Surrender, surrender

For this week’s Sleeping With Bread post (click on the badge at right for more information about the meme), our host Mary-Lue takes us in a different direction with this question: “As we head into 2010, are there areas of your life in which you need to surrender to God? Would you like to share them with us?”

The short answers are “Yep” and “Nope.”

The longer answers are “yes, ma’am” and “I’ll share what I can.”

Body: Over the past year, I’ve “let myself go,” and I can tell you that that is not working. I’ve fallen off the treadmill, or whatever cliche you want to use, and I need to get back on it. The thing is about surrendering my body to God: it’s not a passive surrender. Like “Here, God, take care of it…um, yeah, thanks,” and then walk away. No, it is an active surrender. To that the end, my wife and I have committed ourselves to improving our diet and exercise this year, starting with two simple things: diet (imagine) and exercise (getting a gym membership here during the winter months).

Mind: Over the past year, I’ve also let my mind wander on the computer to places that waste my mind. Namely, for one, Facebook and its games. I’ve discussed Facebook in previous posts (here and here, just to name a couple) and its time-killing nature. It’s not that I feel Facebook is in itself “evil.” I don’t, because I’ve reconnected with friends from high school and college whom I otherwise might not have reconnected. However, the games there just are a time-suck…at least, too many of them. One good thing is that I’ve learned to hit “ignore” to a lot of invitation to applications, but now I need to hit “delete” on a couple of others and focus my time on my goals for the New Year.

Soul: Over the past year, I’ve allowed my spiritual nature to wither and die. It starts out easily enough. I volunteered this past fall Saturday nights from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m. at a hospice, and as a result, I missed Mass both on Saturday afternoon and Sunday mornings. I made the excuse on Saturdays that I needed to rest before going to volunteer (which really wasn’t legitimate) and then on Sundays, I slept (which after being up most of the night was legitimate). I also have not kept to a commitment I made to give God 10 minutes a day, as suggested by Catholic lay minister Matthew Kelly, to start my day off on the right foot.

The main question Kelly says we need to ask ourselves each day is “God, what do you want me to do today?” Or in other words, “What is your will?”

I was reminded of this this morning in a reading from St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, whose feast day it was today:

And what was the first rule of our dear Savior’s life? You know it was to do his Father’s will. Well, then, the first end I propose in our daily work is to do the will of God; secondly, to do it in the manner he wills; and thirdly, to do it because it is his will.

I know what his will is by those who direct me; whatever they bid me do, if it is ever so small in itself, it is the will of God for me. Then do it in a manner he wills it, not sewing an old thing as if it were new, or a new thing as if it were old; not fretting because the oven is too hot, or in fuss because it is too cold. You understand –not flying and driving because you are hurried, not creeping like a snail because no one pushes you. Our dear Savior was never in extremes. The third object is do his will because God wills it, that is, to be ready to quit at any moment and to do anything else to which you may be called…

In other words, from what I’m gathering from St. Elizabeth is “Just do it.” Eat right, exercise, spend less time on the computer, go to Mass.

So the question for you is “As we head into 2010, are there areas of your life in which you need to surrender to God? Or to word it for those who are not of the Christian faith, are there areas in your life on which you need to work? Would you like to share them with us?”