"Maybe the problem is too much ink within me, after all. Then may God split the sea of ink, so that I may walk away."
I feel like this is me - too many words, too much thinking, when life could be simplified by just following Christ. By remembering that image and focusing there and what he taught. But it's not always easy to do, and ink is sooo tempting and not necessarily a bad thing, just sometimes an in-the-way thing.
As dull as it may sound, everyone has one's own struggle. On the other hand, it seems we can confidently guess the struggle of most people on Substack is being too inky!
I always appreciate your honest writing about the Catholic life. I grew up in the Protestant tradition and am thankful for what I have learned from that, but there is much that I find attractive about the Catholic Church too. Blessings on your journey of growing closer to Christ!
Thank you! The thing is, you've been reading about a somewhat hardcore version of Catholic life. We have plenty of Easter-and-Christmas catholics, or even baptism-confirmation-marriage-funeral catholics. It must be the same within Protestant circles, I presume. Not necessarily saying that I am somehow a better Christian than those who show up at a church twice a year or four times a lifetime, though!
St. Therese did the dirty work at her convent. She didn't complain, so they piled more of it onto her. She was able to do those jobs with and for Jesus. That takes effort. It does not come naturally. Doing unpleasant jobs obediently give us the opportunity to offer them up to God, joining our small suffering or annoyance or even disgust in doing them to His Holy Cross. Obedience is also mortification of pride. I am full of ink, too. I swim in an ocean of ink. In part, it is my calling from God, I think, since I have some talent there. But it can also be a distraction and even a temptation to pride or other sins. So, sometimes I have to mortify the ink, and I am not good at that. When I have to do uncongenial work, professionally or otherwise, I try to remember to turn to Jesus and to Our Lady and St. Joseph and remember that they did things which were much rougher. If we stay close to them, we can do what we need to do. The point about contemplation our Lord in his Passion and death versus his resurrected glory is an interesting one. Unquestionably, the saints over the centuries have assured us that we should spend most of our time focused on the former. I accept that authority, without necessarily understanding it. I have a picture of Jesus I sometimes use when I pray, which is his face during the Passion, with blood, bruises, one eye swollen shut, the thorns cutting into his scalp. He went through that for us, and we need to imitate Him. A very difficult challenge, which we can only do if we let Him live in us and through us.
Much respect for your chosen path here. I will continue to pray for you, especially that you will have good discernment and perseverance.
"Maybe the problem is too much ink within me, after all. Then may God split the sea of ink, so that I may walk away."
I feel like this is me - too many words, too much thinking, when life could be simplified by just following Christ. By remembering that image and focusing there and what he taught. But it's not always easy to do, and ink is sooo tempting and not necessarily a bad thing, just sometimes an in-the-way thing.
As dull as it may sound, everyone has one's own struggle. On the other hand, it seems we can confidently guess the struggle of most people on Substack is being too inky!
I always appreciate your honest writing about the Catholic life. I grew up in the Protestant tradition and am thankful for what I have learned from that, but there is much that I find attractive about the Catholic Church too. Blessings on your journey of growing closer to Christ!
Thank you! The thing is, you've been reading about a somewhat hardcore version of Catholic life. We have plenty of Easter-and-Christmas catholics, or even baptism-confirmation-marriage-funeral catholics. It must be the same within Protestant circles, I presume. Not necessarily saying that I am somehow a better Christian than those who show up at a church twice a year or four times a lifetime, though!
St. Therese did the dirty work at her convent. She didn't complain, so they piled more of it onto her. She was able to do those jobs with and for Jesus. That takes effort. It does not come naturally. Doing unpleasant jobs obediently give us the opportunity to offer them up to God, joining our small suffering or annoyance or even disgust in doing them to His Holy Cross. Obedience is also mortification of pride. I am full of ink, too. I swim in an ocean of ink. In part, it is my calling from God, I think, since I have some talent there. But it can also be a distraction and even a temptation to pride or other sins. So, sometimes I have to mortify the ink, and I am not good at that. When I have to do uncongenial work, professionally or otherwise, I try to remember to turn to Jesus and to Our Lady and St. Joseph and remember that they did things which were much rougher. If we stay close to them, we can do what we need to do. The point about contemplation our Lord in his Passion and death versus his resurrected glory is an interesting one. Unquestionably, the saints over the centuries have assured us that we should spend most of our time focused on the former. I accept that authority, without necessarily understanding it. I have a picture of Jesus I sometimes use when I pray, which is his face during the Passion, with blood, bruises, one eye swollen shut, the thorns cutting into his scalp. He went through that for us, and we need to imitate Him. A very difficult challenge, which we can only do if we let Him live in us and through us.
Much respect for your chosen path here. I will continue to pray for you, especially that you will have good discernment and perseverance.
Thank you for the thoughtful comment and your prayers!