Fr. Don's Daily Reflection - December 21, 2024
Psalm 62: “In you alone is my soul at rest. My help comes from You.”
"I was born and grew up in Asia and was taken to a non-Christian service by a nanny. My parents never went to church, but after returning to the US, made me go to church by myself." That helped kill any interest the writer might've had in religion. At 80, he has no part in organized religion or faith. But he says: "Your daily messages help me a lot even though I am not sure what I can believe in." He does agree, for instance, that religion should be a way through life, not an escape from it. Many of these messages resonate with him, he says, but the ones on faith "not so much". Lacking faith, he aims to "be nice, do meaningful work, and have the courage to face each new day as I age."
A retired professor touches on related issues. She writes that her beloved daughter is somewhere between atheist and agnostic. This is "one of my biggest sorrows/regrets. . . . My own sense of God's love and support are so important to me that I grieve that she does not have this consolation." On the other hand, this daughter is "a lawyer for the indigent, a public defender. My belief is that she meets God every day in his broken, human children."
Wise and eloquent David Brooks wrote of similar issues this past fall in the New York Times when he mused about how seemingly rudderless young people deal with grief, pain, disappointment or sadness. Avoiding mention of religion, he says they are best prepared when there is "a fervent commitment to some cause, some ideal or some relationship." He quotes Nietzsche: "'He who has a why to live for can bear almost any how.'" People can endure and do much if they are “idealistic for some cause . . . tender for some other person . . . committed to some worldview that puts today's temporary pain in the context of a larger hope." Much to pray about and think about!
Psalm 27: “I believe I shall see the Lord’s goodness / in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord; be strong; / be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord!”
