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Be Gracious
July 25—“Be just as gracious toward the little ones as toward the great ones.
Make an effort particularly when you are with people who seem vulgar to you.
Go to everyone with the same gentleness. You are all brothers in Me.
Wasn’t I everyone’s brother? Don’t take your eyes off your model.”
Bossis, Gabrielle. He and I (Kindle Locations 1001-1004).
Pauline Books and Media. Kindle Edition.
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Jesus talks about being Childlike. Children at their best can be very excepting of those with whom they meet. They can also be very cruel. All age groups have this contrast within themselves. Children however are in many ways clueless about life, its up and downs, and injustices. So they will often commit injustice without being able to even name it. They can be treated with contempt, without being able to name it either. Life is life, and what is, is. So trauma when one is very young, say before one is five, will have a lifelong influence on how life is understood. It can become our skin so to speak.
In my own life, I am often made aware of this ‘two-year-old’ and how my reactions, at least my inner hidden ones, come about. This can be a major obstacle, this childishness, from allowing me to grow into being more childlike. Some healing is needed before that inner graciousness can flower for others. It is part of most people’s journeys I believe.
The less this is understood, the more power this ‘inner-two-old’ has over me in my daily life. It can be easy to see it in others, but more problematic when it comes to myself. I can always have a good reason for how I may react in any situation when I forget myself.
Many distractions in prayer, I believe, come from this inner space. So many distractions can be used as a focus to grow in self-knowledge (humility), and lead to greater inner freedom over time. It is however a difficult journey.
Many think that prayer is just about asking God for ‘things’. When in fact, deeper prayer is often achieved by simply being aware of one’s need for grace. When we pray, we step back, observe, and over time learn that we are not these emotions, feelings, and thoughts. Well if we identify and believe them to be true, then yes we can lose ourselves in the inner maelstrom that can often make up our inner lives. Because our inner experiences can change in rapid succession, we can be caught in a very painful, and exhausting dream.
Prayer allows us to open up this circle and invite another in. When we start to have a relationship with “Ultimate Reality”, and find out that it is personal, then the only way to have a relationship is to be open to the reality of our own need for help, grace, and healing.
In the most painful of times, we can trust. Sentimental-Spirituality only leads to disappointment because ‘nice feelings’ do not last, something else comes in.
As we mature in our prayer life, we begin to see that our inner landscape is changing and we may not always understand how this happens, nor do we need to do. We just need to grow in trust, deepen our faith, and in dark times, as well as joyous ones, stay rooted in Christ Jesus, or true to the tradition we are following. Grace is always at work.-Br.MD
