Losing my life

Friday, February 17, 2017

From the Gospel passage for today:

Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the Gospel will save it. (Mark 8:35)

Two propositions in this verse, and two brief reflections:

Whoever wishes to save his life will lose it: There are things in our life that we hang on to that lead not to an increase and flourishing of the spiritual life and our journey to God, but which influence us to move in the other direction. It’s hard to let go of these things. Sometimes, in fact, it’s even difficult for us to recognize them for what they are and so we need to ask for guidance and wisdom; it is also a good idea to consult a mentor or spiritual director to help us see what we, in our covetousness, cannot see. Do you want to grow closer to Christ and the life He offers? Well then, let go of . . .

Secondly, whoever loses his life for my sake and that of the Gospel will save it.

I would like to reflect on the practice of meditation (or contemplation) and see how it can help us develop and enhance our ability to let go. When we try to meditate by focusing on our breathing and resting in the presence of the Lord, a vast parade passes by. In the parade are our thoughts both sublime and trivial, our doubts, our fears, our regrets, our plans for what we’re going to do after the meditation, the issues and concerns of the day, the people we love or the people we have trouble dealing with, etc., etc., etc. Meditation doesn’t result in us losing all of these things, but rather it helps us develop the ability to let them pass by as part of the parade. We choose not to follow them and let them take us where they want us to go. It’s difficult at first, and some days are a lot more difficult than others.

But again I emphasize the fact that we are not going to find these things disappearing from our lives, but we will find that we develop the ability to “lose” them, to set them aside and to re-focus our attention on the Lord and on the breath of life that He breathes into us. (That’s right: just take a deep breath and enjoy a contemplative moment).

A simple example: The other day, I was disappointed about something very trivial, but the feeling of disappointment was quite strong. With a few breaths, I was able to allow that disappointment to pass by and I returned to a state of equanimity, thank the Lord. And I recalled how it was years in the past, when I could let a disappointment grab hold of me and affect my mood for the rest of the day! So by letting go of the disappointment and allowing it to pass (in other words, by losing my life,) I gained my life back, a life which set me free to express my gratitude and to go about my day free from a preoccupation that would have cost me so much.

Has this ever happened to you?

God bless you! Have a nice weekend.