I have been struggling for quite some time with this whole notion of "rising above" or taking "the high road" when it comes to interacting in a situation I find uncomfortable or with a person I believe "should" be acting in a different way.
I realize what I see in another that I don't care for may be traits in myself that I don't care for. Instead of expecting the other person to change or the situation to improve I have come to realize I need to make changes. I need to take the high road, make the right choices and above all LOVE the other person.
At first I resented this notion and was pretty bitter I had to do all the leg work, I had to make the sacrifices. Why me? Why did things have to be so hard all the time?
I got to thinking about how the greatest commandment is:
"Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself"
I haven't been a very loving neighbor. I have been incredibly judgmental and isolated my neighbor through my own selfish actions.
I was falling short on the love my neighbor business. It is not love thy neighbor you like most or have the most in common with...it is love thy neighbor PERIOD.
Many of us choose the path of least resistance because it just feels so much better. I have been guilty of this because nobody enjoys being uncomfortable or confronting those parts of ourselves we don't really want to see. It was easier to blame the other person for their "faults" as opposed to embracing my own shortcomings when it came to faithfully and tactfully interacting with this other person.
I needed to step back and look at myself ~ truthfully and honestly LOOK at myself. I was being so unkind and unfair to someone because they communicate differently than I do, their view on the world is somewhat different than mine, and our personalities are dramatically different.
Instead of seeing this as an opportunity to build a bridge or to bridge a gap in our relationship, I allowed our differences to drive a wedge between us which is not a very Christian like thing to do.
It is not acceptable to turn away and write someone off just because I don't want to follow a commandment that I know in my heart I should. Shame on me. I will no longer allow myself to be that person. I will joyfully take the "right" road from here on out.
I thought long and hard about this over the weekend. I prayed for positivity, perseverance and patience. I wanted to be positive towards this person. I wanted to be more patient with this person as well as with myself. I wanted to be able to persevere because I knew it would not be an easy task and I may fall down repeatedly along the way. I have struggled with my interactions with this person for months and finally I found my answer ~~ LOVE your neighbor.
It isn't always easy to love - it takes courage, fortitude, strength and above all Faith. I challenge you during this "season of love - aka Valentine's Day" to truly LOVE with all your heart and soul.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Saturday, January 21, 2012
I am the Quarterback of My Life...
The question I have been asked the most lately is this: "What made you decide to convert to Catholicism?"
I was not prepared for such questioning. I was not expecting people to inquire about my reasoning for this journey.
Of course when you are put on the spot you stammer around with answers like, "well, I work for a Catholic entity, I have many Catholic friends....." and then it just trails off from there and they are left staring blankly at me probably thinking, "she works for a Catholic entity and she has Catholic friends? So what???"
My answer now is easy: Faith should not be a spectator sport
Up until recently, I have always been a fair weather fan in the stands. Warming the pew on the rare Sunday I did attend church. I was always removed from the action. I could see the field and the other key players, but definitely was not suited up for the Big Game.
It was always more comfortable or easier to go through the motions of church. I had convinced myself that merely attending was good enough to get me into heaven. I believed if I was not committing the "Big Sins" then surely, I must be alright.
I never believed I needed to engage at a deeper core level. It was perfectly acceptable to me to either not go to church at all or just be a second stringer for a mediocre team.
You cannot expect great results in your life without great effort and enthusiasm on your part. Catholicism has stoked a once small almost non-existent flame into a roaring inner fire that cannot be tamed.
Catholicism is a way for me to fully engage my talents, strengths, emotions and above all love for God. It is steeped with rich tradition and it inspires me each time I attend mass. I love the involvement in the mass whether it's through making the sign of the cross, the genuflecting, the adoration of the tabernacle, kneeling in prayer, participating in the Eucharist or even as simple as passing the peace with a fellow parishioner.
Hence, I am now the Quarterback of my life. I am calling the plays, I am making the big decisions. I am no longer a spectator but a key player in my Super Bowl of faithful journeys.
I may not have the stats or moves of Aaron Rodgers, but I am definitely the MVP of my big game.
I was not prepared for such questioning. I was not expecting people to inquire about my reasoning for this journey.
Of course when you are put on the spot you stammer around with answers like, "well, I work for a Catholic entity, I have many Catholic friends....." and then it just trails off from there and they are left staring blankly at me probably thinking, "she works for a Catholic entity and she has Catholic friends? So what???"
My answer now is easy: Faith should not be a spectator sport
Up until recently, I have always been a fair weather fan in the stands. Warming the pew on the rare Sunday I did attend church. I was always removed from the action. I could see the field and the other key players, but definitely was not suited up for the Big Game.
It was always more comfortable or easier to go through the motions of church. I had convinced myself that merely attending was good enough to get me into heaven. I believed if I was not committing the "Big Sins" then surely, I must be alright.
I never believed I needed to engage at a deeper core level. It was perfectly acceptable to me to either not go to church at all or just be a second stringer for a mediocre team.
You cannot expect great results in your life without great effort and enthusiasm on your part. Catholicism has stoked a once small almost non-existent flame into a roaring inner fire that cannot be tamed.
Catholicism is a way for me to fully engage my talents, strengths, emotions and above all love for God. It is steeped with rich tradition and it inspires me each time I attend mass. I love the involvement in the mass whether it's through making the sign of the cross, the genuflecting, the adoration of the tabernacle, kneeling in prayer, participating in the Eucharist or even as simple as passing the peace with a fellow parishioner.
Hence, I am now the Quarterback of my life. I am calling the plays, I am making the big decisions. I am no longer a spectator but a key player in my Super Bowl of faithful journeys.
I may not have the stats or moves of Aaron Rodgers, but I am definitely the MVP of my big game.
Monday, January 9, 2012
Personal Revelations
An epiphany reveals or makes known something that had been previously hidden.
I have kept many things hidden, not just from others but particularly from myself. I have hidden my guilt, shame, sadness and remorse over my failed past relationships. I have wanted to appear as though each ending of a significant chapter of my life has been on my terms. I have not wanted others to view me as fragile or broken.
Facts are I was broken. Facts are I still have parts of me which are broken.
In light of all the amazingly positive changes I have made over the last 18 months it is easy to overlook the notion I may indeed still be broken in places. It is easy to wake up each day with a smile and be grateful and go about my life without truly examining my past and thinking about making myself completely whole again.
As I continue my faith journey converting to Catholicism I am forced to look deep within myself and examine where I want my life to go. This is not a decision to enter into lightly, you are either all in or all out, there is no middle wishy-washy ground.
This week, had I stayed married, I would be celebrating my 16th anniversary. Every year in January I find myself reflecting on that time period in my life when I made the decision to get married. I also, reflect on the pain I inflicted on another human being through the hurtful divorce process.
Annually, I would put myself through this guilt process and beat myself up for decisions I made so long ago. The hardest part was I never really answered to anyone but myself. I let down my family, friends, my husband, myself...and never ever held myself accountable for my actions. I completely did what I wanted and selfishly only thought of myself and my needs in that moment.
God works in mysterious yet obvious ways. In all these years I have never atoned for what I did to my ex-husband. Yes, I asked him for forgiveness and thankfully he was able to find a place in his heart to forgive me. I have yet to find the way to forgive myself for my actions. I have carried this around for 16 long years. I have wanted to believe my divorce didn't bother me. I have wanted to keep hidden the embarassment and shame of my divorce.
Today, I am being asked to re-examine that time period. Today I am being asked to atone for my ways. Did anyone tell me I needed to do this? No, not outright. One night after my RCIA class at church it occurred to me that I would never be able to remarry again in good faith. Up until this point in my life I don't think I really cared whether or not I was in good standing with anyone because I had always thought just about me and my needs. When I left my husband I was not accountable to him, to my family, to my friends, to my church and certainly not to God.
Granted, it's not like men are lined up at my door dying for the opportunity to marry me in a beautiful Catholic church wedding, but maybe someday there may be a time when I want to remarry. I know in my heart if I were to remarry I would want a beautiful Catholic wedding and I would want to enter into marriage with all the sacredness that surrounds it.
I instantly knew what I had to do. I needed to begin the annulment process within the Catholic church. Did that sound like a fun thing to do? Of course not. Do I want to look back on a time in my life when I am not proud of my actions? Of course not.
EPIPHANY ~ seeing what was once hidden...I can now see that I am meant to stop hiding my past scars. I am meant to see myself for who I was back then and through the annulment process I will be able to finally forgive myself and move forward freely in my life. Forgiveness is a very powerful tool and until I can forgive myself for my past I'll never be able to be the best person I can be for my future. I also love that had I not found my way to the Catholic church and renewed my faith I would have never given my past relationship with my ex-husband another conscious thought. My guilt would have continued to fester quietly under the surface for an eternity each year eating away at my being.
I am thankful I am on this journey with God. I am grateful that I hear His voice quietly guiding me in a whispered hush as I take these first awkward and uncomfortable steps. It will be a long journey of inner reflection and revelations, but I know that I am not alone. I know that I can and will get through this and that I will be a better person for going through the process.
I have kept many things hidden, not just from others but particularly from myself. I have hidden my guilt, shame, sadness and remorse over my failed past relationships. I have wanted to appear as though each ending of a significant chapter of my life has been on my terms. I have not wanted others to view me as fragile or broken.
Facts are I was broken. Facts are I still have parts of me which are broken.
In light of all the amazingly positive changes I have made over the last 18 months it is easy to overlook the notion I may indeed still be broken in places. It is easy to wake up each day with a smile and be grateful and go about my life without truly examining my past and thinking about making myself completely whole again.
As I continue my faith journey converting to Catholicism I am forced to look deep within myself and examine where I want my life to go. This is not a decision to enter into lightly, you are either all in or all out, there is no middle wishy-washy ground.
This week, had I stayed married, I would be celebrating my 16th anniversary. Every year in January I find myself reflecting on that time period in my life when I made the decision to get married. I also, reflect on the pain I inflicted on another human being through the hurtful divorce process.
Annually, I would put myself through this guilt process and beat myself up for decisions I made so long ago. The hardest part was I never really answered to anyone but myself. I let down my family, friends, my husband, myself...and never ever held myself accountable for my actions. I completely did what I wanted and selfishly only thought of myself and my needs in that moment.
God works in mysterious yet obvious ways. In all these years I have never atoned for what I did to my ex-husband. Yes, I asked him for forgiveness and thankfully he was able to find a place in his heart to forgive me. I have yet to find the way to forgive myself for my actions. I have carried this around for 16 long years. I have wanted to believe my divorce didn't bother me. I have wanted to keep hidden the embarassment and shame of my divorce.
Today, I am being asked to re-examine that time period. Today I am being asked to atone for my ways. Did anyone tell me I needed to do this? No, not outright. One night after my RCIA class at church it occurred to me that I would never be able to remarry again in good faith. Up until this point in my life I don't think I really cared whether or not I was in good standing with anyone because I had always thought just about me and my needs. When I left my husband I was not accountable to him, to my family, to my friends, to my church and certainly not to God.
Granted, it's not like men are lined up at my door dying for the opportunity to marry me in a beautiful Catholic church wedding, but maybe someday there may be a time when I want to remarry. I know in my heart if I were to remarry I would want a beautiful Catholic wedding and I would want to enter into marriage with all the sacredness that surrounds it.
I instantly knew what I had to do. I needed to begin the annulment process within the Catholic church. Did that sound like a fun thing to do? Of course not. Do I want to look back on a time in my life when I am not proud of my actions? Of course not.
EPIPHANY ~ seeing what was once hidden...I can now see that I am meant to stop hiding my past scars. I am meant to see myself for who I was back then and through the annulment process I will be able to finally forgive myself and move forward freely in my life. Forgiveness is a very powerful tool and until I can forgive myself for my past I'll never be able to be the best person I can be for my future. I also love that had I not found my way to the Catholic church and renewed my faith I would have never given my past relationship with my ex-husband another conscious thought. My guilt would have continued to fester quietly under the surface for an eternity each year eating away at my being.
I am thankful I am on this journey with God. I am grateful that I hear His voice quietly guiding me in a whispered hush as I take these first awkward and uncomfortable steps. It will be a long journey of inner reflection and revelations, but I know that I am not alone. I know that I can and will get through this and that I will be a better person for going through the process.
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