Weariness

“I want to warn you against a difficulty that may arise: it is the temptation of weariness and discouragement.” (Saint Josemaria, “The Forge”, at 286).

The Annunciation (Guido Siena)

It is so easy to be discouraged in life.

The other day I was working on something very challenging and right at the end, when I was waiting to organise the very last bit, I found that I was unable to focus on it.  There were simply too many distractions to discouragement.  It seemed that at the end that everything would fail and that there was really no point in progressing at all.

And when I considered all the various factors that contributed to that discouragement, it seemed that the most significant factor was a lack of faith.  I had a lack of faith in myself and a lack of faith in others and a lack of faith in God.  And the more I doubted those other people and myself the more I doubted God.  And it was like a self-fulfilling prophesy, because my doubts fed my behaviours and those doubts made things even more difficult.  And I realised that this is just a temptation.  It was a temptation to give in to doubt rather than to commit to faith.

Saint Josemaria wrote in “The Forge” at 286m “I want to warn you against a difficulty that may arise: it is the temptation of weariness and discouragement. Isn't it still fresh in your memory what life -- your old life -- used to be like, with no aim to it, no purpose, no sparkle, and then, with God's light and your own dedication, a new direction was given to it and you were filled with joy? Don't be so silly as to exchange your new life for that other one.”

And that discouragement to commit to a life of faith can be expressed in a million little ways – It is evident in the temptation to despair of success at work.  It the temptation to despair of success in my social life.  It is the temptation to despair of success in my family.  It is the temptation to despair of anything at all.  After all, if I could only choose to have faith in the little things, then I could choose to have faith in the big ones as well.

And this means that if I make a decision not to be discouraged in my faith, I must make this decision – first – in a hundred different ways in every aspect of my life.  I must choose not to despair in my work and my home and among my friends.  I must make a decision to hold firm to my faith in od’s power to turn ALL THINGS to the GOOD.  And I must remember that there is nothing of which I should be afraid.

And if I could just remember not to be afraid, I would never be discouraged again.  And if I could practice a lack of discouragement then I would not need to despair every time that things looked like they were not going my way.  And if that happened, then I would be able to move forward in my life more easily and without fear…  For what have I to fear – I who am a child of God?

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