Food for thought by Father Luke OLPS ^_-!!
April 2006
Life is an Adventure
Updated 10.04.06. Posted by Fr. Luke
Life is certainly an adventure, because adventures are exciting, and all adventures have something to teach us about ourselves and the world.
I find it rather easy to reflect about life in the many ordinary things that I encounter, and some of them may even sound strange. In this opening reflection, I want to share with you all a spiritual moment that I had in the gym. Yes, you read right. Gym.
In one of my visits to the gym, I went on the treadmill and cranked the speed up till I managed a good sweat. Right in front of me was a series of television screens that were tuned to different channels. I can’t for the life of me understand why the gym would want to have pictures without sound, but it does give those on the treadmill some visual distraction while our bodies pound away on the machines.
As I was running on the spot keeping to my heart rate, I glanced up and looked at what kind of programmes they were screening. One was an ESPN channel that featured some kind of European Games with various events. There were women sprinters, long jumpers, tri-athletes, long distance runners etc.
On the screen next to that one, a food show was being screened. Two Australian chefs were trussing up a leg of lamb, marinating it with Rosemary, spices and from time to time, it was being checked if it was cooked through. A very rich sauce was being prepared, and so was a very delicious serving of what looked like extremely smooth mashed potatoes.
All this was happening while I was running on the treadmill, and I realized that when my eyes were looking at the ESPN screen, when I watched those trained athletes running their best, I found myself running better, feeling more energetic and enthused about my exercise.
And when I looked at the screen featuring the rich food being prepared, I felt like slowing down the speed, decreasing the gradient, with thoughts of “won’t all this running just go to ‘waist’ if I consume a meal like this after my run?”
Then it hit me.
Life is like this.
You see, our aim in life, our final aim in life must be eternal union with God.
And this life as we know it is our ‘training ground’ to live out God’s love, to get us ready for a life with God.
In front of our eyes, are not just two TV screens, but hundreds of different screens, each showing different things to us.
Those are life screens. And what we train our eyes to focus on will help us in our journey towards a life of God, or serve to distract us in our quest for holiness and wholeness.
If we concentrate on the positives of life; emphasizing on the goodness of life, people and things that help us to accentuate the positive, to do what ‘Jesus would want me to do’, we will feel that life is worth living, and that each step can bring us closer to God.
We won’t feel lethargic and lackadaisical in life. It would be like looking at the ESPN channel while on the treadmill.
But if we are only focusing on the negatives in life, where we harbour resentment and grudges, doubt the need for love and forgiveness, and prefer to contribute to talk of negativity and doubt, we will not want to move forward, and we will feel lethargy in the ‘soles’ of our souls. We will begin to find life a drag. It will be like looking at the Food Channel while on the treadmill.
So, dear youth, it’s really something that we must make an active decision in life -- this choice for God and his goodness.
It’s far too easy to say that there are too many distractions towards holiness in life. It’s what we train our eyes on in life that will help us in our determination towards holiness.
Life of the Saints, inspirational lives and stories, encounters with people who are lights in the darkened world are what we need to make our lives daringly different from the many youths out there who build their lives on angst and negativity.
And of course, a firm belief in the unconditional love of God for each of us will help us make the right choices in life as well.
I hope this contribution to the column helps you to make baby steps towards a life of holiness. After all, that is the constant invitation of God our Father – to live a life that is full of love, generosity and solidarity with one another.
That kind of life cannot but be a life of adventure – adventure in God’s love.
Father Luke .
Updated 10.04.06. Posted by Fr. Luke
Life is an Adventure
Updated 10.04.06. Posted by Fr. Luke
Life is certainly an adventure, because adventures are exciting, and all adventures have something to teach us about ourselves and the world.
I find it rather easy to reflect about life in the many ordinary things that I encounter, and some of them may even sound strange. In this opening reflection, I want to share with you all a spiritual moment that I had in the gym. Yes, you read right. Gym.
In one of my visits to the gym, I went on the treadmill and cranked the speed up till I managed a good sweat. Right in front of me was a series of television screens that were tuned to different channels. I can’t for the life of me understand why the gym would want to have pictures without sound, but it does give those on the treadmill some visual distraction while our bodies pound away on the machines.
As I was running on the spot keeping to my heart rate, I glanced up and looked at what kind of programmes they were screening. One was an ESPN channel that featured some kind of European Games with various events. There were women sprinters, long jumpers, tri-athletes, long distance runners etc.
On the screen next to that one, a food show was being screened. Two Australian chefs were trussing up a leg of lamb, marinating it with Rosemary, spices and from time to time, it was being checked if it was cooked through. A very rich sauce was being prepared, and so was a very delicious serving of what looked like extremely smooth mashed potatoes.
All this was happening while I was running on the treadmill, and I realized that when my eyes were looking at the ESPN screen, when I watched those trained athletes running their best, I found myself running better, feeling more energetic and enthused about my exercise.
And when I looked at the screen featuring the rich food being prepared, I felt like slowing down the speed, decreasing the gradient, with thoughts of “won’t all this running just go to ‘waist’ if I consume a meal like this after my run?”
Then it hit me.
Life is like this.
You see, our aim in life, our final aim in life must be eternal union with God.
And this life as we know it is our ‘training ground’ to live out God’s love, to get us ready for a life with God.
In front of our eyes, are not just two TV screens, but hundreds of different screens, each showing different things to us.
Those are life screens. And what we train our eyes to focus on will help us in our journey towards a life of God, or serve to distract us in our quest for holiness and wholeness.
If we concentrate on the positives of life; emphasizing on the goodness of life, people and things that help us to accentuate the positive, to do what ‘Jesus would want me to do’, we will feel that life is worth living, and that each step can bring us closer to God.
We won’t feel lethargic and lackadaisical in life. It would be like looking at the ESPN channel while on the treadmill.
But if we are only focusing on the negatives in life, where we harbour resentment and grudges, doubt the need for love and forgiveness, and prefer to contribute to talk of negativity and doubt, we will not want to move forward, and we will feel lethargy in the ‘soles’ of our souls. We will begin to find life a drag. It will be like looking at the Food Channel while on the treadmill.
So, dear youth, it’s really something that we must make an active decision in life -- this choice for God and his goodness.
It’s far too easy to say that there are too many distractions towards holiness in life. It’s what we train our eyes on in life that will help us in our determination towards holiness.
Life of the Saints, inspirational lives and stories, encounters with people who are lights in the darkened world are what we need to make our lives daringly different from the many youths out there who build their lives on angst and negativity.
And of course, a firm belief in the unconditional love of God for each of us will help us make the right choices in life as well.
I hope this contribution to the column helps you to make baby steps towards a life of holiness. After all, that is the constant invitation of God our Father – to live a life that is full of love, generosity and solidarity with one another.
That kind of life cannot but be a life of adventure – adventure in God’s love.
Father Luke .
Updated 10.04.06. Posted by Fr. Luke
posted by Oshkide at 3:02 PM
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