I used to be an avid follower of current affairs but now I am hesitant to listen to the radio, open the newspapers, or turn on the television. It is not just that it seems to report daily the conflicts that beset us but can often cause us to feel powerless against forces beyond our control. There is a poverty or emptiness that seeks to resist being filled with violence and hatred. We discover in this place a humility that allows us to abandon everything to God and not just trust ourselves. The need to discover our original innocence is not a wishing away the problems of the world but rather an acknowledgment of how we can be present to the world differently.
In the Gospel, there is the acknowledgment of the person who gives a cup of water to another because they belong to Christ. This act of charity is not just a reward for being Christian but rather an understanding that all belong to Christ. The law of charity can not be contained to one particular religious group but follows the promptings of the Holy Spirit to reach out to those in need. It also acknowledges how we need to acknowledge daily the obstacles that remain within us that prevent us from seeking to be good to others and not just ourselves.
There is a temptation at times like these to retreat into our own castles and lift the drawbridge. That seeks to defend ourselves against the ravages of the world and hunker down for a quieter age. Where we become consumers of life rather than participants in something greater. The truth that we often need to appropriate to ourselves is that we are part of the solution not just part of the problem. In an age where trust has been stretched almost to breaking point and credulity has been tested by who we believe we can wonder who will lead us to a life of meaning. I think this is where we need to become a people of prayer not just people who say prayers.
Our prayer is an honest seeking of who God is in the midst of our current age. This is not just an intellectual pursuit to find the right words or an industrious effort to look busy about many things. I believe it is a discovery of how we can listen to God in a way that slows us down to a walking pace. This allows us to not only become aware of how many of our thoughts and feelings that disturb us do not find their origins in God. It allows a place to sift through the competing demands both physical, emotional, and spiritual that besiege us daily. By providing these oases of grace we can start to appreciate where we can make a difference. Rather than looking for what is falling apart, we discover simple acts that hold things together. These daily selfless acts run contrary to the me-too culture that wants to focus on my problems and wishes to narrow our focus only to what affects me. God seeks to expand our hearts by allowing us to discover in our own emptiness, poverty, and humility that it is the precepts of the Lord that gladden the heart. Sometimes it is important to remember that we need to plant seeds not drop bombs.
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