Shout for joy, O daughter Zion!
sing joyfully, O Israel!
Be glad and exult with all your heart,
O daughter Jerusalem!
- Zephaniah 3:14
I am a few days behind in posting, but not in photo taking and while I am missing the last couple of days here on the blog, there exist and are on my Flickr page instead…
It has been a busy few days, days where so many things want to take our time and often at the same time. I have not had a night yet that does not have at least two things going on simultaneously and I am asked to choose between the two…
Everything is a gift from God, even the tough decisions we have to make sometimes… Do we go to the Knights of Columbus Christmas party with friends or to the Winter concert your daughter is playing in with the family? Head off to the Cub Scout meeting or attend the reconciliation service at the church?
At anytime, but especially as we prepare for the coming of our Lord this Advent, I believe these snafus in scheduling and other similar “secular vs. sacred” decisions are tests administered by God to push our conscience just a bit further, to see if we have been paying attention and if we will indeed follow a path closer to his will. But it is a test without a grade really for either way you choose can be the right answer. For while I believe these are tests and that we most certainly want to make the right decision and follow the path of our vocation or our conscience (and feel better for doing so), I believe even more so that no matter what we ultimately choose to do, they are lessons and above all else we are meant to learn from them… One choice will make you stronger spiritually by affirmation, the other will make you stronger through continued trial (through maybe a guilty conscience or perhaps a “discussion” that ensues with others who disagreed with your choice) and this can even help develop our souls further than affirmation as we learn better from our mistakes.
Either way, we need to recognize that we will be stronger in the end through the grace of understanding and the wisdom of knowing when to pay attention for it that only God can bring to us. O Lord, may we have these graces so that we may deepen our faith in You and raise our voices in praise to You who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen
