Discouragement

“And Mary said:  ‘My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant…’” (Luke 1:46-48).

Madonna and Child (Antonello de Messina)

I have been thinking about how hard it can be to get things right.  By the very nature of the sort of work that I do so much of it is centred around accuracy.  The work that I am required to do must be accurate and detailed.

And I have been thinking about that over the last few days.  Because it causes me all sorts of problems when I make a mistake.  Now the problems are generally not because of the mistake itself but because I have become conditioned to expect perfection of myself.  And this is terrible thing to do.  For when we expect perfection, we lose a little of the humility that allows us to remember that we are not capable of anything in and of ourselves.

And this is a terrible thing.  Because everything that I have – and everything that you have too – is a result of the Grace of God.  There is literally nothing at all that I could achieve on my own.  Every achievement in my life, and every good thing that I have ever done, has been done and achieved only because of the Grace of God.

And it takes a great Saint to be able to see that…

The Blessed Virgin mirrored the Lord in His Glory…

“And Mary said:  ‘My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant.  From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the Mighty One has done great things for me - holy is his name.  His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation.  He has performed mighty deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts.  He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.  He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty.  He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, just as he promised our ancestors.’” (Luke 1:46-55).

And Saint Therese of Lisieux said, “It is true that I am not always faithful, but I do not give way to discouragement; I just place myself in Our Lord’s arms, and He teaches me to draw profit from both the good and the bad in me. He shows me how to gamble on the bank of love, or rather, He makes all the investments without consulting me. It is not my concern to know how much I am winning; what I have to do is to give myself entirely to Him. After all, I am no prodigal, there is no need for Him to prepare a feast for me, because I am always with Him (Luke 15, 310).”  (“Story of a Soul” at page 132).

And I have been thinking about that when I am discouraged by my mistakes.  For it seems such a silly thing when my God turns all things to GOOD…

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