Just a Thought

This morning as I was driving to work, I was thinking back on the past year of faith formation.  It was a really great year - I so enjoyed the six girls in my class!  We had covered a lot of material over the school year, and didn't even get to some of things I had hoped to cover.  There was much to cram into those little sponges of brain.  But as I was thinking about all of this, the ONE THING I hope sunk in, more than anything else, was the big picture.  We had talked about it.  THE MEANING OF LIFE.  "Remember this girls, because 99% of the world spends their entire life searching for their purpose, the reason they're on the planet.  And I'm going to tell you what it is, so you never get lost looking for it.  This SECRET is in plain sight; it's the whole reason God created you.  Love God with all your heart, all your mind, all your soul, and all your strength.  And love your neighbor as yourself."

That's it, really.  LOVE.  Love GOD, and then channel that love to others around you.   But love God FIRST, with everything you have.  The rest will flow from that.

As our society becomes increasing secularized, it becomes apparent to me that humanity has lost its compass.  It's human nature to love, and we TRY to love one another.  We really do.  Most people try to be nice, and accepting and inclusive.  But without loving God first, to show us what real love IS, our efforts become increasingly misguided.   Love is the wishing of the good for another person, above what you would wish for yourself.  Love is self-sacrificing, at its very essence.  So often our society mistakes "acceptance" with  LOVE.  If I accept you how you are, then I'm being loving, right?  But if I know that "how you are" is KILLING YOU, then how is that being loving for the ultimate good?  Without looking up to God, without having that standard and perspective before trying to love our neighbor, we can't know what their ultimate good IS.   And true love sometimes does not tolerate you "as you are", when what you are is wounded and lost.   True loves wants you healthy and whole, to be the perfect version of yourself that God created you to be, and does it's utmost to help you get there.  True love desires your ultimate good, beyond what we can see and feel in the here and now.  Perfection is not an outside standard - it has nothing to do with your hair, or your house, or your career, or even your attitude.  Perfection is when we are living fully the life that God created for us, in accordance to His plan for us.  We were created for HIS perfection for us, and it's love that draws us to it.

We've lost our North Star.  We've lost our paradigm.  We've lost our purpose.  We've lost our meaning.

How I pray that our society finds it again!