Christ and the Disciples in the Storm
As we begin Lent again this year, we as Catholics and Christians are called to acts of charity, almsgiving and sacrifice. It is a time to take stock, spiritually. It is a time to strengthen and nurture our minds, our spirits, our souls. It is a time to journey deeper with Christ. Sometimes this journey is only done superficially, if it is done at all – ‘what am I going to give up this year?’ ‘Do I even care?’
Truly journeying with Christ, even if you’re an atheist, means going deeper – stripping off layers of sin, cleansing ourselves of inordinate attachments and daring to open that big scary door to the courtyard of our souls so that we can begin to heal its brokenness. It is a very difficult thing to do – a thing many don’t even consider. So how do we do it? The answer is simple: with grace. This grace is ready and waiting for the soul that asks for it. Sometimes this asking will simply be a desperate scream for help. The finest kind of help is available in this grace, which flows from God like a river from an endless fountain. Sometimes, though, it can seem like this grace is heavy water. It is hard to breathe. It is like taking an underwater journey with no oxygen tanks. It is seemingly impossible. But, with God, all things are possible.
Lent is often compared to walking into the desert with Jesus. I think this comparison arises because what we are truly doing is walking into the desert from the world. But in reality this desert, if you truly journey there, is actually full of water! The water that is grace. Jesus is always waiting to guide the ship of our souls, whether you know Him and believe in Him or not. He is the perfect Captain. I know that many don’t even want to consider that He is real. Perhaps being willing to stop and think for a moment about this possibility is your first breath of that grace. So, I say to you: Don’t be afraid to open your heart and mind to this possibility. Put aside everything you think you know and be willing to open the door to the courtyard of your soul – even for just a second. That act is all that God needs.
Having said that, maybe you are one that already made that step a long time ago. You read the bible. You go to church. But do you read the bible prayerfully? Do you really go to church in your heart? Or are you one that sits back, eyes closed, half asleep by the end of the sermon. Do you actually listen and try to take what you have heard in the sermon or the bible into your week with you? If you honestly take stock and find that you are one who really doesn’t most of the time, I say to you: Get ready to plunge your head into heavier water – stronger grace. You need to breathe in more of this grace in order to truly live! Maybe you say to yourself at this point – well I would do it if it seemed like everyone else was doing it. Why should I bother, if everyone else doesn’t seem to. To that I say, how do you think that we will make this world a more just, loving, peaceful place if we all wait for someone else to do it? Don’t fool yourself. It will never happen if you don’t do it. Next time you read your bible or leave the church, consciously take this intention with you, take a deep breath and ask God for the grace to help you do it. You will be surprised at how different even your first week will be. You will be taking in ‘heavier water’ -stronger grace – and people around you will respond to it. They will be better too.
Perhaps you are one who is reading this and says ‘I already do this, but I don’t feel God. I don’t feel a difference.’ Indeed, sometimes having a good intention and saying a prayer don’t accomplish what you think it should. Maybe it is because your soul is weighted down with the anchor of sin. How much harder it is to sail in your spiritual journey with that anchor dragging you down. If you knew it was there, wouldn’t you pull it up so that you could fly over the waves? Hmmmm. Easy to say, but how does one do that exactly?
First of all, you have to be willing to admit that the anchor is there. Another Hmmmm. Maybe this is a good time to share a big secret with you. Everyone is dragging some kind of anchor! So don’t let pride fool you into thinking it couldn’t be you. Please. Not even for a second. Knowing it is there is the first step toward making yourself light. If you don’t go to church, open the scary door and just ask God to help you. Heavy water – grace – will be there to help you. If you are in a church community, hopefully you have already asked Jesus to help you and heal you. If you think you need more help to pull up your anchor, speak to your Minister or someone else you respect for their ‘love and lightness’. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. This is almost the most crucial step in your underwater journey, which is the journey you begin to take when you let yourself be immersed in grace…Please don’t let it be one you don’t take out of fear or pride. What a shame to come to the end of your spiritual journey to see you dragged that anchor with you when you could have sailed…free. Nay, even danced on the waves…
If you are in the Catholic Church the answer is at once the most simple and the most difficult: The Sacrament of Reconciliation. I can hear the Hmmmm’s again. I had a dream early on in this journey that showed me that women seem to be the ones making the most use of this sacrament. I saw that those who go to confession have removed from their boats some pretty heavy anchors. The confessionals on the men’s side, however, were virtually empty. Perhaps this sacrament is one that you feel is antiquated, outdated and no longer necessary. Perhaps you have said your ‘I’m sorry’ to God in your heart, so that you don’t have to face the confessional. Believe me, I know how difficult this step can be! As a new Catholic I had to make the brave step of saying my first confession ever face to face with the priest as an adult in 2001! But it is the teaching of the church that special graces are granted to all in this sacrament. These graces help you to keep the anchor from dragging you down again. It is one way we are truly assured in a tangible sense that our errors against love – our sins- are forgiven. And don’t kid yourself. We are all broken. We all err against love at one time or another and need God’s constant help to heal and be better. Even from a psychological perspective the act of bringing to the surface and naming one’s pains, faults and sins is a release – a ‘load off one’s shoulders’. Many people have made the step to seek psychological help in their journey. This is a healthy step towards wholeness. The confessional is simply the place where we bring these things to the greatest Psychologist of all – Jesus. This brings me to the next secret I wish to share with you. The sacrament of confession is a big short-cut to shedding sin and getting rid of your anchor. What peace this brings to your soul!
Over the course of this journey through Lent I will share with you a supernatural occurrence I had right after I availed myself of this sacrament. It was a moment when I truly understood the bible passage, The Parable of the Lost Sheep:
Which one of you, having a hundred sheep and losing one of them, does not leave the ninety-nine in the wilderness and go after the one that is lost until he finds it? When he has found it, he lays it on his shoulders and rejoices. And when he comes home, he calls together his friends and neighbours, saying to them, ‘Rejoice with me, for I have found my sheep that was lost.’ Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” Luke 15:3-7, NRSV, Catholic Edition
I know that this whole writing probably sounds to some right now like tough love. To you I say: ‘You’re worth it’! You are that one sinner that heaven waits to rejoice over, whether you know it or not.
Finally, to those who are already doing everything in their power to grow well in love, the continuing steps in that growth are the prayers and acts (works) you do for others. These works help them to know that they have this anchor, and help them to know they can pull it up. So many are lost in this world, starving for love and light. Take as many steps as you can in your journey this Lent (and always!) and be that love and that light for all those starving ones you meet. It was once you!
I am personally aghast at the thought that I might not have made it to where I am today in my relationship with God! It was once me! Someone’s prayers, sufferings, witness and works helped to save me from drowning because I couldn’t take in God’s grace! Because of these works I now not only sail, light and free, but I fly…nay, I dance over the waves! Go deeper this Lent and help yourself and your neighbour to dance. This is love. This is our calling. Do not delay to breathe in stronger grace in your journey, wherever you are at in it. The life you save could be your own…
To see one of my own deeper breaths of this stronger grace in my journey, visit “Heavy Water“, published in ‘Spiritual Dreams’.
Karen
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The Deliverance Ne†work 