Greetings, Sisters, Brothers, and Friends of the Community!
It has been raining here since yesterday morning, and almost all the snow that we have been moving from place to place by hand and machine over the last several months has disappeared! I can see brown frozen grass again! It made me think about this past winter (it was a LONG one!) and all the energy and calories we burned moving this white stuff around, but not really being able to do anything about getting rid of it. We had to wait for some other intervention to do that for us.
So, is there a lesson in this for me? (Since I have so much to learn, there is a lesson in almost everything for me!) EFFORT is an interesting thing. It is necessary, and yet we sometimes put too much value on what it can do. Drawing a bit from DeMello here, effort can change your behavior, but it can not change you. It can put food into your mouth, but it can not produce the appetite. It can put you in bed when you are tired, but it can not produce sleep. It can be used to pay someone a compliment, but it can not produce genuine admiration for that person. Effort can perform acts of service, but it is powerless to produce love or holiness. Effort can plant seeds and water the garden, but it can not make things grow.
Effort is important, because it is our part of helping God with His creation; it is our part of setting the stage for our spiritual transformation. But let us not think that this is the whole of it. Without the power of the Holy Spirit, real growth and change does not happen. It is a gift. Do not think that by your effort alone you will change the world or even yourself. It is important to do what you have to do each and every moment, but also to stay connected to God in Christ so that he can work through you to do what He does.
Do you ask yourself, “What do I want out of life?” or do you ask, “What does life want out of me?” One is effort-based. The other is almost effortless. You choose!
Know that God loves you all!
Your huffing and puffing Brother,
Daniel-Joseph
