What Are We Missing From Our Lives?

            In the first reading at Mass on the fifth Sunday of Ordinary Time, we find Job asking the question, “Is not man’s life on earth a drudgery?” (Jb 7).  His lament continues until he finally states that he “shall not see happiness again.”  He is quite convinced that his position is not going to change.

            My reading of Job usually ends with me shaking my head as I feel saddened for the man – followed very quickly by the realization that I sometimes find myself with the same disposition.  Life is fast.  Needs must be met.  Bills must be paid.  Traffic must be endured.  Work can be exhausting.  Illness is all around.  We are a society tapped into some form of technology or another most of the time … and the list goes on.

            The Gospel for the same Sunday (Mk. 1 29-39) states that Jesus rose early one morning and went to a deserted place to pray by himself.  Even Jesus had to get away from it all at times, to “unplug” from the realities and pressures that faced Him so as to “plug in” to the Father.

            Situations vary around the globe.  One person’s stress in South America is different than that of a person’s pain in China and so on.  So, as we bloom and grow in Southern Indiana, we find the stressors of life unique to our particular country and region; and yet we all, as human persons, experience many of the same groans as we sometimes “drudge” our way down this path.

            We can often find ourselves so battered from the needs around us that we find ourselves floating as if on an expansive ocean in a small dingy with a sail the size of dishcloth.  Even if a strong breeze does pass our way, our tiny little sail is too weak and weary to put it to good use.  But in this somewhat dim view of what can become our daily lives, we must take heart; for even Christ Jesus found Himself in similar circumstances!

            So we ask ourselves: What are we missing from our lives?  What is it that keeps the burdens of our lives square upon our shoulders?  I suggest that it may not be these burdens that weigh us down, but rather our failure to say to ourselves that it is okay to steal away brief moments each day to unplug from our surroundings and plug in to the Father’s grace in our lives.

            So, when you feel that life is a drudgery to the point that you feel it shall not change, do what Jesus did and find your deserted place, and connect with your Father in Heaven.  It is there, before the dawn (or in your darkness, if you will) that God waits for you so that He might share your burdens and break forth the sunlight into your lives.  It is in this place where you will find lasting peace.

            In this age of increased injection of technology into our lives, we cannot forget the benefits of removing ourselves to the peace of perfect silence.  Some may find it quite maddening at first; but when practiced with repetition, it will become the greatest of gifts that one can experience.  It is truly in this silence that we can collect our thoughts so as to raise them up to God. 

            With Lent upon us, I encourage again each of us to find that deserted place, for it is in that very place of nothingness that we will encounter our Everything.