A couple of weeks ago I was at the rec and I was stretching in an area away from everyone. I shared the space with a guy who would randomly break into an impromptu dance party. His music from his iPod was so loud that it over powered the music I had playing through my headphones. He'd push out a quick set with the dumbbells and break it down like he was a backup dancer at a hip hop show or a member of a rec center boy band.
I sat, stretching, baffled by what was happening. All I could do was laugh in my head, and make jokes, of how incredibly redonkulous he looked. Then it hit me moments later as his dance moves evolved into a modified jump rope motion. He was dancing, but was also incorporating an interval jump rope set in between sets, minus one thing: The jump rope.
How easy is it for us to see something and think one thing and not even begin to understand what is happening before us.
Like with Christ,we don't know where He is leading us, let alone what is happening before us. He wants into our lives, yet often times we try it alone, without His presence
Last month I was at the FEST in Cleveland and took part in an XLT, Eucharistic Adoration, in the Chapel. Bishop Gries gave a powerful testament of allowing Christ in our lives.
There was a man on the interstate who was pulled over by a trooper for speeding. The officer approached the vehicle of the man and noticed in the backseat a gallon of gasoline, four bowling pins, matches and a wig. He asked the driver why he had such random items in his possession. The driver replied that he was a clown in the circus in town and his main trick was juggling bowling pins that were lit on fire.
The officer, who thought he had heard every excuse in his days of patrolling the highways, asked the driver to prove it. The driver exited his car, lit a fire on the ends of the bowling pins and began juggling on the side of the highway for the officer.
A man who was driving with his wife slowed down as he took notice to what was happening to the man who had been pulled over. He turned to his wife and said, "If that's some sort of field sobriety check then I'm screwed. I quit drinking."
We all see events and chapters in our lives differently then what is truly happening to us. How it is effecting us. How we are growing physically, mentally and spiritually. How it is forcing us to grow closer to the Lord. We find ourselves confused and often times overwhelmed by what we see and not what the Lord wants us to see. It's at those moments that we must ask the Lord to enter into our hearts and we must force ourselves to listen to Him. Those are the times we must seek our His grace and feed our spirit by receiving Him through the Eucharist. Sit before Him and ask His forgiveness, seek out His strength and courage. Place yourself in His presence and adore Him.
So many people, especially young adults, try so hard to create careers, begin a new life, start families and take a stab at trying to be a big kid. They strive to work their way up the corporate ladder with reckless abandon. Spend weekends exploring the pubs and clubs of the city on a hunt, much like explorers of the African Serengeti in search for wild prey. They spend countless rounds a night in pursuit of that endangered species...someone sane, without baggage, that will love them and make it their goal to always make them happy.
Yet we don't seem to take the time to fine tune the relationship that means the most. To take a break from the machine that is our routine, to grow deeper in the one place in our life that will actually bring the love and happiness we so desperately need and that's through our relationship with Christ.
Much like the guy dancing during his work out, and the husband in the car passing by the juggler, we all see what is in front of us, but fail to go deeper or try to see past what is happening to try and grasp the reality of what's going on. Ultimately forcing us to remember what it is we need most...a relationship with Christ. Instead of focusing more on advancing your career or picking up that girl at the bar on Saturday, and all those other things that make us temporarily happy. Try to focus on God's Grace and letting it enter in your life. See the endless possibilities of a life of happiness from now through eternity.
Until next time...
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