“The key to true joy is obedience to the Father’s will and conformity to Christ’s life, as closely as possible. The saints found true joy in serving Christ because they desired to suffer with Him.” – Steve of Canberra.
As my resource person for tomorrow’s Lingkod prayer meeting lectured me about his friends Francis of Assisi, Ignatius of Loyola, Therese of Lisieux, Ignatius of Antioch, and Teresa of Calcutta, I listened and took down notes, becoming all the more convinced that those saints were really set apart and holy for they desired poverty over riches, contempt over praise, and humility over good standing. Yes, some of them would probably have been kept in an asylum if they had been alive during our time, for they embraced a way of life that was totally out of this world. So out of this world, that I’m sure they’re all in heaven now, praying for us that we make it too – not to be canonized but to merely be victorious in our little battles. This blog is teeming with such struggles in the little world that I live in. Wish that I could make friends with the saints as well.
The way of the Lord is the exact opposite of the call of the world, and the more I ponder about it, the more I understand why I struggle and wage war against myself a lot. My conscience pulls me in the direction God wants me to take, but unfortunately I am not cut out of the same bolt of cloth, it seems, as the saints were. It’s a good thing that they laid down their lives like that for people like me to hear about. It gives me inspiration and allows me to hope and believe that God sees and blesses my prayers when I ask for strength and grace to be able to do what is good, despite the tug, nay, pull, that seems to be a constant part of life here on earth.
It is in poverty, while I am in the desert in terms of some aspects of life which I thought were important, and while I am gravitating more towards simplicity and silence, that I seem to hear God speaking more clearly. He uses concrete persons to deliver His message too. But to simply hear does not mean that I listen, let alone obey. I have miles to go before I sleep.
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