Today feels like a crossroads. A point where I must choose to go back, try an easier path, stay right here, or keep going forward.
“For the grace of God our Savior hath appeared to all men; instructing us, that, denying ungodliness and worldly desires, we should live soberly, and justly, and godly in this world.”
Titus 2:14
To keep going forward is to accept a way of life.
It means to eat and breathe love, humility, mercy, unceasing prayer, and obedience for the glory of God.
To do that while still in this world requires constant assessment.
Am I really living a Christian life, or am I just performing Christian activities?
This crossroads, when keeping on the course of Advent starts to feel implausible, is the perfect place to evaluate whether I have truly set up my journey for success. Knowing that physical provisions are not going to cut it, do I have enough spiritual provisions to continue? Do I still have faith and hope in the end destination of eternity in Heaven? Have I established a pattern in my life so obvious to myself that I can quickly find my way back to the path when I wander away? Do I still want true love? Even if it is not wrapped in comfort, but still leaves me out here on a barren path for longer than I feel like I can handle?
“Love is a thing of endurance, not just of emotional response; it is not a ‘sometimes’ thing. Any love that is real has to be infused with suffering. Jesus’ love for us was a very suffering love. In fact, love, if it is measurable at all, is measurable by how much it is willing to suffer.”
Mother Mary Francis
There is no reason to feel slighted when suffering meets me at this crossroads. I am trudging along on a path with the most beautiful souls, who have proven the truth time and again as they carry Him deep inside on their way to the moment when they will look with enduring love at His most perfect Face.
thepath2eternity 