“Amen, I
say to you,
unless
you turn and become like children,
you
will not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
~Gospel
of Matthew 18: 2-3
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“The
reason why we are with these particular people is because it is precisely to
these people that Christ wants us to give his love. This year we are his
trustees for these people; he has put his love for them into our hands, into
our hearts. We did not choose this place—Christ has chosen it. We did not
choose these people—Christ has chosen them.
We are
asked one thing: to have the humility and courage to open the secret place of
our heart to Christ, conscious though we are that it is as derelict as the
stable, and that his light will reveal the mouse and the spider.”
~Caryll Houselander,
from “Lift up your hearts,”
as quoted in Magnificat,
December 3, 2018
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"Lord, give me the heart of a child
and the awesome courage to live it out"
~Catherine Doherty
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I have
had more than my fair share of “still” days lately, working hard to do my part
to let my body recover, heal, and regain strength after fighting off -- first
strep, then Thanksgiving busyness, and now pneumonia.
So many
days at home – and not running around “preparing for the holidays,” as
commercial after commercial insists as necessary, is not my normal.
Yet here
I am, sitting by a warm fire, listening to music, being quiet, and pondering what
may be the many lessons that I am learning. And I have to be honest, I’ve got
nothing!
Not one.
Zip. Nada.
What I
do know is that all this extra “rest” time: napping, watching Lifetime
Christmas movies and basketball--with some football in between, has somehow
distanced me enough from my usual point of reference to make me mellow, softer
maybe.
It has
shifted me enough to help me “notice,” pay attention, a little quicker than
normal.
So this
morning, when I read Carryl Houselander’s reflection in Magnificat,
I smiled remembering an “Aha!” moment I experienced long ago, in another life.
It was the awe I felt the
first time I realized that these “people in our lives who are given to us to
love,” as Carryl suggests, also included -- and indeed, must include, my very own
awesome foursome, my children!
God doesn’t waste any details.
God
chose each of my children to be my child. Therefore, through each of
those relationships, with each struggle and stage, and in every acceptance, surrender, and
delight… precisely through it all, rests my personal path to holiness and my salvation.
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Note: photos are of my Grands, who continue to teach me and help me grow ❤️
