Jesus said: “Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”
There have been times when my life seemed so dark, I didn’t think that God cared. Why would I be feeling so helpless if He really cared about me? Why doesn’t He fix things? Why doesn’t He help? Why does he let people suffer?
It took time and a lot of soul searching to look at my life from another angle.
I searched for ways to help myself and I found useful practices.
I went on one, then several, pilgrimages and found clarity while walking. My feet have covered a lot of holy ground. After several days of walking in Spain on my first Camino, I was asked why I was walking. I honestly had no answer and just said “because I can.” That seemed stupid to say at the time, but as the days passed, I realised what a privilege it was just to be able to walk.
I also tried meditating. I found this to be prayer-like and became a fan of, but not adept at, mindfulness.
These practices have helped me step out of my darkness for short periods of time and enable me to see things differently.
I remember the line from The Sound of Music where Maria is told that when God closes a door, he opens a window. This has been true for me. I changed from “wanting” God to help me to “knowing” that He is always there.
I also remember a line from one of my favorite country songs (Brad Paisley’s “No”): “make no mistake, every prayer you pray, gets answered, even though, sometimes the answer is no.” Sometimes not getting what we think we want or need is the best thing that could happen.
— MCW
There have been times when my life seemed so dark, I didn’t think that God cared. Why would I be feeling so helpless if He really cared about me? Why doesn’t He fix things? Why doesn’t He help? Why does he let people suffer?
It took time and a lot of soul searching to look at my life from another angle.
I searched for ways to help myself and I found useful practices.
I went on one, then several, pilgrimages and found clarity while walking. My feet have covered a lot of holy ground. After several days of walking in Spain on my first Camino, I was asked why I was walking. I honestly had no answer and just said “because I can.” That seemed stupid to say at the time, but as the days passed, I realised what a privilege it was just to be able to walk.
I also tried meditating. I found this to be prayer-like and became a fan of, but not adept at, mindfulness.
These practices have helped me step out of my darkness for short periods of time and enable me to see things differently.
I remember the line from The Sound of Music where Maria is told that when God closes a door, he opens a window. This has been true for me. I changed from “wanting” God to help me to “knowing” that He is always there.
I also remember a line from one of my favorite country songs (Brad Paisley’s “No”): “make no mistake, every prayer you pray, gets answered, even though, sometimes the answer is no.” Sometimes not getting what we think we want or need is the best thing that could happen.
— MCW
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