I came across an interesting quote today that expressed our tendency to pray to God to help where we are unwilling to meet a need ourselves. Of course, the Cosmos is a huge and complicated place and there are many things we literally cannot make better; however, I wonder if perhaps my first thought when I pray for another is to ask myself what I could do to help. C. S. Lewis wrote that if our giving doesn't pinch a bit and smack of being a bit more than we can easily afford, then we aren't giving enough.
I think often I want more, more, more for myself out of fear. This is an uncertain world and the current drama over my full time job taught me how very fragile my self-reliance is - it doesn't take much to totally change one's circumstances and I am often fearful of what lies around the corner. In Philippians 4, St. Paul states that he has learned to be content no matter his circumstances. I think equally important to present contentment is having the security to know that I will still be content - whatever tomorrow brings.
I am so, so far from St. Paul in my attitude. Though I wonder sometimes if fear and stress about possible hardship is, in the end, far worse than the actual hardship. I think it is. What do you think?
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"Fear hath torment, he that feareth is not made perfect in love." And no, I do not know the chapter and verse of that. But I know the truth of it very well.
ReplyDeleteOne of the very real advantages of getting older is having a wider and deeper perspective. You can look back, and ponder all the things that once scared you to death. And to paraphrase Mr. Lincoln, most of the things I feared never happened.
On the other hand, we ARE living in times we haven't seen the likes of since the 1930s, maybe. Jobs are being permanently lost, more young people than ever in American history are UNABLE to find a job--and if you're my age and have been unemployed a while--gah!
All of which to say--day by day does it. My current schedule has proven to be harder than I thought it would be. But it always feels worse when I look at the calendar in month-long chunks and think, "How on earth can I keep this up??" I actually do much better if I just look at TODAY. Today, holding tight to my Father's hand, I can do.
Day by day, once step at a time, one moment at a time, that's how we can walk this rocky path. ;-)
Day-by-day is a good philosophy. I once described writing a dissertation as like climbing a mountain. Don't look up and don't look down - just look at the next handhold and keep moving.
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