“God alone is enough, let nothing upset you, let nothing startle you.All things pass; God does not change.Patience wins all it seeks.Whoever has God lacks nothing: God alone is enough.” (Saint Teresa of Avila).
Life is very long. I know that it is a common cliché to say that life is short, but in fact, this earthly life is very long.
You have only to ask the mother of a child who has died whether life feels long or short to realise that grief causes time to feel still. Time goes by but it goes by slowly somehow. Things seem to drag, and the days seem never ending. Those mothers count down the days until their can be with their children again, and because they are unable to live a life united with their children, this life lingers like a painful injury, and they are constantly reminded that time is an enemy of theirs.
But I can also understand the cliché that tells us that time is also short. You see, when things are going well, people experience a feeling of the fleeting nature of time. The years rush past during the good times and we barely pay any attention to that. We are so busy revelling in the glory that we forget that everything in this world is fleeting…
Saint Teresa of Avila, who was a Medieval nun and great mystic, is considered a Doctor of the Church. Saint Teresa wrote, “God alone is enough, let nothing upset you, let nothing startle you. All things pass; God does not change. Patience wins all it seeks. Whoever has God lacks nothing: God alone is enough.”
And I have been reflecting on that today as I have been reflecting on how long or short life is, because the reality – the truth – is that life is neither long or short. Life is the perfect length for us to achieve salvation.
And I find some comfort in that. You see my children are still quite young, and the younger two in particular are coming to terms with their own mortality. And because they are trying to understand this rather frightening idea that this world is merely fleeting and there is another life to consider afterwards, they often ask me about death and the time and the nature of their deaths… And I always respond in the same way, because this is my true feeling about death… you see, death is the one certain thing in this lifetime. I know for certain that if I am born I will die. I know this with more certainty than I know that the Sun will rise tomorrow morning. You see, there could be something that happens to the sun overnight that causes it (and our planet) to die, so it is probable but not certain that the sun will rise tomorrow. And what I know for certain about death is that since we are born so that we can know, love and serve God to be with Him forever in Heaven (as we are taught this in the Catechism of the Catholic Church), I also know that the length of my life is determined by God to enable me to have an optimal chance of attaining heaven… In other words my life will be as long as is required for me to have an optimal chance of getting to Heaven.
And since I know that with all my heart, I can understand why life can be long or short. Because life will be what it will be so long as it leads me to my Beloved. And I cannot say in words how grateful I am for that!
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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