Daily - 11/19/09

CONSIDER how noble and excellent a thing your soul is, endowed with understanding, capable of knowing, not merely this visible world around us, but Angels and Paradise, of knowing that there is an All-Mighty, All-Merciful, Ineffable God; of knowing that eternity lies before you, and of knowing what is necessary in order so to live in this visible world as to attain to fellowship with those Angels in Paradise, and the eternal fruition of God.

Yet more;—-your soul is possessed of a noble will, capable of loving God, irresistibly drawn to that love; your heart is full of generous enthusiasm, and can no more find rest in any earthly creation, or in aught save God, than the bee can find honey on a dunghill, or in aught save flowers.

When the heart of man seeks the creature, it goes to work eagerly, expecting to satisfy its cravings; but directly it obtains what it sought, it finds a blank, and dissatisfied, begins to seek anew; for God will not suffer our hearts to find any rest, like the dove going forth from Noah’s ark, until it returns to God, whence it came. Surely this is a most striking natural beauty in our heart;—why should we constrain it against its will to seek creature love?
In some such wise might you address your soul: “You are capable of realising a longing after God, why should you trifle with anything lower?

-- St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life, Part 5, Chapter 10

--------

In our Friday bible study last week we talked about how one goes about "setting your mind on the Spirit". One way I've found of doing that is spending time thinking about (i.e., "meditating") on subjects like this one. Lately I've been thinking through my life and considering all of the things I've chased after and which of those were truly worth the time.

My conclusion is the same as St. Francis de Sales. The love of God is the only thing that can truly satisfy us, and feed our souls. That means that everything else that I chase in life is some type of substitute for what I truly want and need. It took my quite a while to get to this point spiritually, but this is where I am right now.

So ... as I move forward, I am trying harder and harder to set my mind on the Spirit. The only way I've found to do this is by establishing a devotional routine in my life that becomes ingrained in my habits - prayer and meditation in the morning, rosary, and examination of conscience at the end of the day. Hopefully over time, that experience will help me set my mind on Him more and more, and I can begin to see more of what this "Life in the Sprit" business is all about.