My holiness is lacking and I have been making the same excuse…
I know it might sound cliché, but my very favourite thing to read or hear is Shakespeare. Shakespeare was an Elizabethan playwright and poet who is famous for his Classical Comedies and Tragedies and Histories and his sonnets and poems composed during his lifetime.
Now, what many people do not realise is that Shakespeare did not write the story lines of his plays. Instead, he used existing stories and wrote them in his own words. And the reason that we still admire and study the work of Shakespeare is because of his technical prowess… You see, Shakespeare composed his plays in iambic pentameter. This means that he composed his plays to have five soft syllables and five hard syllables per line. And the reason that he chose to write in this format was because it is the metre that most closely resembles normal conversational speech.
An example of iambic pentameter is contained in the line, “To be or not to be, that is the question” in Act 3, scene 1 of the Tragedy, “Hamlet”.
Ever since I first discovered who Shakespeare was, I have been interested in his technical genius in constructing these masterpieces… And perhaps – because I was inspired by his ability – I have enjoyed dabbling with writing.
For a very very long time, I did not really show anyone my writing, because – as I would always say to myself – I am no Shakespeare…
And then – following my conversion, which occurred through Grace and no merit of my own – I suddenly decided that although God had not gifted me with the genius of Shakespeare, this was no reason to be ungrateful for the gifts that I had been given. And refusing to use the ability that I have – limited though it is – for God’s greater glory, is in fact, a terrible ingratitude to God.
And I was thinking about how this applies to all things.
After all, I am obviously not as Holy as the Blessed Virgin. Now, understanding this, if I chose to use that as a reason not to practice whatever holiness I do have the ability to have, then this could be a terrible thing indeed.
And when I think about that today, it occurs to me that though I write now – despite being inferior to Shakespeare – my holiness is lacking and I have been making the same excuse.
So today, when I think about my efforts to holiness, I am going to stop myself saying, well, I am not the Blessed Virgin, and instead, I am going to think to myself, though I am not perfectly holy, I can make a start with the Graces I have been given, and in this way perhaps – if God so wills it – I will be blessed with more Graces and enough Graces to be better…
For with prayer, I stand on Holy Ground where everything is clear. Here. At the Foot of the Cross.
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