Thank God!
Have you stopped to thank God today? It's so easy to get caught up in our day to day lives and be swept up by the passing current of activity that we forget Who blesses us with every good thing.
One thing Fr. Emmerich Vogt, O.P. always mentions in his talks on the 12-steps is that God wills what is universally good but so often we don't really believe it. Or perhaps we believe it in theory but not in the reality of our lives and so therefore many of us live as practical atheists. And I think I have to agree.
It seems to me that if we really believed that God wills what is universally good, meaning that we are all included in that, then we couldn't help but be open to all the ways that God leads us, guides us and showers us with gifts. It's a mystery really, how we so often want to sit on the throne of our own lives and relegate God to the backseat when we all know what happens when we try to control everything and everyone around us- we experience utter frustration, resentment and sorrow.
Yet, as we allow God more and more in our lives and give Him control, something amazing happens-that peace which we have been looking for all along by trying to control things and people around us descends upon us, that peace which only Jesus can give and the world cannot take away. But we can't receive this peace of Christ as long we are trying to take over! I think this is peace St. Paul speaks of when he says that he willingly boasts of his weakness that the power of Christ be made manifest in him. St. Paul finds that hidden truth, that hidden enigma of giving our small wills to God and having God give us everything in return.
Where can we begin and continue on this journey? A great place to start is that of making acts of thanksgiving. A grateful heart is capable of receiving many blessings!
One thing Fr. Emmerich Vogt, O.P. always mentions in his talks on the 12-steps is that God wills what is universally good but so often we don't really believe it. Or perhaps we believe it in theory but not in the reality of our lives and so therefore many of us live as practical atheists. And I think I have to agree.
It seems to me that if we really believed that God wills what is universally good, meaning that we are all included in that, then we couldn't help but be open to all the ways that God leads us, guides us and showers us with gifts. It's a mystery really, how we so often want to sit on the throne of our own lives and relegate God to the backseat when we all know what happens when we try to control everything and everyone around us- we experience utter frustration, resentment and sorrow.
Yet, as we allow God more and more in our lives and give Him control, something amazing happens-that peace which we have been looking for all along by trying to control things and people around us descends upon us, that peace which only Jesus can give and the world cannot take away. But we can't receive this peace of Christ as long we are trying to take over! I think this is peace St. Paul speaks of when he says that he willingly boasts of his weakness that the power of Christ be made manifest in him. St. Paul finds that hidden truth, that hidden enigma of giving our small wills to God and having God give us everything in return.
Where can we begin and continue on this journey? A great place to start is that of making acts of thanksgiving. A grateful heart is capable of receiving many blessings!
Comments