Fr. Don's Daily Reflection - December 10, 2024
Psalm 62: “In you alone is my soul at rest. My help comes from You.”
Yogi Berra put it succinctly and accurately: "Wherever you go, there you are." While change, a vacation, (going to the lake as we say in Minnesota), a day off, getting out into the country--or into the city, a movie, dinner out, while any of these can give us temporary surcease or a lift, it may be a bit like a diabetic taking some sweets to avoid a crash. The problem in our life may be more profound.
The ancient Roman letter-writer Seneca answered a friend’s complaining letter thus: "Are you surprised, that after such long travel and so many changes of scene you have not been able to shake off the gloom and heaviness of your mind? You need a change of soul rather than a change of climate.... Do you ask why such flight does not help you? It is because you flee along with yourself.”
While we work to allow God's grace to form us more after the image of Christ, we’ll need patience with our present self. Some self-acceptance may be required so that we can get on with our life. Surrendering ourselves to God's grace, some trust in the New Creation we became by baptism, these take time. They can make this self less burdensome as we experience small upswings, changes for the better. In many ways all life is Advent, patient waiting and receptivity.
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!”
