Living in God’s Grace
The other evening I was reading—rereading actually—a book called Stumble, Virtue and Vice and the Space In Between, by Heather King, when I ran across this quote written by a nun on retreat in 1992:
Look for the good in people.
Aging is part of Calvary.
Mary couldn’t see the road ahead.
The words just seemed to jump off the page. Mind you, I had read this before, but this time they really spoke to me. It got me thinking that this would be a good mantra for anyone wanting to live a more faith-filled life.
Look for the good in people. In my job I deal with the public on a daily basis. I’m a people person. I like people—most of the time. But sometimes that can be a challenge when someone is saying or doing things that make life more difficult for me, asking me to do things I don’t want to do, or saying things that aren’t kind or good or caring, being demanding or unpleasant. How can you find the good in situations like that? Why do people sometimes have to be so annoying? Then I thought about how we are all created in God’s image. God is good—right? So it follows that all people are good—or at least have some good in them, right? I thought about how I act sometimes and what does God think of me when I’m being unkind, uncaring, annoying or a host of other unpleasant things? I think God stills see the good in me even when it’s not very evident by my behavior. God wants me to see the good in others, even when it’s not that apparent, just like he does with me. I never know what is happening in someone else’s life that might be making them grumpy, demanding or whatever. I’ve also found that sometimes just a smile will make a grumpy person smile back. I need to look past the exterior and see the good inside everyone, to see Jesus in them. Not always very easy, but it’s what Jesus asks of us—to let His love flow through us to others.
Aging is part of Calvary. This may sound odd, but this made me chuckle. I thought “so that’s what all these aches and pains I have now are about.” All the issues of getting older—some big, some small, make more sense this way. Christ carried his cross to Calvary. I can unite my sufferings to Jesus’ suffering. I can offer it up—even the little ones—for the greater good. Needless to say what Jesus suffered was much worse than anything I’ve had to go through, but in the end there was resurrection and glory. If we live our lives as Jesus asks, that’s what we will have at the end of our lives. I just need to remember I’m on my way to Calvary and at the end there will be unimaginable glory and resurrection. The good news is that if we have a Christian community, there is help along the way, just as Simon the Cyrene helped Jesus carry his cross. Our community is there to help us with our crosses. What a gift!
Mary couldn’t see the road ahead. This is a biggy for me. I’m a planner. I want to know what’s going to happen next. I’m not afraid to die, but I’m certainly afraid of what might happen before I die. Mary was told by Simeon that “a sword will pierce your heart”. So she knew something bad was likely to happen, yet she kept trusting, kept moving forward, kept loving and doing whatever was necessary. She cooperated in every way with God’s plan. If we say we are Christian, if we say we believe in Jesus, then we know that God is a loving father and wants only our good. We need to trust that he would never leave us. He is always there. We just need to trust—in Him, in His love for us. We must keep moving forward on that road knowing it is leading us to glory with the Father.
Lord, I know you are with me on my journey to you. Help me to remember that You are there. Help me to see the good, to see You in all those you put on my path. Help me to carry my crosses, whatever they may be, without complaining but embracing them as gifts to bring me closer to You. Help me to trust in Your plan for my life realizing it is much better than anything I could have wanted. I am Your child and You will always be there for me in my joys and my sorrows. Your love for me is larger than I, in my littleness, can comprehend. Help me to always live in Your grace. Amen.
Very insightful and very profound. You made a good point when you said that God still loves you and sees the good in you when you aren’t at your best. We then need to remember that when we encounter someone when they are not at their best and be able to still see some good in them. Thank you for the reflection and for the challenge.
A beautiful reflection, Linda! I especially liked “Aging is part of Calvary”. I will reflect on that this lent!
Such a heart-warming Reflection, especially during this season of Lent. This is a time to give great thought to those things that keep us from experiencing life through God’s loving graces to deny ourselves and in loving trust follow where He is leading us. The words are easy to think about, but putting these words into action is much more difficult. Earlier this week the gospel reading was Marks story of the rich man asking how to gain eternal life. Jesus recites some of the commandments and when the rich man said he observed all of those, these words struck me: “Jesus, looking at him, loved him …”. Jesus LOVED him. After the rich man was told he needed to sell his possessions, he went away sad. We all, at one time or another reject doing what Jesus is calling us to. As I reflected on this I noticed that after the rich man walked away, Jesus didn’t retract and withhold His love. When others don’t respond the way we want them to, we shouldn’t withhold our love for them either. Living a life of grace helps us to accomplish even the most difficult tasks, like loving those who annoy us, bearing our crosses through life as we all get older (and loving our aging friends and relatives when we don’t understand them) and trusting God to lead us closer to Him, while being blindfolded and not always knowing the path beneath our feet.
“For men it is impossible, but not for God. All things are possible for God.”
Thank you, Linda, for such a wonderful post to think about as we journey in this life together and hopefully meet in the eternal life that awaits us! Gid bless you!