22nd September 2024
It occurred to me the other day that the pursuit of holiness can be rather like trying to lose weight: you are always either moving closer to your target or moving further away. There's no standing still. When you are full of motivation (or the Holy Spirit), everything is - well, if not easy, then certainly easier. When you are not; or, simply when you don't keep a tight rein on things, everything gets not only more difficult but seemingly impossible: even if you know that it is perfectly possible if you apply yourself.
That need to apply yourself, even if it is in the context of receiving God's grace, is an absolute necessity. God gave us free will and will not remove it. That can be a hard thought but we should all be infinitely grateful that it is the case. Can you imagine how awful life would be if we were forced to do this, that, or the other every day of our lives?
In light of our possession of free will, how do we make a success of applying ourselves to the pursuit of holiness or weight loss? I think the first thing to do is to accept that we will have reverses and forgive ourselves for them. What's important is that we don't give up, we keep running the race. Of course, how easy it is to say that, but how much more difficult to live it! So, how do we live it?
With Prayers,