps a life in a Franciscan community, or maybe start one ourselves. I place it in the hands of Our Lord. My son, give me your burden. Do you not know that I will carry you? You only have to ask.
Oh, Jesus, my Lord and God
I cry to You for faith,
the faith to give to you
all I have, all that I am,
and in return
to finally accept your love,
love so freely given
but one that I
have turned away...
2 comments:
A man, by his very nature, always wants to fix things; he wants to take the "bull by the horns", so to speak. My husband calls this trait being proactive ;) and in this respect he is a true Martha... anxious and worried about many things in order to provide for his family. As Helen intercedes for you, I intercede for him.
You mention Jeremiah's complaint; remember that at the end of his complaint the Lord promised to deliver and rescued him. As we are faithful so too is the Lord, who will never be outdone in generosity.
Today Jeremiah tells us about going to the potter’s house. He watches the potter work the wheel as he molds and reshapes the clay until it is just what he intends it to be. His work takes time.
“Like clay in the hands of the potter, so are you in my hands…..”, says the Lord.
Peace
When reading this first off, I will never understand the complete love you have for me. As I have for you. I can't help but feel that Martha and Mary together comforted Jesus. It is in these differences that we are brought to His love. Does that make any sense? Martha as busy as she was, taking care to physically comfort Jesus was the only person besides Peter himself that said Jesus was the Christ, the son of God. That simple servant and friend was brought through faith, to see Jesus most clearly We are all imperfect vessels. It is only in the hands of God that we are made perfect. Each of us as individual as an original work of clay. I can only strive to be molded into that precious cup he once asked me to become. The only way to become that is to place myself ,with all my imperfections, into his hands. This we can do as our morning offering, as our first breath. And we can also do it at every holy mass. We must unite ourselves, our lives to that sacrifice on the altar. He will do the rest. I love you.
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