Do Not Be Silent

Buried in God's Will

“Do not live in fear, little flock. It has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom.” (Luke 12:32)

The temptation to worry seems to be part of the human condition.  Some of us have actually been trained in the “art” of worrying, being led to believe that in some way it helps in our management of life. As if worrying about something is a way of rendering it powerless, when of course the opposite is true. "Can any of you by worrying add a single hour to your life?" asks Jesus in Matthew 6:27.

I'm comforted by knowing that if Our Lord asked this question, it's because there are others who, like me, need to hear ourselves say "no." I am also glad to know there is something I can do when I'm attacked by anxieties and fears. "When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You," says Psalm 56:3. This may sound too simple, but it's actually a good, solid beginning. It places before me a choice. I can focus on worries and concerns, or I can choose to place my trust in God... regardless of how I feel.

"So do not worry," Jesus told His listeners. "Your heavenly Father knows what you need. Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be given you as well. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself." (Matthew 6:31-34)

"Entrust yourself entirely to God," said St. Paul of the Cross; "He is a Father and a most loving Father at that, who would rather let heaven and earth collapse than abandon anyone who trusted in Him.” 

"Cast all your worries upon Him, because He cares for you." (1 Peter 5:7)

"And of what should we be afraid? Our captain on this battlefield is Christ Jesus. We have discovered what we have to do. Christ has bound our enemies for us and weakened them that they cannot overcome us unless we choose to let them. So we must fight courageously and mark ourselves with the sign of the most Holy Cross." (St. Catherine of Siena)

"When you notice that your heart is moving away even the tiniest bit from that inner peace that comes from the living faith-experience of the divine presence in the soul, stop and examine what the cause of this anxiety might be. Maybe it is some worry concerning your house or children, or some situation you cannot change at present. Bury it in God's loving will." (St. Paul of the Cross)

For Reflection:  

Do I have trouble trusting in God? Perhaps it will help if I realize that even in the midst of worries and concerns, I can make the choice to place my trust in God. My feelings may be trying to run my life in this matter, but I can choose not to let them do so.

A Prayer:  

Lord, I may be having a difficult time trusting totally in You. I know You understand this. I ask You to heal me, and I choose - in spite of whatever I may be feeling - to turn the management of my life over to You. Please open my eyes to Your tender love and concern for me. 

My past, O Lord, to your mercy; my present, to your love; my future, to your Providence!”  (St. Padre Pio)

Painting: George Hitchcock, Girl on Her Way to Church

In God We Trust

Revisiting Hidden Corners

"Don't be one of those who give God everything but one little corner of their heart, on which they put up a notice board with the inscription: 'trespassers not allowed." (Father William Doyle)

This quote is making me wonder.

I try to give God every part of my heart, truly I do.  Daily I do.

But are there any little corners I might have closed off to Him? "You can have this and this, Lord... but... maybe not that." I don't say it, of course. Not in words.

Yet I ask myself. Am I determined to manage some area(s) of my life the way I want? Am I a bit fearful to turn any particular something over to God, lest He arrange things in a way I might not prefer?

Am I feeling pretty good about having given, maybe, ninety percent of myself to Him - perhaps even patting myself on the back for being so generous, while I cling fiercely to the rest?

If so (and I reluctantly admit that in my case, this IS so), I think perhaps Our Lord is patting my back too, accepting my gift with love. But He does not stop there. I cannot imagine Him "patting my back" without then slipping His arm around me, asking me to invite Him into that corner, encouraging me to let Him take care of anything I've kept away from His love.

"Trust Me," I can almost hear Him saying, and I know this is not an imaginary exercise at all.

His plea for my trust is very real.

With His grace, day by day and step by step, I can let Him come inside the wall. 

Here I stand, knocking at the door.  If anyone hears Me calling and opens the door, I will enter his house and have supper with Him, and he with Me.”  (Revelation 3:20)

Text not in quotes © 2015 Nancy Shuman
thecloisteredheart.org

This is a respost from our archives. It is linked to Reconciled to You and Theology is a Verb for 'It's Worth Revisiting Wednesday.' 

Still Carrying the Flame

We who fully embrace God's truth may at times feel like someone standing with a candle in an artificially lighted room. We have found, in Scripture and Holy Mother Church, the authentic fire of God's love.  Holding in our hearts this genuine, precious Light of truth, often we find ourselves in the presence of something that appears to be light, but that is no more fire than a light bulb is fire.  

We have all experienced "artificial light."  We live surrounded by it.  The world is drowning in it.  It is the "light" that says we're doing just fine without God.  It's the "light" that, if it credits God for even existing, shoves Him to the periphery and makes its own way without Him.  It reminds us, in one way after another, that humanity now considers itself "enlightened."  We have harnessed electricity, walked on the moon, decided when life is valuable enough (to us) to be born and when it's useless enough (to us) to end.  It's quite convenient and tidy, this artificial light.   It reveals the ingenuity of mankind, and it's more appealing than a messy candle that burns to a nub as it carries the flame.  It is Today's light, self-sufficient, broad-minded, politically correct - and certainly more sophisticated than the humble flame once carried by John, Peter, Paul, Benedict, Francis, Therese.  

I suppose we would feel quite foolish if we were to stand around in electrically lighted rooms holding candles.  We would know people were talking about us behind their hands, probably snickering, perhaps feeling sorry for someone so silly as to stand with an old fashioned candle in a lighted room. 

But what if there were a storm, a lightning strike, a downed power line?  What if the room suddenly fell into darkness?  It's at such times when people dash about in search of candles.

Storms come to everyone, at some time or other.  The artificial light reaches only so far.  Regardless of how bathed in self-sufficiency a person may be, eventually there is sickness, there are crises, there are times when darkness falls and the man-made lights we've relied upon all of our lives flicker out. It is often during times of storm when people go in search of Real Light.  It is then that they look for those who carry it.

As ones who live for God in the midst of the world, we are surrounded by light that is no light, or at best is temporary "this-world-light."  We might feel different from our neighbors if we're seen to be carrying the Real Thing.  We may be known as ones who don't hold the popular opinion, ones who live as if God actually exists, ones who go so far as to live as Jesus said to live.

If so, we can know we are not alone.  We can remember that God is with us, that the saints dealt with the very same thing, and that there are "carriers of the fire" all around the world, in this very age of the Church.

We can also know that God has us where He wants us, in our neighborhoods and workplaces and families.  All around, there are people who are (whether they realize it or not) looking for living, breathing examples of the Real Thing.

If storms come to their lives, such persons may be relieved to find us there, still standing firm, still caring, still giving example.

Still carrying the Flame. 

"Your light must shine before men so that they may see goodness in your acts and give praise to your heavenly Father."  (Matthew 5:16)

© 2016 N Shuman 
thecloisteredheart.org    



This is a slightly edited repost from our archives. It is linked to Reconciled To You and Theology Is A Verb for 'It's Worth Revisiting Wednesday.'  
 

Are There Any Little Corners?

"Don't be one of those who give God everything but one little corner of their heart, on which they put up a notice board with the inscription: 'trespassers not allowed." (Father William Doyle)

This quote is making me wonder. 

I try to give God every part of my heart, truly I do.  Daily I do. 

But are there any little corners I might have closed off to Him? "You can have this and this, Lord... but... maybe not that." I don't say it, of course. Not in words. 

Yet I ask myself. Am I determined to manage some area(s) of my life the way I want? Am I even a bit fearful to turn any particular something over to God, lest He arrange things in a way I may not prefer? 

Am I feeling pretty good about having given, maybe, ninety percent of myself to Him - perhaps even patting myself on the back for being so generous, while I cling fiercely to the rest?

If so (and I reluctantly admit that in my case, this IS so), I think perhaps Our Lord is patting my back too, accepting my gift with love. But He doesn't stop there. I cannot imagine Him "patting my back" without then slipping His arm around me, asking me to invite Him into that corner, encouraging me to let Him take care of anything I've kept away from His love. 

"Trust Me," I can almost hear Him saying, and I know this is not an imaginary exercise at all. 

His plea for my trust is very real.

With His grace, day by day and step by step, I can let Him come inside the wall. 

Here I stand, knocking at the door.  If anyone hears Me calling and opens the door, I will enter his house and have supper with Him, and he with Me.”  (Revelation 3:20)

Shall I Trust?

            'If we allow our worthlessness and our infidelities to paralyze
            and set limits to our trust,
            we have failed to understand thoroughly
            the love and goodness of God,
            and we know not the life of self-abandonment.
            This life of self-abandonment is for all souls
            who are wistful for self-forgetfulness,
            who give themselves without reservation,
            or who, at least, desire to make this gift.
            It is for all souls whose happiness it is
            to substitute Jesus for their own ego;
            to disappear, to die,
            that they may live and grow in Him.'

                (from Fervorinos from the Lips of the Master, compiled by a Religious, Pelligrini, Australia, 1940, pp. 178-179)

               Painting:  Byam Shaw, The Caged Bird, 1907, cropped

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Amid Storms and Rainbows

I gave given myself to God as much as I could; in effect, I've signed over to Him all that concerns me.

How beautiful is His welcome, His acceptance, His love!  But what happens (I can't help but ask it) when trials come along?

I choose in advance, by a sheer act of my will, to place my trust in Jesus.  I might be swallowing a lump as I do so, but today I make my choice.

I choose to make my own this prayer of St. Faustina...

"I know that I am under Your special gaze, O Lord.  I do not examine with fear Your plans regarding me; my task is to accept everything from Your hand.  I do not fear anything, although the storm is raging, and frightful bolts strike all around me, and I then feel quite alone.  Yet my heart senses You, and my trust grows, and I see all Your omnipotence which upholds me.  With You, Jesus, I go through life, amid storms and rainbows, with a cry of joy, singing the song of Your mercy.  I will not stop singing my song of love until the choir of angels picks it up."




Painting:  Karl Friedrich Schinkel, Gotische Kirche auf einem Felsen am Meer, 1815, detail

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Strength for Everything

As those of you in the path of "Sandy" have prepared and watched and waited and endured, others of us have hunkered down in prayer.  I pray that you who are dealing directly with this trial will know very clearly that Jesus is at your side.

"We know that God makes all things work together for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his decree." (Romans 8:28) 

“I am the light of the world.  No follower of mine shall ever walk in darkness; no, he shall possess the light of life.” (John 8:12)

"In Him who is the source of my strength I have strength for everything."  (Philippians 4:13)

"Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are Mine.  When you pass through the water, I will be with you; in the rivers, you shall not drown.  When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, the flames will not consume you.  For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior."  (Isaiah 43:1-3)

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Only Willows

"I recommend to you holy simplicity. Look straight in front of you and not at those dangers you see in the distance. As you say, to you they look like armies, but they are only willow branches; and while you are looking at them you may take a false step. Let us be firmly resolved to serve God with our whole heart and life. Beyond that, let us have no care about tomorrow." (St. Francis de Sales)

How often I've been terrified by "willow branches."  Such wispy, tender, fragile things; but when seen across a distance they can loom large and ominous against a shadowed horizon.  They bend and sway in the wind, their leaves rustling against one another.  To an active imaginer, why... they positvely hiss.

My terrifying willows, of course, have never been of the grows-by-a-riverbank variety.  Still, I am often surprised when the armies I see in the distance turn out to be gentle gifts, planted in my "cloister garden" by the generous hand of God.  I've made many missteps trying to avoid the "willows."  You'd think by now I would have learned.

With this in mind, I'm beginning a project of gathering "pieces of grillwork," through which I can learn to keep my focus on God and on His will for TODAY.  I would like to share the fruits of such gatherings with you, and I'm doing so by adding more "stand alone pages" to this website.  It is a project barely begun at this point, but I invite you to check out the start of it (like looking at the plans for a building, perhaps!), and to watch each part as it unfolds.  You can do this by clicking on any one of the topics in the above list lined up across the top of this screen (scriptures, prayers, quotes, etc.).  When you want to come back here to the blog, just click on the word "Home."  I expect to update these areas daily for awhile.

I think we all need a bit of an "oasis" in a world-gone-frantic.  My hope is that this blogsite can be a place of holy rest, where we can focus for a moment on Our Lord in the midst of our busy lives.

Scripture tells us to direct our thoughts to "all that is true, all that deserves respect, all that is honest, pure, admirable, decent, virtuous, or worthy of praise."  (Philippians 4:8)

With that as a directive, I now go on a joyous hunt for treasures with which to fill our thoughts....