A life of meaning, peace, joy
Read Deacon Stuart Neslin’s column and check out the church calendar.
“What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.”
When Jesus says this to his Apostles, he’s telling them that God isn’t going to speak to them in loud and dramatic ways. He’s not going to hit them over the head to get their attention or shout at them from on high. Rather, he’s going to come to them gently, quietly, in an intimate and loving and peaceful way. They shouldn’t expect the voice of God to speak to them with great fanfare or a booming voice or from the outside. No — he’s helping them understand that God’s voice will best be heard in quiet and darkness, with the lights and sounds of a busy world kept at a distance. Only then will they know what to do and where to go and what to say and how to say it. And so it is with us.
As you know, modern life can be awfully difficult to navigate. So many options and decisions and choices to be made. So many uncertainties and fearful situations. So many temptations and opportunities to stray from the right path. So many conveniences and technologies and gadgets that are meant to make our lives easier, but often don’t. And so many accomplished neighbors and friends to try to keep up with. It’s not easy — not easy at all. And for those raising children or grandchildren or caring for elderly parents, those things pose some huge additional challenges.
No one is saying an excessively busy life is good or bad. It just is. However, a busy life can be hard to climb out from under. It can weigh us down if we’re not careful. It can distract us from what’s most important. Put simply — the “busyness” of this world, and all the distractions that come with it, can pose challenges for people who are sincerely seeking a life of faith, men and women such as ourselves who believe in a loving God who is continually trying to communicate with his beloved creatures — us — our God who wants to reveal to us important things we need for our journey.
“What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light; what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.”
And so, I encourage each of us — myself probably most of all — to find ways to turn off the metaphorical bright lights or turn down the radio, shut off the smart phone or whatever else we need to do, so we can go away from time to time so that we can hear that voice — the only voice that matters —the voice of our loving God who has some pretty important things to say to us . ... if we’ll let him.
If not, we might just continue to run around in circles in our “busyness,” not finding that special place God wants to lead us to — a life of great meaning, and peace and joy.