With everything going on in the world lately and with the financial disaster facing our country, I find myself letting my brain be consumed with so many things. I am obsessed with the election and worried about who will be running our country; I am consumed with this financial crisis and how the horrible state of the stock market may impact my family; I’m consumed with my house being on the market and worried no one will ever buy it due to the horrible state of the housing market; I listen to the news and become disheartened at the state of our world instead of thanking God for allowing me to have such a blessed life; I spend way too much time dreading the terrible 2’s that are invading our household at the moment and not enough time being impressed and grateful for the amazing little things Noah does every single day; I am consumed with guilt for never getting around to reading the 37 parenting books sitting on my bookshelves when I ought to be only focused on reading the “one” book that matters and answers everything. All of these things have been going through my mind this week when I got an email from a friend which included a passage from her daily homily that she receives each day by email. I thought it really hit home so I wanted to post it. Unfortunately I can’t give credit to the author because I do not know who wrote it.
Don’t Forget How to See Them
Dn 7:9-10,13-14 / Jn 1:47-51
Every day we are surrounded by miracles, but we rarely notice any of them--because they are always there and we grow accustomed to them. We domesticate God’s wonders and take them as part of the ordinary furniture of our lives, and that means discounting their value by almost 100 percent.
Think of the new parents who stand in wonder over the crib of their new infant, marvelling at those tiny fingers and toes, the eyes that are barely open yet, and the cry that is so loud for such a little body. “It’s a miracle,” they say, and they’re right. But before long, living every day with the miracle becomes ordinary, the wonder fades, and the focus shifts to “pick up your socks, take out the trash, and do your homework.”
It’s the way our minds work, and in one sense it’s probably a blessing because otherwise we’d be exhausted and overwhelmed all the time at the incredible goings-on all around us. But it is a pity, because so many of our lonely feelings and our wondering if God is close to us could be eased if we retained the gift of seeing what is right under our eyes.
We can regain and reinvigorate that gift of sight, if we take the time to look at the simple things of our daily experience more closely and with a more attentive spirit.
God is visible right here to those who have the eyes to see. Take the time, and experience the joy of seeing him — every day.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment