More on A Morning Resolve
That Morning Resolve I posted last time got me thinking. I wound up putting the laminated copy my wife gave me on my desk so it'll catch my attention from time to time. (Again, it's not the traditional Morning Offering prayer I say every morning when I wake up.) There's so much in this little prayer, but I wanted to share just a few specific thoughts this morning.
Right off the bat, the opening of the prayer always strikes me:
I will try this day to live a simple, sincere, and serene life, repelling every thought of discontent, anxiety, discouragement, impurity and self-seeking.
I don't know about you, but when I face a busy day of work, especially one that's got a crisis or two embedded, the idea of living a "simple, sincere and serene life" can seem more like a pipe dream rather than a prayer. But you've got to catch yourself if you think this. In fact, it's just when things get crazy that you want to take a deep breath and remind yourself of how a Catholic man at work should think and behave even in the face of the toughest challenges.
It's not just that getting all worked up and frantic when you face special challenges doesn't work especially well, it's what it does to your character and your soul that's the real issue. For example, discontent might be a nice way to say "whining." If your not happy with the way things are going, do something about it, rather than whine about it. Either change your circumstances, or offer it up - and then shut up.
Anxiety mostly means you're not really putting your trust in God the way you should. Believe me, I know anxiety. It's in my DNA. Sometimes I think it comes from my Southern Italian peasant ancestors who lived in a world where poverty and powerlessness dominated most lives, interspersed with natural disasters and - from time to time - invasions by foreign armies. Whatever it is, anxiety comes pretty naturally to me. But if I really trust in God's mercy and providence, well, anxiety's not really appropriate, is it? And I do try to remind myself when anxiety threatens to take over, and, I'll be darned, but a brief pause and some prayer really can do the trick most time. Chases the anxiety away.
As for discouragement, I suppose we all feel this way especially when we've put everything into something and it doesn't work out. I used to get discouraged a lot more at work, but slowly I began to realize that once I put in my best effort, that's about all I can do. And if God's will is that I fail, or that things don't go just the way I want them to go, God's plan for me just didn't call for success right now. And that's that.
Impurity? Some of us have impure thoughts from time to time and they can even come up at work. The best thing is to get back to work. If you work hard, you'll find there's little room for impure thoughts. It's really true that an idle mind is the Devil's workshop, as the nuns always taught us. Stay focused on the work at hand.
Finally, self-seeking: I want to succeed, to be recognized, to be promoted, to make a million bucks...whatever. There's nothing wrong with striving for success. But make sure that you work as St Ignatius Loyola taught us: Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam - for the greater glory of God. It may be an ongoing struggle, but prayer and God's grace will see you through.
More on this wonderful Morning Resolve next time...
Right off the bat, the opening of the prayer always strikes me:
I will try this day to live a simple, sincere, and serene life, repelling every thought of discontent, anxiety, discouragement, impurity and self-seeking.
I don't know about you, but when I face a busy day of work, especially one that's got a crisis or two embedded, the idea of living a "simple, sincere and serene life" can seem more like a pipe dream rather than a prayer. But you've got to catch yourself if you think this. In fact, it's just when things get crazy that you want to take a deep breath and remind yourself of how a Catholic man at work should think and behave even in the face of the toughest challenges.
It's not just that getting all worked up and frantic when you face special challenges doesn't work especially well, it's what it does to your character and your soul that's the real issue. For example, discontent might be a nice way to say "whining." If your not happy with the way things are going, do something about it, rather than whine about it. Either change your circumstances, or offer it up - and then shut up.
Anxiety mostly means you're not really putting your trust in God the way you should. Believe me, I know anxiety. It's in my DNA. Sometimes I think it comes from my Southern Italian peasant ancestors who lived in a world where poverty and powerlessness dominated most lives, interspersed with natural disasters and - from time to time - invasions by foreign armies. Whatever it is, anxiety comes pretty naturally to me. But if I really trust in God's mercy and providence, well, anxiety's not really appropriate, is it? And I do try to remind myself when anxiety threatens to take over, and, I'll be darned, but a brief pause and some prayer really can do the trick most time. Chases the anxiety away.
As for discouragement, I suppose we all feel this way especially when we've put everything into something and it doesn't work out. I used to get discouraged a lot more at work, but slowly I began to realize that once I put in my best effort, that's about all I can do. And if God's will is that I fail, or that things don't go just the way I want them to go, God's plan for me just didn't call for success right now. And that's that.
Impurity? Some of us have impure thoughts from time to time and they can even come up at work. The best thing is to get back to work. If you work hard, you'll find there's little room for impure thoughts. It's really true that an idle mind is the Devil's workshop, as the nuns always taught us. Stay focused on the work at hand.
Finally, self-seeking: I want to succeed, to be recognized, to be promoted, to make a million bucks...whatever. There's nothing wrong with striving for success. But make sure that you work as St Ignatius Loyola taught us: Ad Maiorem Dei Gloriam - for the greater glory of God. It may be an ongoing struggle, but prayer and God's grace will see you through.
More on this wonderful Morning Resolve next time...
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