“Life is full,” we say, but in truth, our spirits may be asleep like the disciples in our Gospel. We need to be awakened to see what is meaningful in our lives—what does Jesus mean to us? We need to take the time to go deeper and connect to him—be transformed—renewed. However, that could take monumental effort to break away from our busy lives that are often on techno overload in this era of instant access that promised an easier life.
Instant rapid speed access and communication syndrome—we’ve become a society where some people can go through withdrawal symptoms if not on-line many hours a day and seven days a week. Does the following apply to you: just before pulling into your own driveway, you use your cell phone to call and see if anyone is home; your daughter sells Girl Scout Cookies via the internet on E-Bay. You call your son’s cell to let him know it’s time to eat. He emails your computer in the kitchen from the computer in his bedroom, “What’s for dinner?” and you text message him the menu. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of four.
We can go through life so overloaded with data, convinced we are communicating, and all at rapid speed. Even prayer time can be reduced to spinning-out Hail Mary’s and Our Fathers. We also may be staying on the surface with people in our lives that we can so easily take for granted.
What is happening to our relationships with family members or the people we have been working with for years? What is happening with time with your children? We can drift and coast through relationships with neighbors and parishioners, giving a smile, a nod, a wave, hello, nice to see you, how are you¾often not waiting long enough to get an answer before we are on to the next hello and greeting. And what is happening to extended family because I hear so often from our elderly that their children and grandchildren don’t have the time to visit or call.
Modern life demands so much from us. Everyone seems to work hard, and all that dropping off and picking up of “THE KIDS” can be exhausting. All this accessibility and lack of time to truly connect with one another-listen, see, speak, hear, respond, FEEL. Fast track surface living can negate being introspective about who we are, what meaning our lives hold and how are we living God! burnout, family fragmentation, and spiritual bankruptcy can occur. Wouldn’t life be more meaningful in sharing real time with family, friends, church and the needs of our community?
Most have all this accessibility to one another yet lack time to go beyond the surface- reflect about our life and truly relate to one another. Can we take even a little break in the course of a day to reflect on things of importance—like our family, our faith and our friends? Yet how many people hunger for family life! Well who is responsible for family life?
WE NEED LENT—the time for us to go deeper —a wake-up time, to ask ourselves are we convinced that all this busy-ness is a measure of being alive and awake! We need to take the time to reconnect to life and the Spirit. When I say that to people often the response is, “I can’t do that—I don’t have the time”. My question is—have you tried and is the time you cannot alter truly fulfilling?
Quoting a wise Hindu Mahatma Gandhi: “We must become the change we want to see.”
How can that happen? Look for and find God in our daily lives and take a little personal inventory, listen to what God says during that inventory. Do we have a need to rekindle family time together, or friendships; how do we respond to persons in need; whom have we been avoiding and why; why is Mass such a struggle—do you even know why we have the parts of the Mass that we do; do you know scripture; when is the last time you told your spouse what you loved about him/her—told your child/ren what you love about them the joy they bring?
TAKE TIME TO PRAY YOUR LIFE!
That is one reason why Jesus took Peter, John and James, and went up onto a mountain to pray. Even Jesus needed the time to connect to his life’s journey, the meaning of his life, and where he would be going. Jesus took the disciples up the mountain to pray to take time out for them to pause and see what they had been taking for granted—him—they needed to know him in a better more intimate way.
We can do the same, take Jesus for granted. Instead we need to take TIME OUT in the Lord, listen to Him to help us focus on just who we are and what we are doing with our lives and to the lives of the people around us. In quiet prayerful silence, we are given insights and glimpses into the immensity of God’s love for us so that we can live better with ourselves and for others—in relationship; not just words, sound bites and data.
Lent is the take time out time to reflect on where life is heading and what holds true importance— that is a prayer—transfiguring-transforming prayer that takes us deeper beyond the surface and into the lives of the people around us–and to God. TAKE TIME TO PRAY YOUR LIFE!