Removing

“You are the light of the world.” (Matthew 5:14-16).

The Garden of Eden (The Metropolitan Museum of Art)

The other day I was speaking to someone about what I was bring called to do in my life.  As we progressed in the conversation we began to speak of timeframes.  I was in a hurry to make some changes in my life.  And this person simply asked me why.

And at first, I provided a whole lot of superficial answers about this that meant neither one thing or the next.  But later, I found that those answers did not satisfy me at all.  And so, upon reflection I realised that I was eager to move on from one thing so that I would be able to move into something completely different.

Then, of course the discussion began to focus on why I needed to make space for the alternative thing.  I was actually doing it anyway – after all – and in doing that I was actually able to remain focused on two things at once.  After some reflection and discussion, I realised that the reason I was in such a rush was that I wanted to further engage in the second thing.  And the result of that was that – after realising that there really was no barrier to my doing that anyway – I realised that there was actually no real hurry in anything at all.  Instead, I would be able to simply enjoy the moment that I was in and to focus on that in an organic and honest way.

At about the same time as I began to focus more diligently on the secondary thing that I thought I had not been able to focus on, I read the following words by Saint Josemaria, in “The Forge” at 362, “God is not removing you from your environment. He is not taking you away from the world, or from your condition in life, or from your noble human ambitions, or from your professional work... But He wants you to be a saint – right there!”

And I have been thinking about that today.  There is such a calling to sanctification through the work that we are called to do and the life that we are called to live.  Every interaction that I have in the world is an opportunity to call others to Christ.  I am being asked to live my life with such Christian Charity that God will be able to be seen – in all His Glory through my work.

And that is an easy enough thing to think about when I am curled up on my couch at home, and quite another thing when a client is annoying me or a staff member is trying my patience.  It is one thing to think that when I am alone in my room and quite another in a crowded space where I might be able to say or do something that would lead others away from God instead of towards Him.

And so, today, as I say my prayers and as I think about removing all those things that I used to think were in my way, it occurs to me that there is less to remove than I otherwise thought and perhaps more to add.  For Christ told me, “You are the light of the world.” (Matthew 5:14-16), and light is an addition that requires no removing at all…

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