How often have you heard this from your children or grandchildren? Or worse, how often have you uttered it yourself, either audibly or inaudibly? And how much more frequently these words are uttered today, in our supposedly more modern, advanced world filled with gadgets and gizmos. We have more stuff, less time and greater bouts of boredom. We have millions of bits of stimuli bombarding us daily, yet we are too often overcome, or give in to, boredom. We have God’s natural beauty surrounding us, His love residing within us at every moment, yet we yawn.
Boredom is unnatural; it is disordered. Whether it falls under the heading of apathy, sloth, indifference, idleness, dreariness or lethargy, the end result is a dulling of the senses and a loss of interest in the seeking of truth. This dulling of the senses often leads to sin by way of boredom. It is like a drug; it sets an ever increasing stimulus threshold in order to be satiated. It requires more and greater stimuli to zap us out of our self induced comas. Left unguarded, it eats away at our prayer life, and zaps us of source of strength. Boredom, an act of the will, comes from the inside. It is caused by a lack of action on the inside, not the outside. Yet we seek solutions for boredom on the outside. This is insane! We try to fix the inside by looking for solutions on the outside. The problem is within. We look to the world for a finite fix instead of looking to God for an infinite solution. In doing so, we move further away from God and deeper into Satan’s web of lies. Saint John Vianney reminds us of the solution to our every boredom. He tells us that, “Everyone is ready to run after the latest novelty. But as for Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament, He is deserted and forsaken.” The maxim, “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop” is true because when we are idle the will is not directed or focused. If we don’t direct our will, someone else will do it for us. As boredom is not a natural state, our body seeks to rid itself of it, almost at any cost. Through the abuse of drugs, alcohol, sex, sports, shopping, work, etc., endless amounts of time and money are spent trying to fill the God-shaped hole inside of us with anything and everything but God. Stop seeking temporal solutions to an eternal equation. Do not let boredom be a contributor toward evil; let it be a catalyst toward good. Allow the restlessness you feel to motivate you toward seeking God’s will. If we would only take the time to be with Jesus, through prayer, adoration, sacraments, we could not possibly be bored. As Saint Augustine tells us, “You have made us for yourself, O God, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you. Be not bored, rest in Him.
0 Comments
“If only” is one of Satan’s favorite mines that he lays. If he can get you to trigger a couple of his "If only" mines, pretty soon the terrain of your mind is severely damaged. If only I were rich, if only I were pretty, if only I were thin, if only I were tall, if only I were…
From there, it moves onto others. If only my husband was, if only my wife was, if only my parents were, if only my kids were, if only my friends were, if only, if only, if only. Ultimately, it leads to if only God was…. If only is a subtle, but unmistakable first step away from God. Satan, with a little help from us, now has us questioning God. We go from doubt to discouragement to despair in no time at all. And it all started with a simple phrase, if only. With these two little words, Satan sows negative seeds which can blossom into flowers of destruction. What started out perhaps as a moment of self reflection or maybe a simple daydream has turned into a nightmare. So, the next time you are feeling sorry for yourself, rather than head down the path of "if only," and "what might be," why not move closer to "what is" and "what will be" praising God and claiming your birthright, as Child of God! Rather than desiring what is not present, why not be present to your truest and most complete desire, God. As Child of God, there is no need for “If only,” there is only love. If we begin to desire only what the Father desires, we will soon be in perfect union with Him. Let Saint Peter of Castroverde’s prayer be your own, “Lord, may I think what you want me to think. May I desire what you want me to desire.” He has Risen! He has risen, indeed, Alleluia, Alleluia.
We have talked about the simple truth that God is love. This blog post presents a corollary truth, that is, what God permits He can redeem. In the words of Saint Alphonsus Ligouri, “Souls that really love God know that everything that happens in this world is either ordered or permitted by God.” Nothing happens to us that is outside of God’s will. While certainly things do occur outside of God’s perfect will, nothing could occur outside of God’s permissive will. (If something could occur that was outside of God’s will, than He wouldn’t be God.) And whatever He permits can be redeemed. Because of the true nature of love, God never forces us to love Him. In order to be able to freely give our love to God, we must have the ability to withhold from God this love. This is called free will. In the exercise of free will, we can choose to not love God. In short, we are free to sin. Our sins a are permitted by God, but certainly they are not willed by God. God never positively wills sin, but He does permit it, and can even redeem it for His glory and for the salvation of souls. The greatest example of this is the crucifixion of Jesus. It was, at once, the worst thing that ever happened and the best thing that ever happened. In the Easter Proclamation, we hear, “O happy fault, O necessary sin of Adam, which gained for us so great a Redeemer!” What He permitted (Adam’s sin), He redeemed (via the New Adam, Jesus.) Without Jesus’ death and resurrection humanity’s relationship with God would have remained fractured and the gates of Heaven would have remained closed. God, who is love, loves us where we are at, in the midst of whatever we may be doing. In loving us, truly loving us, He offers us the opportunity to have even our sins repurposed. God used Satan’s plan to destroy humanity to instead save humanity. Saint John Chrysostom reminds us that the “devil, in spite of himself, becomes, as it were, an instrument and coefficient of holiness.” Likewise, in our lives, God can redeem our sins and suffering, our trials and temptations. He can write straight with our crooked lines. Our moments of weakness, of anger, of fear, of pride, of envy, of hatred, etc. can be redeemed if we give them over to God. Find yourself yelling at the kids or angry at your spouse? Know that this can be redeemed. Find yourself gossiping about a friend or lying to yourself? Know that this can be redeemed. Find yourself slacking in prayer or struggling with an addiction? Know that this can be redeemed. Find yourself sick or suffering? Know that this can be redeemed. Find yourself doubting God? Know that this can be redeemed. God can use the worst to bring about the best. He can use ugliness to bring about beauty. He can use death to bring about new life. So as we celebrate Easter season and look forward to Pentecost, we can place our hope in a God who loves us and desires us to be saved. His mercy endures forever. |
AuthorBaptized Child of God. Member of the Church Militant. Husband and father. Archives
June 2020
Categories |