I have been
swimming in information lately. I look (in vain) for some break in the political news that will give me hope that things will
get better, that love and compassion will begin to win. I seek (but do not find) some sense in the economy so that
I can figure out how to manage our retirement savings to provide for our
future. So this morning I realized that
if I were in Noah’s time, I would not want to get in the boat; I’d rather swim,
make it on my own effort, my best sense of what I need to do for my wife and
me.
Not too smart, eh?
When we
spoke this morning in my Men of Saint Joseph gathering (with the First Sunday of Lent readings of Ark and Desert) about “fasting” I realized with certainty that it is fasting
from my worldly sources (political news, stock market news, and my financial planning spreadsheet), that is the fast to which I am called by the Spirit of God and of my humanity. I need to realize that thinking
that I can swim through this long and deep flood is arrogant and foolish. God's boat is the only means of survival. As
the meeting ended I was walking out to my car to get to my next commitment, and it
hit me what I need to do. I need to
let go and let God. My wife, last night,
said “I don’t want us to watch the news every evening. It wears me out.” She is right in her thinking, and sensitive
in her feeling. She knows she can’t swim
this long either, after this year and a half of harsh politics. How eerily coincident it was that after that news I had watched the Nightly Business Report!
As a Man of St.
Joseph, I clearly feel called to follow my wife’s lead in knowing my own
limits, and seeing my limits as a call to faith. I need to let her know where I am, so we have
the opportunity to decide together where we
are. I need to honor our marriage by letting her know that I want to fast from stock market and moment-to-moment news during Lent, thanks to her consistent reminders. I want to follow the prayer that I too often forget to say:
Take, Lord, all my liberty. Accept entirely my memory, intellect, and will. And since everything I have (yes, including retirement savings on which we are living) comes from you, I geive it all back to you, to use entirely according to your will. Give me...give us only your Love and your Grace. They are all we need, and nothing more.
Now...to delete those temptingly addictive news and finance apps on my (not so)smartphone!
God bless YOU this Lent!
