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We Must Not Fear Our Busy-ness
"Now, how do we refer our thoughts, words, and actions to God? By our intention - that is, by the motive [for doing all we do]... in other words, if, being in a state of grace, we generously accept all the obligations of a Christian life, having the sincere desire to offer all to God -- our intention is pure. We effectively practice simplicity as long as our soul remains in this state and attitude, even if we are not always actually thinking of it. "The traveler who is on the right road," says St. Thomas, "has no need to think at each step of his destination."
Emmanuel de Gibergues, "Keep It Simple - The busy catholic's guide to growing closer to God" , New Hampshire, Sophia Institute Press, 2000, p 6, 12
posted by Holly at 6:00 PM
1 Comments:
I think I spent too much of my life worrying that my vocation was somehow hampering my relationship with God. As I mentioned in MROL, I even shut some of my books thinking a deep personal relationship with God was out of the question for me, simply because I was a busy mom and not hidden away in a mountain retreat house.
But since God wants me to be a Mom, then He isn't going to penalize me for this. He hasn't placed me in a vocation where He is absent.
For those of us who, even after having eliminated most of the busyness of our minds, still must think - like planning the next month's curriculum, and getting our grocery lists together - we need to understand God asks this of us.
God can do anything, and He can pop in to our lives and make His Presence felt when He wants. We know this.
But we can also learn the ways to foster this, to dispose ourselves. Purity of intention is one way. And this deals with our motive.
If we are trying to please God; if we spend time working out our rules so that we can be more available to God; if we fulfill our duties faithfully because we know that is what God wants; all of these are pure motives, and by themselves, make us more open and aware of God should He chose to reveal Himself.
It is also the answer when we have to think and fill our minds with other things besides thoughts of God. By taking the time before each new scheduled event, and bringing ourselves into his presence - Hey God, I'm gonna do this next chunk just because I love you, to please you - this is all God asks. What more would any parent want from a child?
And as St Thomas says, we don't need to stop and re-assess whether we're going in the right direction. If we're busy following our rules, we are on the right path. Our rule will lead us to where our heart wants to go.
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