August 16, 2007

Letters to a friend – #1

You are often anxious about many things, especially the desire to be noticed and appreciated by others. Unfortunately, this is how you establish your identity. If someone speaks highly of you, you feel affirmed and believe that this person is speaking the truth. However, if someone says nothing, you assume this person finds you annoying or dumb, and you are quick to believe it, which leads you either to anger or sadness.

Anxiety of this sort kills the spirit of prayer and pulls one away from God. It will naturally lead to a life of self-pity and bitterness. A deep spiritual life is a life of peace, where one is at peace with themselves, with others, and with the present moment and all that it includes. They realize that God is everywhere and in all things. Their “searching” for God does not consist of turning over every rock and asking, “Are you there?” or saying, “Maybe he is over there, quick, lets took!”

A person with a deep spiritual life does not “search” for God in the strict sense. They find Him in every moment, in every person, and in every circumstance that life brings them. They are not anxious about what they have to do and what other people may or may not think about them. Their primary concern is their relationship with God, and everything else develops and takes root from there.

Br. Jeremiah Myriam Shryock CFR

St. Leopold Friary, Yonkers, NY

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