If I can see the blessing in the pain, is it even going to be painful anymore?
The other day I saw a photograph of myself taken over twenty years ago. And I looked at it with the wisdom of age – twenty years more at least – and I saw something in the photograph that I have never noticed at the time.
You see, twenty years ago when that photograph was taken, I did not realise the blessings that I had, but now that I look at that photograph I can see something very different in the image…
At the time – like most young women – I had a list of things that I did not like very much about my appearance. I thought my eyes were troublesome (I needed glasses after all). I was not a fan of my skin. I did not like my hips or legs and I was not a fan of my hair, which I considered a very boring brown colour.
Fast forward to the other day, and I revisited that photograph and saw something very different in the photograph. You see, I saw lovely clear eyes and looked at the world with all the promise of youth. I saw sturdy legs and strong hips. I saw fresh faced skin and hair full of colour and vitality.
And I have been reflecting on that now. You see, things that seemed so problematic to me twenty years ago were in fact my greatest blessings (in a physical sense), and only the passage of time and the comparison of how I looked then and now has allowed me to understand just how significant the blessings have been.
And I have been thinking about that today because it seems that the principles that apply to the way I view my physical body over time are the same ones that can be applied to the spiritual experiences of my life…
Youn see, just as my physical strength and youth and beauty when I was young were things that I failed to see at the time, so too are the sufferings that I experience in my spiritual life blessings that I fail to see at this time. The difference is that on the day that I enter into eternal life – if not before – I shall understand the blessing of each of those things. And just as I now look at the blessings of my youth with completely different eyes, so too will I look at the sufferings of my spiritual life with a completely different attitude in my soul.
And when I think about that today, I am called to pray for the Grace to understand that I am blessed beyond measure in EVERYTHING that I experience in my life. And I pray for the Grace to be able to see my suffering with the eyes of a soul who is in eternity. After all, I suppose that is what the Saints meant when they said that they experienced Heaven on Earth, even in the midst of great torment. After all, if I can see the blessing in the pain, is it even going to be painful anymore?
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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