It seems that there has been a lot of heavy winter weather this January. This winter, New Englad was hit with feet and feet of snow; the South was shut down by conditions they are not accustomed to; and Western New York was hit by a blizzard unseen as such for years.
It seems that once we find ourselves in the middle of a season where it meets an extreme, people begin to wait and wish for what is to follow. The stores are buzzing with Easter baskets and bathing suits already, yet it's still January until tomorrow. Once the melting heat of the summer hits, people wish for the cold. This doesn't only happen with the weather. It happens in school, at work, awaiting one's vacation. The crazy part is that people don't even really think about it when they wish for something different than what is right in front of them; it seems to happen instinctively.
How do we combat this? Mother Angelica often speaks of living in the present moment, seeing all that God has placed in our lives right here and now and being at peace. That doesn't mean you have to like it all the time, it just means that you know God has allowed this thing or that thing in your life for a reason, and that it all points to His undying love for us. God's will is ultimately oriented towards our eternity with Him. We so often think we know what is best for us or think that our preferenes should take precedence over other things.
All of us, no matter who we are, have at one point wished something other than what is before us in the presen moment. For myself, I often think of how I "can't wait" to be in my final vows as a religious Sister. Yet when I focus on this too much and I look back and reflect on the times I was distracted by this well intentioned and beautiful thing, I realize that I missed little things that God was doing in my life and showing me.
When we submit ourselves entirely to the will of God in a state of grace, joyful expectation, trust, praise and thanksgiving, this action increases our love for God. Think about it. When you love a person, say a parent, spouse or friend, part of your love for them comes from knowing that they will the good for you! With God, He not only wills the good for us, but His will is the very action of that love in our life!
A quote from St. Alphonsus de Liguori I think encompasses all of this very well...
"During our sojourn in this world, we should learn from the saints now in heaven, how to love God. The pure and perfect love of God they enjoy there, consists in uniting themselves perfectly to his will. It would be the greatest delight of the seraphs to pile up sand on the seashore or to pull weeds in a garden for all eternity, if they found out such was God's will. Our Lord himself teaches us to ask to do the will of God on earth as the saints do it in heaven: "They will be done on earth as it is in heaven [12]."
Written by Nicolette
