A Sunday Thought About Never Being Bored to Start the Week Off Right
If you've ever been bored, here are two remedies on this Sunday morn.
First, get busy. Just this should shake you out of your ennui. If you're blessed with a host of responsibilities, people who depend on you to do this or that, a long list of obligations based on your state of life, you'll likely have no trouble being busy. Of course, every once in a while you might wistfully sigh and wish for a spoon full of boredom to help the medicine of your busy-ness go down, but in the end, you're better off not twiddling your thumbs.
Second, and more spiritually enriching, whenever you feel boredom creeping into your daily routine at a given moment, you might consider sanctifying that moment. As the spiritual writer, Fr De Caussade, S.J. (1751+) put it: "We are bored with the small happenings around us, yet it is these trivialities - as we consider them which would do marvels for us if only we did not despise them."
We can develop the habit of sanctifying the present moment with some practice. It's kind of like developing the practice of offering up our sufferings. Except here we're not suffering. We're just kind of bored. But it's not just a matter of wanting to avoid boredom, or perk ourselves up from wallowing in a bored feeling. As Fr. De Caussade further tells us: "God speaks to every individual through what happens to them moment by moment."
Now think about this. God speaks to us. We can "hear" Him in every thing - even the most trivial, seemingly superficial thoughts, words, and actions. No, you don't hear His Voice. Somehow He "speaks" to us every moment of every day. If that's true, wouldn't you want to listen?
Of course, the idea isn't to constantly be on high alert, always on the look out for God. You'd never get anything done. In fact, you'd likely drive yourself crazy. But being aware of His Presence everywhere in every moment will wake us from our occasional torpor so that we know deep in our soul that, as Fr. De Caussade says, "The events of each moment are stamped with the will of God...we find all that is necessary in the present moment."
You see, not only do we learn to appreciate that God's will surrounds us, penetrates our every thought, word, and deed in every moment of our lives, but that we receive everything necessary for our well-being each and every moment. Yes, even the pain and sorrow that comes all too frequently to most of us. And yes, even in our mistakes and wrong decisions. In fact, St Augustine pointed out that even our sins become fodder for God's love - as long as we repent, make amendment, and determine not to sin again.
There's no exhortation to urge us to "seize" the present moment here, as in the Latin, "Carpe diem!" ("Seize the day!") Rather than being dramatic and inspiring, developing the habit of living in the present moment comes slowly, with practice. We remind ourselves that by focusing on all those little, even trivial, pieces of our daily life, rather than being bored, we draw closer to God. So important is this idea that Fr. De Caussade coined a term for it: Sacrament of the Present Moment. And it's not just for those times when we're bored. We'll talk more about this next Sunday.
A for this last day of January in the Year of Our Lord 2016, best wishes for a Blessed Sunday!
First, get busy. Just this should shake you out of your ennui. If you're blessed with a host of responsibilities, people who depend on you to do this or that, a long list of obligations based on your state of life, you'll likely have no trouble being busy. Of course, every once in a while you might wistfully sigh and wish for a spoon full of boredom to help the medicine of your busy-ness go down, but in the end, you're better off not twiddling your thumbs.
Second, and more spiritually enriching, whenever you feel boredom creeping into your daily routine at a given moment, you might consider sanctifying that moment. As the spiritual writer, Fr De Caussade, S.J. (1751+) put it: "We are bored with the small happenings around us, yet it is these trivialities - as we consider them which would do marvels for us if only we did not despise them."
We can develop the habit of sanctifying the present moment with some practice. It's kind of like developing the practice of offering up our sufferings. Except here we're not suffering. We're just kind of bored. But it's not just a matter of wanting to avoid boredom, or perk ourselves up from wallowing in a bored feeling. As Fr. De Caussade further tells us: "God speaks to every individual through what happens to them moment by moment."
Now think about this. God speaks to us. We can "hear" Him in every thing - even the most trivial, seemingly superficial thoughts, words, and actions. No, you don't hear His Voice. Somehow He "speaks" to us every moment of every day. If that's true, wouldn't you want to listen?
Of course, the idea isn't to constantly be on high alert, always on the look out for God. You'd never get anything done. In fact, you'd likely drive yourself crazy. But being aware of His Presence everywhere in every moment will wake us from our occasional torpor so that we know deep in our soul that, as Fr. De Caussade says, "The events of each moment are stamped with the will of God...we find all that is necessary in the present moment."
You see, not only do we learn to appreciate that God's will surrounds us, penetrates our every thought, word, and deed in every moment of our lives, but that we receive everything necessary for our well-being each and every moment. Yes, even the pain and sorrow that comes all too frequently to most of us. And yes, even in our mistakes and wrong decisions. In fact, St Augustine pointed out that even our sins become fodder for God's love - as long as we repent, make amendment, and determine not to sin again.
There's no exhortation to urge us to "seize" the present moment here, as in the Latin, "Carpe diem!" ("Seize the day!") Rather than being dramatic and inspiring, developing the habit of living in the present moment comes slowly, with practice. We remind ourselves that by focusing on all those little, even trivial, pieces of our daily life, rather than being bored, we draw closer to God. So important is this idea that Fr. De Caussade coined a term for it: Sacrament of the Present Moment. And it's not just for those times when we're bored. We'll talk more about this next Sunday.
A for this last day of January in the Year of Our Lord 2016, best wishes for a Blessed Sunday!
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