Because of funerals for relatives earlier in the month, the last real post I had here was on May 5, where I discussed taking 10 minutes a day to ask God what He wanted for me/you each day. This was based on the teachings of Matthew Kelly, a lay Catholic.
Today I thought it’d be good to give a review of how that is going. Short answer: Not well. Longer answer: I’m still doing it, even if sporadically. The note is still up in on the mirror to remind me each day.
This morning, I did take 10 minutes to ask God what He wanted me of this day, and believe I heard two things:
- Listen
- Keep your word
The first seems so simple, but in reality, how often do we do it? For me as a Christian, it means listening for and to what God/Christ wants me to hear. For others, it might mean just listening period, centering yourself in your day.
It means listening not just at the start of my day, but also throughout the day in every moment. Is this what you want me to be doing, God? Or for those who are non-Christians or of no faith, is this what I should be doing?
The second perhaps relates more to me today in what I have told people I would do yesterday. In one instance, I told a fellow humor blogger (I also have a humor blog called Unfinished Rambler) that I would make room on that blog for an ad for his blog today. In another, I told a man for whom I’m going to cover a story tomorrow for the newspaper that this morning I would read over material that he sent me last night and get back to him with any questions I might have.
Again like the first thing, this seems so simple: keeping your word, but again in reality, how often do we do it? If we say we’re going to do something, we should do it, and if we know we’re not going to do it, then we shouldn’t say we will do it. (Aside: I’m beginning to sound like one of my late grandmothers more and more every day, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing: after all, she said not to put on credit things for which you didn’t have money, which I still think is sage advice.)
So I’m off. If I do only two things today, Lord, let it be these.
As you say, these two committments should be simple to fullfill, but so often they prove to be otherwise. In particular: keep your word. I think part of the problem is that the value of an individual’s word has been cheapened. No one is really expected to keep it anymore. Plus, in a society where no one ever wants to say ‘no’, a hollow ‘yes’ is easier.
Sometimes it’s best to say maybe and not over-commit. At least this is what I’ve learned. I’ve learned not to make promises, except in these last two cases — which by the way, I did keep.