Gratitude, part 2: Gratitude and hope

Expanding our capacity for gratitude leads to an increase in the virtue of HOPE. Look at it this way: the more aware we become of just how much God cares for us on a regular, daily, hourly and consistent basis, the better able we are to avoid panic, discouragement or despair when we are confronted with some trial or disappointment in the present. As the hymn has it: “’tis grace that brought me safe thus far and grace will lead me home.” God has been there for me in any and all difficulties yesterday and the day before and throughout my life. Surely now God is going to help me in this particular situation, he is going to help me through this trial, he will help me “break through any barrier” as it says in the psalms.

                There is a clear admonition in the Scriptures to REMEMBER what God has done. Consider these verses from Psalm 78:  “. . . they too should set their hope in God and never forget God’s deeds.” (Psalm 78:7)

Psalm 78 is the story of Israel in the desert on their way to the promised land, and it is a chronicle of how again and again the people angered God. Every time they came up against a new difficulty or obstacle, rather than remember all he had already done for them, they gave themselves over to doubting and whining and complaining.

Of course, we’re never like that, are we?

Anyway, if you have a chance this weekend, go and read psalm 78, a saga about what happens when an entire nation of people loses its sense of gratitude, and therefore its sense of hope. (Or perhaps you can go and read a few articles in the news this weekend or any day.

Gratitude, Part One

Gratitude, Part 1.

"Now think what God has done for you; give thanks to him with all your voice."
(This is an antiphon we sing at morning prayer on Thursdays).

I used to challenge my students by having them make a “gratitude list” in their journals—a list of things they would like to thank God for. For some, this was a difficult assignment at first. I was as if their “gratitude pipes” were clogged and it took a while to get things moving.

Next, I would ask them to thank God for things that happened within the past week. Finally, I would narrow it down to just one day. Again, some of them would find this difficult.

How about you? How would you answer these questions:
---How has God touched my life today?
---How, and through whom or through what has he spoken to me?
---What beautiful things has he set before my eyes to savor and enjoy? (Perhaps that beautiful cloud formation in the sky that I took delight in while driving down the highway . . . )
---How has he answered a particular prayer of mine?
---How has he handled a situation I wasn’t sure about in a way that I never would have figured out?

(You can add to this list yourself.)

And so one task for the day is for you to sharpen up your “antennae” as they cast about your life looking for things you can give thanks for.

Thinking like this, by the way, introduces some subtle changes in your brain circuitry. If you’re not used to regularly giving thanks, you’ll be surprised to see what develops.

No need to worry

There are times when I worry about things: how they’re going to turn out, or how I’ll manage to solve a particular problem, or other thoughts of a similar nature.

Sometimes I need a gentle reminder that it’s not my job to worry this way, that all things are in the hand of God, and that he has ways working out problems and solutions that are far beyond anything I can figure out on my own.

Bluntly put, the lesson is this: I’m not in charge. I’m not the director. I’m not the problem solver. He is. And even when it looks like I’m the one solving the problem, it’s only because God has given me the insight or idea or solution.

Within the past two weeks, the Lord took care of two things I was fretting about, in two ways that I never imagined would come to pass. Wow.

“Lord, I believe. Help thou my unbelief.”

What are you going to do next?

I told a friend last night that I had retired. And just like so many other people I told about my retirement, her first question to me was, “But what are you going to do now that you’re retired?”

Common question, certainly; a caring question; a curious question; perhaps even a worrying question.

“What are you going to do?” After all, don’t we need something to do in order to give meaning to our lives? True. (Note that I am doing something—I’m writing these lines, something that I rarely had time for when I was doing what-it-was-that-I-was-doing before retirement.)

And, I must confess, I wonder what I’m going to do as well. I have a list of projects in mind that I never had the time to dig into before. But something else is also important. I have to leave the space and the time open, because there might very well be something that the Lord has in mind for me to do that I don’t even know about at this point in the journey. So I need time to slow down, to meditate more, to savor so many of the things that I didn’t have time to appreciate when I was busy doing ______. 

And, above all, I need to be open to the promptings of the Spirit. That above all.

I’d offer one piece of advice to you if I can, and this is something that I had to learn the hard way: we all would do well not to over-identify ourselves with our jobs, titles, roles and functions at any stage of our life. Because things change. It is far more important to focus on who we are than on what we do.

And that being said, I have to move on. There are a number of things I would like to get done today . . .

Grace is not imposed on us

“Life continues to be offered, not imposed.” (Oliver Clement, The Roots of Christian Mysticism, p. 40)

Clement is speaking about new life, life in the Spirit, that fullness of life that Christ promises when he says, “I have come that they may have life, and have it more abundantly.” (John 10:10)

This life is offered to us but it is never forced on us. We are not compelled to grow in wisdom, or in the virtues, or in anything else that would enlarge our lives and make us grow closer to God and, ultimately, to his kingdom in the world to come. It is there for us to choose freely: God yearns for us to choose life, and if we ask, he sends us all the help and graces we need to make it happen. But we have to ask. We have to choose.

And so, what choices are set before you at this point in your life? What choices are set before you today? What will bring you to the “fullness,” what choices however will empty you out and set you apart from what Christ had come—and died—and rose from the dead—to give you?

And here’s a little trick: don’t think on any grand scale. Think small. The little things, taken together, lead to the greater ones.  12-steppers know so well how they have to work on their recovery on a day-to-day basis, paying mindful attention to the little aspects of the struggle. All of us, too, need to work out our salvation, our ultimate union with God, in the same way: one small step at a time.

Today, perhaps, I will read something inspiring rather than plop myself down in front of the television   set.

Today, perhaps, I will let the other driver go first instead of fighting for control of the road.

Today I will not give my energy to that person who robs me of joy and wholesomeness.

Today I will speak with someone who brings out the best that is within me.

Today I will meditate, even if only for 3 minutes.

Today I will look for opportunities to perform some small generous acts, especially in areas where I tend              to be selfish.

Today I will smile more.

Today I will give thanks as often as I can remember.

Today I will spend time with that hobby or that creative work which lifts me up and brings me joy and    peace.

Today, you will . . . 

IMHO is back

Welcome again, everyone. I'm now retired and have more time to read, think and pray . . . and also more time to write. My goal is to publish 5 or 6 daily reflections each week. Please pray for me the the Spirit will inspire me to offer something on a regular basis. And, above all, please tell others about this blog and to use the comments feature to stay in touch with me.

God bless you all,
Fr. Bede

Can going to Mass actually change us?

I came across this in my lectio today, and thought it worth sharing.

 

"Ritual action is always self-engaging and full of risk. Through our offering gestures we open ourselves to the possibility that we will be changed forever. We cannot pray to the living God to receive us and our gifts without the real possibility that God will accept these offerings and make us and them the Body of Christ. Such is our faith; such is our hope. It is a risk we take in the belief that whatever we have left behind will be repaid a hundredfold in this life and the next. Since we do not live our lives all at once, we come back again and again to Eucharist to offer ourselves and our gifts in order that bit by bit we may be transformed into the very One we receive in communion."

C. Vincie, “The Mystical Implications” in A Commentary on the Order of Mass of The Roman Missal, 2011.

 

Have a nice day.