Do Not Unpack and Get Comfortable

I will admit - I am a nest builder.  Whenever I've moved into a new home - I have thought about it, planned it, seen every room in my mind's eye.  When the faithful day comes, I know where I want each piece of furniture (movers love me - I can tell them exactly where to sit the couch and put the bed) and I know where to hang each picture upon the wall.  I feel safe, centered.  Life is in order. Life is good.  But is it?

And here comes the truth -- is this what God wants for our relationship with him - our journey to eternal life?  Do we tend to get to a point and stop for a while - unpack, hang pictures on the wall?  Go to Mass each Sunday, pray three Rosaries a week and pray before meals without a thought of the journey that the Lord has laid before us.  I know over my life I have many times - I grow,/move, arrive at a place and then get comfortable - too comfortable to move forward.  I come up with reasons why I cannot move - Lent is coming - so I will just stay here until Easter.  Easter comes, well it's Easter now - I like it here - I think I will hang another picture. And on and on and on it will go.

Our faith is one of growth - movement.  We are not meant to stop and move in.  We are meant to keep putting one foot in front of another.  Step by step till we reach the pinnacle of our love - the one who has loved us with an unending love - the one who created us, who loved us first.

So, why do we stop?  Why do we move in?  For me, I think it is one of fear of the unknown.  I like to understand and know what my next move will be. I tend to let life take my focus away, I can easily get "caught up" with what is going on around me and loose sight of what is stand right before me.

  But faith does not work that way - it will take us into the unknown - it takes our focus off of what is round us and moves it to what is in front of us - the Father's love.  Faith will take us to heights of which we have not dreamed of.  It will take us to people who we have not met or loved yet.  It is not always easy - it is not meant to be.  It is to be one of desire, longing, and movement.

In the Gospels we always see Jesus in movement - going from one city to the next, moving from one person to another.  We never hear of him "moving in" somewhere - even the cross could not keep him.

Growing in faith calls for movement - it calls for us to reach farther, experience God's love even deeper than we did yesterday.  It is one of learning, praying, doing.  We are called to love others as our selves.  We are called to love God above all others.  We are not called to stand still and settle in. - unpack and hang pictures.  This should  simply to be a rest stop; catch our breath and then arise and keep going.

This Lent will be for me a time of growth, movement.  I feel God's call to listen - hear His call - move closer and deeper in love with Him.  It does not mean I will abandon family and loved ones - just the opposite - my prayer is that they will join me on this journey. 

Now I need to take down those pictures....

Greener Grass

When I was a kid, one of my Mom's favorite sayings was "the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence."  Meaning when we are having troubles, everyone else's life always looks so much better than ours.  Now grown, actually it is greener on the other side of the fence - my neighbor waters their grass all summer - so when my grass is brown and crunchy - their is lush and beautiful - but at what price - see I live in the city and  have city water - so we pay for every drop that comes out of our spicket.  I'll water my flower pots, but we let the grass go - it will rain, eventually, and then it will be green again, and my husband will have to start mowing again.  I've thought about getting a rain barrel to capture rain water for my flowers -- but that's a whole other topic for another blog post on our responsibility to care for God's creation.  Let's get back to the grass is greener thought.

This past weekend's Gospel (John 6:60-69) we hear Jesus ask Peter if he was going to leave too - Peter's response is perfect "Master, to who shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life."  Being Christians is not always easy - we hear the Gospels challenging us to work to live better lives, to love those who hate us, and to give without expecting return.  But as Peter - who would we go to but Christ.

Well, this has had me pondering this week --- what is the difference of "life with Christ" and "life without Christ."  I know my life with Christ has not always been a cake walk - there is not some prayer which makes all my troubles go "Poof" and disappear from my life.  But I look to some of my family members who do not believe in God - and think about what does their lives look like?

Those who are without faith seem to live for the here and now -- and for themselves.  They may have successful work and may seem to skate through life.  But we don't truly know what is lying underneath and at what price does this life style come with.

Ok, this lead to another thought to ponder (I know, I move from one thought to another - but hang with me - I have a point.) I began to think about how wonderful other people's lives look like (greener grass.)  It can be very easy to laps into the lifestyle society has laid out before us.  When I was a young bride - my new husband was not Catholic and though he was a believer, he was not interested in attending weekly Church.  I found it hard every Sunday to get up and go to Mass by myself - and found I was looking for excuses to not go.  I was only thinking of me - my needs. Eventually,  I was able to break that cycle by volunteering for things with the Church - it helped me to give service but also make a support system so that even though I was driving to Mass on my own, once inside I had a family in faith there ready to greet me.  I also found new strength in attending weekly which gave me the courage to live a life of Christ.  This is why when I'm asked about the need to attend weekly Mass - my answer is that it is important - it renews our faith - it feeds our souls - and it prepares us for the week ahead.  And the big answer - Mass is not about us - it is about praise the Father and thanking him for all the blessings he has given us.  This is an important point I think many of us sometimes forget.

So, I reason the big question for our lives is - not green grass or brown crunchy grass but whether we we choose death or eternal life.  I'm sure you can guess my answer.