What Am I Doing with My Life?
At my desk, I have a framed reminder of the Heart of Reality, the soul of who I am: self-giving love. This reminder is a drawn image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, loving with the whole of His being, the whole of His life. Also near my computer is a quote from St. Teresa of Calcutta: “Life is a promise. Fulfill it.”
This summer, as I pray for all Christians to witness lovingly and humbly to God’s love for every person in every stage, age, and walk of life, I ask myself what I am doing to proclaim the sanctity of life to others…
What am I doing with the gift of life that God has given to me? Am I “spending” my time like currency on things to give me pleasure or prestige? Or am I fulfilling the meaning and purpose of my life with the work that I do at my desk?
Lord, forgive me for the moments that I waste seeking “likes” and followers, for not always seeking first Your Kingdom with the mouse clicks that I make and the words that I write! May the work that I do be for You, Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, and for You alone, so that hardened hearts may be softened by the gently relentless and joyfully indefatigable witness of true Christian love. May I humbly live love without seeking reward, save for the blessing of giving myself totally to You.
© 2020 Christina Chase
Categories
Christina Chase View All
Although crippled by disease, I'm fully alive in love. I write about the terrible beauty and sacred wonder of life, while living with physical disability and severe dependency. A revert to the Catholic faith through atheism, I'm not afraid to ask life's big questions. I explore what it means to be fully human through my weekly blog and have written a book: It's Good to Be Here, published by Sophia Institute Press.
Christina Chase 
Thank you for the glimpse of yourself at work!
If life is a gift, then it’s certainly not to be buried in a field, to be dug up a thousand years hence and put in a museum, as sometimes happens hereabouts. And a gift is meant to be enjoyed, and that includes enjoying a little support from one of your followers ! I have no doubt that Jesus enjoyed eating fish before and after Easter day, and enjoyed sharing that meal with his friends; that he enjoyed walking through Palestine, Lebanon, and so on; that maybe he chose to go one way rather than another for pleasure.
You won’t soften many hearts if yours is rock or even diamond hard!
God bless,
Will.
LikeLike
Oh yes, we all need support — “it is not good for man to be alone” — and I thank you for yours! Jesus Himself asked His friends, His followers, to stay with Him in His hour of agony. I agree that Jesus must have enjoyed many good meals, good walks, and the company of loved ones. As I wrote my book, I often thought of the scriptural image of Him walking through the field with His disciples as they picked the grains of grass and nibbled on them along the way. As you know, It’s Good to Be Here is full of God in the flesh enjoying the wonders of being human.
There are different kinds of pleasures, of course, or maybe I should say different pleasures can have different context. If whatever we do is always in the context of loving God, then both struggles and pleasures are sacred and blessed! I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately because I’m reading the mystics this year, and they focus on despising the “evils of the flesh” and sensuality. Sometimes it seems harsh and almost inhuman, but I have to keep remembering that they both come down to inordinate self-love or self-centeredness. God wants us to love ourselves because He loves us! But if we focus only on how something will benefit us directly or the pleasure that something will bring our senses (or tickle our ears or stroke our egos) then we miss out on the full joy of the full truth, which is God-centeredness. Divine love.
That was a longer reply then I meant! But I hope that it gives some context to the reflections that I’m sharing this summer. Only in humility can we experience something of the true depth and height of God’s wondrous love for us — and so fully delight in being here.
Always grateful for your presence,
Pax Christi
Christina
LikeLike