God’s Grace in You

To be attentive to the things of the Spirit, in a frantic age such as ours, is pure gift.  There is nothing more important.

Without exploring the depths of our own hearts, we can never be truly happy.  The unexamined life is not worth living.  We notice a difference about those people who take time out each day – even a few minutes – to reflect on their lives. There is something special about them.  They have big hearts.  You feel safe in their company.  They bring out the best in you.  They set you free from the fear you carry.

Why are they different? Is it because they are successful people who have made their mark in the local community, or on a wider stage? No.  Is it because they are famous in their parishes for being good and holy people who do all the religious things well?  I doubt it.

What then?  It is because they pray.  Not necessarily the saying of prayers.  They pray inside their own silence.  They know how to meditate quietly, to talk to God.  They sit at ease in God’s company and reflect on their lives.  We can all do that.

When we do, we begin to understand in a new way how madly God loves us.  Many of us were brought up with warnings about a God who punishes. Now we know better.  God loves us with an extravagant love and there is nothing we can do to change that – nothing.  All we have to do is allow God to love us to bits.  That means we can risk being our real, true selves.  Nothing more to hide.  That’s what love does.  It makes us feel real.  It calls us to be authentic and to be delighted with who we are.

All God wants to do is to draw out from within us the image of God’s own self, the work of creation in our hearts, the hidden and beautiful self that reflects the divine face.

But because we are often unfamiliar with that kind of intimacy with God, we are not quite sure how to start.  It scares us a little.  So we need help.  What kind of help?  Well, for a start, gently allow God to lead you into your own life-story with all its darkness and light, all its sins and graces. And then wonderful things will begin to happen.  Your face grows brighter, your heart lighter. And others notice it too.  They, in turn, will find their hidden selves touched by your lovely light, and they, too, will experience the abundant life promised to us by the Lord who is so in love with us all.

Then we are ready to go out and begin saving our precious, fragile world, the Beloved Body of God.

Walking With My God: A personal Payer Journal: Daniel O’Leary