My purpose in these posts is to bring a variety of Christian witnesses and writers in reflecting on life, encounters, and various situations, in a desire to enhance our understanding of what it means to be a missionary disciple of Jesus Christ at the service of the common good and directly or indirectly give glory to God and extend the Lord's work of salvation to all of humanity. G.S.
----------------------------------------------------------------
Life is beautiful but complex, and we human beings are complex living beings with many dimensions: body, mind, heart / psyche, and soul / spirit, with physical senses - exterior and interior - varied intellectual and psychological faculties such as perception, conceptualization, cognition, memory, imagination, and so on. We also have "spiritual senses and faculties" such as conscience, the ability to say no, the ability to reason and distinguish between good and evil, and a capacity for relationship with our Creator God.
Please feel free to come back in comments with any thoughts or questions you may have. Please also feel free to share this with close family and friends, such as with you spouse if you are married. Companions on the journey of life help us to understand ourselves as they take interest in listening to us give expression to our thoughts, feelings, experiences, questions, doubts, fears, anxieties, and deep desires.
WHAT ABOUT GOD?
Our God will always be mysterious... 3 divine Persons so close in communion that they are as one, one God, one divine being, which is an intimate communion of divine persons. This means that our relations with them, with God, will probably always also be mysterious.
That being said, there are many ways to pray, to "be with God", in the course of our busy lives, and each form of prayer offers us a different and complementary experience, a different way of "being with God, visiting with God" who is ALWAYS PRESENT. The sacraments are particularly powerful ways to "be with God" and to receive all that God wants to give us.
WHERE IS GOD AMID OUR INTERIOR "VOICES"?
In our days and nights, as we pay attention to ourselves and agree to explore our "inner world" in our mind, heart, body, and soul, we discover three kinds of "voices".
THE PRIMARY "VOICE" WITHIN US IS GOD OUR CREATOR
The primary "voice" within us often goes unnoticed simply because it is the united Voice of God embedded within us, in the centre of our soul, rooted with us from the very first moment of our conception, in our immortal soul. In our deep center, in our soul, we are forever young, because our soul is immortal. Someday, in the resurrection, God will transform our bodies - wherever they are - and make them immortal like our soul, as Jesus was after his Resurrection, and as Mary is since her Assumption into Heaven. This voice of God within us is like the instinct that guides migratory birds to their destination.
Our spirit is naturally oriented towards God our Creator to guide us to Him. However, our human condition now, since the original sin, is like a fog making it a little more difficult to notice, to recognize, to discern God's voice within us. Not to worry, the Most Holy Trinity watches over us like good parents watch over their children and pour into us life, vitality, their love, and spiritual helps we call graces to lift us up, enlighten us, form us, and guide us along the way; always respecting our free will.
The Presence of God within us is, since our Baptism, the natural environment of our interior life. Our basic inner voice emerges from God into our own self, our own person, in the living "being" that we are with its different "components": our mind, heart, body, and soul. This voice of our individual and unique "self" sometimes echoes the truth, but often enough, it may be mistaken. That is why we live "in the school of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph", the Holy Family. We are constantly being "formed" and "guided", and the choice is always ours to make. The Word of God in the Bible is our basic diet and spiritual nourishment... we need at least a little from the Word of God every day.
THE SECOND VOICE WE NOTICE IS OUR OWN
Our first "voice" is therefore our own. As we take in the Word of God, and "offer hospitality" to the Father, to Jesus, and to the Holy Spirit; they form and develop who we are, and they give us divine light, they correct misconceptions and misunderstandings, and they guide our inner voice to keep us on the right path.
THE FIRST VOICE WE NOTICE AS INFANTS IS THAT OF OUR PARENTS... THEN, THERE ARE OTHER VOICES OUTSIDE OF US TOO
There is a second "voice"... that of others around us and in the bigger world. We at times hear echoes within us of the voice of our parents, grandparents, and other significant people; who have contributed to our formation. Their voices become part of us and part of our own inner voice.
WE NEED TO KNOW THERE IS A THIRD VOICE... THAT OF THE ENEMY OF MANKIND
There is a third "voice"... that of the "enemy of mankind" which tries to turn us away from God and lead us astray. Originally, as in Genesis, the first book in the Bible, this enemy was the demon, the devil, the rebellious angel, who is jealous of us, wants to obstruct our relationship with our Creator, and ultimately to destroy us. God permits this enemy to tempt us so that we may learn to recognize the lies and reject them, and fight against the darkness and choose to walk in the light. Parents are reflections of God the perfect Parent as they love their children and let them go out to play and to school and face the dangers in the world, because life is worth living, and they form and guide their children to recognize and choose the good and to discern and reject the bad.
BEWARE OF "DARK THOUGHTS" WHICH ARE LIES COMING FROM THE ENEMY
So, whenever you may be assailed by "dark thoughts": such as "I'm no good. I'm a failure. I'm terrified, I can't do this; so, why even bother trying." and so on, we need to recognize them for the lies that they are and to reject them. God offers us all the grace we need to do this, but it always remains up to us to use our brains, think things out, seek guidance and support, and in the end, choose the good and reject the bad.
WE HAVE FREEDOM TO CHOOSE
We have freedom to choose the attitude with which we will face any situation. When we become aware of anxiety, fear, and any trouble, challenge, or temptation, the trick is not to panic. Rather, we take notice of what is happening, admit that to ourselves: "O yes, I recognize that; or, yep, that's me all right; or hey, wait a minute, that's not true." Then, we turn our attention away from it and turn our attention instead to God who loves us. "Daddy God, look at what the sneak is trying to do to me. I reject it. Be with me. Lift me up. Show me the way." and so on....
It's like driving at night. We must never focus our attention on the headlights coming from the other direction, because we tend to go where we look, and we don't want a head-on collision. So we notice the opposing traffic lights with our peripheral vision but keep our central vision and attention focused on the road ahead. Well, it is like that as we live our interior world. We notice the bad things, the distractions, the temptations, the dangers, but we deliberately turn our central focus and attention to the Most Holy Trinity dwelling within us. We make little conversations with God and live in anticipation of the light, the guidance, the warmth, the peace, the love that they want to give us.
PRACTICE BRINGS FAMILIARITY AND GREATER EASE
The more we try to practice these things, the more familiar with God and his ways we become, and the more God reveals us to ourselves and we get to understand ourselves more and more. We become more and more grateful for the gift of our life, and we become more and more open and kind to others.... We will still have anxieties, but we bring them to God and He changes them into peaceful action. We still have fears, but God changes them into knowing that He loves us....
© 2004-2024 All rights reserved Fr. Gilles Surprenant, Associate Priest of Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montreal QC
© 2004-2024 Tous droits réservés Abbé Gilles Surprenant, Prêtre Associé de Madonna House Apostolate & Poustinik, Montréal QC
+ + + + + + + + + + + +
