Super-Busy, Super-Tired - It's All God's Will, Right?

Last time we talked about a stretch of being super-busy at work, accompanied by being super-tired. During that stretch, the realization that it was God's Will crept in.

"Crept in" because it took a while for this simple, albeit sometimes stark reality to manifest itself. It shouldn't have; but it did. 

"Shouldn't have" because as a Catholic, tending to spiritual reading and study of our Catholic religion each day, such a realization should be second nature. The natural reaction therefore should be a calm, peaceful acknowledgement that God's Will was at work.

Instead, self likes to take center stage at such times. And self doesn't like to defer to God's Will. It wants to "take charge" or, worse, mumble and grunt about all the stuff that needs doing and the tiredness that makes the doing all the more difficult. 

At such times, we realize that our daily effort to put off the "old man" and take on the "new man" that is Christ - to paraphrase St, Paul - might not be the easiest endeavor we undertake in our life in this Vale of Tears. But undertake it we must!

"Must" unless we're content with being ourselves, just as we are. 

Which shouldn't surprise us. After all, who can really think that "putting on Christ" - that is, really doing our best each moment to emulate the thoughts, words, feelings that He left for us in the Gospels - is possible for an average schlub.

But schlub or not, we're called to be saints. And saints try their best each day to do just that: put on Christ.

And yes, they slipped and fell at times, just like we do. But as we've noted many times in the past, they got up. No matter the gravity of the fall, they start again. And so we, in our fumbling efforts, need to just get up, as did they, and start again.

Well, eventually all of the above actually began to sink in - slow as molasses, but sink in it finally did. And with that, the realization of being far from saintly. Surprise? Of course not.

In all this, one bright spot: no discouragement. With all the above, discouragement can easily set in. It's also normal, but unwanted. Not simply unwanted, but outright dangerous.

With discouragement we easily give up. We don't get up. We don't start again. We simply immerse ourselves in our work, best we can, and think we're at least earning a living. 

But earning a living - as important as it is - can't take precedence over our spiritual well-being. It can't serve as an excuse for us to forego the effort to be a saint. 

So as our glorious Easter Season continues, we might take a few moments to consider how Our Lord not only suffered and died for us, but rose up from the dead - the Greatest New Beginning. 

As He rose, so can we. Indeed, so will we when our time on this earth finally ends. At least we will if we can manage to keep up our efforts to be a saint in the time allotted to us.

The super busy-ness at work eventually eased up - at least enough to give some respite from the super-tiredness. (And don't doubt that it will all come again at some point!) Was a lesson learned? Happily yes. Will that lesson result in a calmer, more peaceful response next time? Hopefully yes. Will there be any surprise if the response is less than ideal? Probably not.

But one thing that's for sure: If we know that God's Will is behind everything, and we sincerely desire to to do His Will - especially when His Will comes in the form a cross like that super-busy, super-tired one, we'll be on the right track. 

That's surely worth something. 

Happy Easter!