Well, my challenging year seems to be continuing. Since my last blog post, I have lost a very good friend of mine that I've known since childhood and have had pneumonia and a few secondary infections and things that have sidelined me. Through it all, though, I did have some wonderful moments where I saw and talked to good friends, old friends and family members and that is always a great thing, don't you think? Some days I do feel adrift, from the loss and recoveries, but to be honest I do have a very solid prayer life and that always keeps me centered when I take the time each day to say them. I also belong to an on-line novena group that delivers them right to my email address. If you are interested in receiving them as well, visit www.PrayMoreNovenas.com and sign up for them. Another great thing I do for myself is I have the readings of the day delivered right to my email address. You can get them as well by visiting http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings.
Now you too have a few wonderful sources to help you meditate on the readings of the day and enrich your own prayer life.
Over the course of this year I have a had a few people comment on my faith. Some acknowledge how strong it is and others say they wish theirs was as strong. Do you want me to let you in on my secret? I'm nobody special. The only water I can walk on is the same kind that everyone else can walk on, it's called ice. My secret can be summed up into a few short, but powerful, words:
Let Go, and Let God.
Trust in Him and let Him work in your life. Let's face it, left to our own devices we can and do make some really stupid mistakes. I know I have. To me, the Serenity Prayer hits the sentiment right on the nose when it says, ""God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference."
Certain things in life you can't change and those are the things that you leave up to God. I was just thinking of when I was lying in the hospital for the umpteenth time this past March, with an I.V. attached to my arm and the antibiotic starting to course through my vein, thinking of my own mortality. I was receiving the best medical care, but, that doesn't always conclude with a restoration of health. People die all the time when they seem to be responding to treatments and doing well. When illness strikes that is the perfect time to surrender yourself totally and completely to Him. If you are meant to be healed, then you will be healed. If not, offer your suffering up to Him for all of the stupid mistakes aka sins, that you have done in the past. It is purifying. That's where the wisdom part comes in. Seek medical attention if you feel something is wrong physically or mentally. God does work through healers but also trust in Him that what is going to happen to you is meant to be. God doesn't make mistakes. People suffer and die. It is part of the human experience but that doesn't mean that we do it alone. God is always with us, even when we don't feel that He is.
I loved the Gospel reading from May 26th. It was Mark 10:13-16:
"People were bringing children to Jesus that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them. When Jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them, "Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the Kingdom of God like a child will not enter it. Then he embraced the children and blessed them, placing his hands on them."
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