The Wheel of the World and the Silence of His Heart

"Jesus entered a village 

where a woman whose name 

was Martha welcomed him.

She had a sister named Mary

who sat beside the Lord at His

 feet listening to him speak. 

Martha, burdened with much serving, came to Him and said,

“Lord, do you not care

that my sister has left me

 by myself to do the serving? 

Tell her to help me.” 

The Lord said to her in reply,

“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and

 worried about many things. 

There is need of only one thing. 

Mary has chosen the better part

and it will not be taken from her.”

~

Sometimes it seems as if we're on a never-ending cycle, a carousel.  We don't want to be hurled off of it; it's moving too quickly, if we fall, we'll be crushed.  Each week, it's as if the carousel begins anew; it starts slowly.  All too soon, it's whirling around in a vicious, downward spiral.  No matter how hard I try to organize my life, to center it around Our Lord and model Our Lady, that carousel just begins again.  

Get off of it.  

This so-called carousel is the wheel of the world.  An instrument that, when misused, can totally destroy our spiritual lives.  Why?  It squeezes out every last drop of hope and faith that we'll ever have; it pillages the last vestiges of trust that we may have placed in Our Lord.  We don't rely on Him any more.  We won't sit any more at His feet; we think that between ourselves and the world, we have all the answers.  When, really, we could be no further from the truth.  As it all keeps turning around on the carousel, we're trying (albeit badly, for most devout Christians were never good at the "keep-up-and-be-prominent-and-well-loved-by-the-world" thing) to be the best image of ourselves.  

Unfortunately, the world dictates what the best image of ourselves is.  It'll tell me to do well in school.  To get rich.  To forsake the idea of a family or the religious life, and to go with what will make me well-known in the world, to chase after something that will never come true.  

Saint Therese and her Carmelite sisters ~

through prayer, making every act an oblation

for the greatest glory of God.

But the Greatest Truth says, gently, to live our lives for Him alone.  He says, "Do not let your hearts be troubled" (John 14:1).  He reminds us that the lilies of the field are adorned more beautifully than Solomon in all his wonder ever was.  He tells us that if we anchor our souls to Him, He will protect us. 

In His Heart, He'll shield us from the frantic world, where everyone tries to clamor over each other.  It's quiet in His Heart.  Quiet, and peaceful.  And then, once we have been strengthened in the silence of His Heart, we must go out to the busy world and be a beacon of His radiating peace and joy.

Read the rest here.