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“It's not enough to be good; you need to show it. What would you say of a rose bush which produced only thorns?” (Saint Josemaria, at 735).

Sarah Leading Hagar to Abraham (Caspar Netscher)

I like to write.  I always have.  For many years, as I worked in one of my businesses, I also taught children how to write.

There is a sort of art to good writing.  Basically, a good writer must “show” the reader what they are trying to say without telling the reader about it.

And this is a very significant thing.  You see, to show someone what you are trying to say it means that you need to paint a picture in their mind.  And that is not an easy thing to do.  After all, we can start by telling a story and if we do not engage the reader by helping them to imagine themselves in the story then we are doing them a disservice, because they will be unable to participate in the story in the same way that other people would having read the same thing.

Some of the ways that a good writer may show the reader what they are trying to say is through their choice of words and literary devices.  When a writer is able to construct a sentence carefully they are also able to lead the reader along in a journey where the reader is able to understand the story and make sense of the message being conveyed.  The writer is in this way also able to progress the reader through a series of emotions so that they are able to understand the message.  And this is why sometimes a person could cry while reading a piece of writing, or they may laugh or be afraid instead…

I have been reflecting on this action of showing the story as I have been thinking about my lived experience of faith.

Saint Josemaria wrote in “Furrow” at 735, “It's not enough to be good; you need to show it. What would you say of a rose bush which produced only thorns?”

And that is really the crux of it.  There are such juxtapositions in our faith – great suffering – “take up your cross” and great love – “love your neighbour as yourself”…

There is nothing passive in that sort of juxtaposition.  It is all action – all decision-making and all effort.  We cannot sit quietly by and do nothing while our faith gets somehow lived out – outside of our volition…  We are called to live our faith.  We are called to show that lived experience.  We are called to be alight to the world.  And how can we be a light for the world if we constantly hide our faith?  If we pray in secret so that nobody notices, who will know that there is such a thing as prayer?

And the balance is hard to achieve because it is one thing to say that we will show our faith and quite another thing to actually do it – for the risk of this is pride and hypocrisy!

And today, I pray for the Grace to show my faith humbly – without hypocrisy.  For this is an impossible task without GRACE…

For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.