LISTENING TO GOD

By -
I am grateful.
I am grateful I have clarity of mind.
I am grateful I live one day at a time.
And mostly-I am grateful that I am listening to God.

You know-it's so easy to get lost in this life...to get swallowed up by the rush of activity that roars all around us. It's so much harder to stay grounded in the calming embrace of the silence-that is God speaking to us.

A man I know died today-suddenly. I was shocked...I gasped when I heard the news, even though he had been ill. Death is so permanent a destination from where I stand right now-that knowing someone who has crossed over-makes death feel so much more final.

This gentleman and I had just begun talking again, a few weeks ago after I extended an olive branch...Something just inspired me to walk right up to him with a smile and begin talking. It made me feel good and I guess it left him wondering-about me.
But deep within-I knew it was God guiding me and giving me the grace to go ahead and mend the broken fence. Because in the end-the real end-it isn't about what we want, but what God wants...and when he gets what he wants, we get more than we ever bargained for. I found that out today.

I immediately offered a prayer for the repose of this man's soul and for his family...and I felt tremendous relief...that I had followed my conscience, conceded to the silent prodding voice of God, and reached out to this man-before he left this life. In fact, none of the nonsense that swirled a huge mess around us mattered anymore...The past was the past...pitifully poignant, but too pitiful to hang on to.

Find a quiet space and listen closely, I am sure God is trying to tell you something really important...and believe me-you don't want to miss it!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

SUBLIME AUDACITY!

By -
Image
I have all the signs and symptoms of something I just learned about today...Sublime Audacity. That's right...I have the audacity to believe-that anything is possible-anything at all-with God. In fact, I believe that there is one cure for all the world's ills...and that cure rests with -and in God. In a world of material wealth, individual desires and carefully orchestrated managed care...When people search the world over for the answers that never come, the healings that rarely happen and the hope that always gets dashed by the next person...I believe that there is only one steady stream of consciousness that always gets it right...and that is God. I've personally experienced it time and again and every time I look elsewhere or seek some other solution, I always come crawling back to the staying power of my higher power...Because let's face it...Once we have the audacity to tell anyone-anyone at all that God is responsible for all the good in our lives or the Love that ...
Read more

OUR LADY OF JOY, HANCEVILLE ALABAMA

By -
Image
High atop a hill in Hanceville Alabama, broken hearts are being healed and hope is being restored. Our Lady of Joyful Hope is a community of young men who are finding new freedom through a life of authentic truth. Once lost in the darkness of addiction they are now living in the light of Christ who is transforming them from the inside out...And their families, if they are open and willing, are being transformed right alongside them. Recently, I spent three days with this community, listening to the young men, their parents and to the foundress, Mother Elvira, who flew in from Italy for the anointing of the new community house and the celebration that followed. Mother Elvira's life story is on par with Mother Teresa. She is an Italian nun who heard the call from God to snatch souls from Satan by delivering young men and women from the demonic grip of addiction. She gave up everything familiar, walked straight into the wilderness and wound up becoming a living legacy for desperate fa...
Read more

CONFESSIONS OF FATHER JOE BENSON

By -
As we sat in silence, meditating...I nudged my friend Terri, "What do we have to complain about?!" I whispered. There he hung, pain stricken, vulnerable in his nakedness, sharp thorns cutting into his head, pleading eyes fixed on the heavens. What I thought, on God's green earth, do I have to complain about?! That's probably why they do it...place the life like crucifix dead center-above the altar, just above the Blessed Sacrament, right where you can't miss it...just to remind us-things could be worse, but they're destined to get better-if we keep our eyes focused-on the solution. Another friend-likes to remind me-he's not on the cross anymore...So why do we keep him there? Every one's got an opinion, but to tell you the truth, I need to be reminded of the sacrifice...and every painful moment in between. Puts my problems in perspective...helps me see clearly...gives me strength to proceed. We went to first Friday adoration in the upper ninth ward.....
Read more