“…You need to burn your boats once and for all, so that there is no chance of going back.” (Saint Josemaría wrote at 907 in “The Forge”).
I have been really busy in the last few weeks.
I am not complaining about it, but I have been – nonetheless – extremely busy.
I have had loots of things to do around my home and lots of things to do with my family and lots of things to do with my work. I have had family members who were unwell and children who required attention. I have been struggling to get everything done.
And of course – as is often the case – when there is a very big workload, somethings get missed or left behind or drop off the to do list.
And I have been thinking about that today, because it is very telling when I consider what is being missed or dropped off my to do list…
Christ called the apostles to do His work. And He called them saying, “The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.” (Matthew 9:37-38).
And it occurs to me today that I am in fact, one of those workers…
And it also occurs to me as I get busier and make more and more excuses about why it is that I cannot give MORE to my Beloved, that there really is no excuse for me to make. In fact, there is nothing more important than praying. There is nothing that should consume my time more than my relationship with God. And that is a sobering thought for a busy working wife and mother of three.
You see, the more things that I have in my life, the easier it is for me to excuse myself from my life’s work – which is my relationship with God. In other words, the busier I get with other things the easier it is to excuse myself from being a worker in the harvest.
And it is so easy to do. I do not have time to pray today because I have to cook that meal, or take my children to that place, or deal with that client. I do not have time to talk to my Beloved because I am too busy talking to everyone else.
Saint Josemaría wrote at 907 in “The Forge”, “To follow Our Lord you need to give yourself once and for all, stout-heartedly and without holding anything back. You need to burn your boats once and for all, so that there is no chance of going back.”
And it occurs to me today how meaningless such a thing really is. I am not – of course – suggesting that I should (or could) disregard my responsibilities. I am not suggesting that I could or should neglect my family or my work or any of my other commitments. Instead, what I am suggesting is that I should remain focused and allocate a portion of my day – every single day – to my Beloved, because He allocates the entirety of His days to mine…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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