Sunday, May 22, 2005

Around and around we go

So these retreats and summits are so great for recharging the batteries - and the battered. Those of us who are battered by life, I mean. We get to slow down so we can actually hear the voice of the Divine speaking to us - personally.

I am convinced that the enemy of all that is Good uses the fast pace of life to rob us of that opportunity. As a result, we get bogged down, distracted, and when we do think about God and our relationship with and to Him, we tend to have a somewhat skewed view.

For me, it usually comes in the form of dwelling on past mistakes about which I can do nothing, and with which consequences I daily live, trapped in the knowing of what could be and not being able to make it come to fruition. And so I pray that I am forgiven, and that He will help me out of that mess or this, and I end up "knowing" that I cannot possibly be the pleasing child of the King that I want to be, and "knowing" that I have made a mess, and "vowing" to be better.

And then comes the Voice, sometimes internally, sometimes in nature, and sometimes, as this, in the form of a friend, saying exactly what is needed, and echoing the words sent form the Throne of Grace - that my Father is proud of me, knows what I am doing, and has His Divine Hand on me to work, and to guide, and to mold, and to make, because He who began a good work in me is faithful to complete it.

And I return, ready for another round on the spiral.