And just as the organisers prepared for the event, I am not alone because the Angels and Saints prepare for my eternity.
Before the end of the school year, my daughter – who is a very “girlie” girl – had a dinner dance to celebrate her graduation from high school.
In preparation for this moment, my daughter and I enjoyed speaking about the event, shopping for the event and planning for the event.
The day before the event, she had her nails painted. The week before she was allowed to buy some makeup. A few weeks before the event, we bought her a dress and some shoes.
And the excitement. The talking to her friends at school. The comparing the dresses. The discussion about how everyone would look.
Well – suffice it to say, it was the highlight of her year.
The day of the event I allowed her to spend the day at home from school, visiting the hairdresser and arranging her hair and makeup (as minimal as it was) for the big night.
And then, her brothers and father and I prepared ourselves to drop her off and go and wait for her to finish at the party so that we could bring her home afterwards. It was – as they say – a family affair.
And I have been thinking about that dance and that night and the preparation for it because getting ready for it was the most important part of the event.
If my daughter had not been ready – if she had no appropriate dress or shoes, if she had not styled her hair in such a way, if the accessories did not suit her taste then all of this would have been for nothing because she would have felt very out of place and very uncomfortable in attending the event. And the people who organised it also had a lot to do to get ready. The venue had to be booked, the food catered, the parents notified, the money collected, the rules established and communicated.
And how exciting it all was on the night as a result of this preparation.
And today, it seems to me that this is our Earthly life… A long series of events to prepare (alone and in company) for the eternal life that awaits us.
And just as my daughter was excited for the event – thinking about it and planning all the different ways to make it wonderful and exciting and to heighten her enjoyment on the night – so too should I be embracing all the inconveniences and trials of my daily life so that I can be ready for my eternal one.
And just as the organisers prepared for the event, I am not alone because the Angels and Saints prepare for my eternity. And just as they devote countless hours to checking things off, so too do I need to devote countless hours to being ready for eternity in communion with them.
And today, that seems to me just the best thing in the world – especially when I think of all the joy that my daughter derived from getting ready for that dinner dance…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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