Compelling Words From a French Priest

This past month, a group of men and I read through a book called "The Sacrament of the Present Moment" by Jean-Pierre De Caussade. Jean-Pierre was a priest in France during the 1700's. During this time he wrote a series of letters to a group of nuns which was later published under the name "Self-Abandonment to Divine Providence." 

The book was the perfect read for me in this time in my life! I have entered into a significant time of transition and have been, as I have stated in a recent post, trying to live more in present and engage the people around me. This book spoke to my heart concerning this very issue that I have been wrestling with over the last several weeks! 

Jean-Pierre wove together a beautiful picture of surrender as he spoke of the Christian life and our need to be aware of the Spirit's work in this very moment in our lives. He spoke often of suffering and of darkness as being a part of the will of God. One of the statements that most stood out to me was his writing about those who struggle to reach spiritual greatness and instead experience affliction and struggle. He says:

"Perfection come to them, not through reason, enlightenment of reflection, but through every affliction sent by God, through their duty to the present moment and through impulses with nothing good about them, though not actually sinful."

He goes on to talk about the afflicted person being filled with despair and shame as he sees the weighty standards of "saintliness" that he sees others appearing to fulfill. He, in fact, finds himself "condemned: by the lives of the saints! He goes on to say that, "It is in these afflictions, which succeed one another each moment, that God, veiled and obscured, reveals Himself, mysteriously bestowing his grace in a manner quite unrecognized by souls who feel only weakness in bearing their cross, distaste for performing their duty, and capable of only mediocre spiritual practices."

This is something that resonates with me deeply! I have found that it has been in the turmoil, struggle, disappointments, and strife that God has done the most to change my heart and make me into a better person. This goes back to the topic of "purging" that I wrote about several weeks back.

We have a duty to the present. The past is gone and, though it affects us still, we are no longer living in it. We are here in the "now" and so is the will of God. His Spirit beckons us to be apart of the world that we are presently in and not to worry about tomorrow for tomorrow will come in it's time. We have a duty to those we engage with and to our jobs and our communities; with the understanding that God is with us and is active in this moment to bring us closer to perfection and to purer intimacy with Him.

Be here; be present.

Grace and Peace

Stephen

"Christian" Facebook

Recently I was talking to a friend over coffee that I greatly respect. I was sharing some things that were on my heart that was bothering me, and at one point we began talking about some of my blog posts and Facebook statuses; I found myself being humbled at my friends rebuke of a couple of immature and disrespectful posts. I had vented on one of my posts (removed the day of said conversation) in which I had been careful not to mention names, but had been ruthless and cold in other respects. People still knew who I was talking about in the post regardless of whether I put the names in there or not, and I had failed in my attempt to be "sensitive" in how I presented my thoughts. I failed to take my Christian beliefs and ethics and apply it to my everyday life. In addition to this I had done something similar with a Facebook status in which I did mention the name (also, now removed) that was even more rude and disrespectful. At this revelation I apologize to those I have disrespected and offended in my immaturity.

We have a responsibility to one another, even more so if one is a Christian, to be loving and respectful of others. We must seek to display maturity and professionalism when we display things for all the world to see. Facebook is dangerous in that we can be far to bold in our speaking, in a way that we wouldn't if the person was present. In fact it is almost cowardly to post on Facebook what one is unwilling to say to a persons face. Through Facebook there is a break down of privacy and intimacy, both of which are components of life that are extremely necessary to our growth and our stability as human beings. Emotional and mental health demand a certain level of intimacy and privacy.

My belief, my faith, my religion, and my God demand that I bring all of my life under the submission of the Holy Spirit and the Word of God almighty. This means reading my posts twice, and twice more, to make sure that I am displaying Christ-like character and love. What I did was not biblical by any means. I must continually check my heart and my attitude and seek the guidance and moving of the Holy Spirit within me. I must "become all things to all people" by tempering my soul with prayer and meditation so that I will have no malice and bitterness to be poured out into my writings. "Out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks."  So, therefore, I must change my heart, but more importantly I need to seek God to have my heart changed.

Lets all learn to do this, and maybe Facebook, Blogger, Google+, and all those other forms of social media can become a better tool for community and the Gospel and not something that utterly destroys them...