Jan 20 2008
Grace Before Google
Yes, I know I’m not supposed to be here until February, but it’s a woman’s perogative to change her mind. So, it’s 2:15 a.m., I can’t sleep, and am having that recurring absurd notion that if I just google, “who can help me?”, the spiritual director of my dreams will pop up.
Since I’ve heard that the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, I refrained from the googling. Instead, I paid a little visit to Word Incarnate. Here’s a taste of what made me laugh out loud:
Perhaps we ought to ask the Lord to define “sufficient” (some of his definitions are different than ours; take “soon,” for example).
I don’t know what St Paul’s ”thorn” was, but sometimes I feel like I’m wearing an entire rosebush…
Thanks, Abbot Joseph. A little grace goes a long way. And now I will make a graceful exit again. 
Thanks, Abbot Joseph…..you make me laugh too – in among all the seriousness of life your blog is a very welcome retreat, and of course there is much to ponder there as well.
We all usually bleed so quietly, don’t we–not least of all those poor nearly 50,000,000, now, who waited for rescue that never came.. so I don’t feel like smiling, no, but to see the squirrel sitting up and holding the crust of my lunch’s tuna sandwich as if a harmonica? Well, yes, that unexpectedly made me laugh. Such as this makes me also laugh to realize that when God sees me, sometimes He sees a squirrel holding a crust, too.. and yet, He wants to employ that squirrel! Wants to embue that squirrel with His own compassion, His own gifts — and can do so! He has already conquered not only this world, but my world.
Indeed, a glad heart.
Abbot Joseph, how true, and not only as a spiritual weapon, but as such a healing gift. We know how laughter heals psychologically and physically; I’m sure this gladness of heart, this joy that bubbles up from our depths and brings peace in the midst of trials is one of God’s precious gifts to us as a means of spiritual healing. And we are grateful when the gift is shared!
Cathy, God finding humour in our being! Just in our “being” – and as Carol said, His seeing us as we might see a comical squirrel with a crust of bread. He takes delight in us, through Jesus, because He took delight in His Son! If we could only look at ourselves and others this way more consistently!
Joakim, thanks! Glad to know I’m in good company!
When we have God–even if it doesn’t feel so to us, then indeed/amen, we shall have strength enough to persevere.
And may God bless all reading here today, very richly.
Gab, I could have sworn you wrote a comment asking me about letizia francescana…but I can’t find it!
Anyway, I googled it and found this from an Italian Franciscan site, and I guess “joyful detachment” may be the best definition, because it doesn’t mean “happy go luckiness”, but rather happiness in pain:
“Perfect joy is not the fruit of interior darkness but of a faith which is joyfully lived out, the result of Francis’ full intimacy with the divine, which no human problem can destroy. You may still be totally human but not be influenced by your own humanity, by your mood swings, or by the voices and reactions that affect your soul, heart and mind.
Perfect joy is not when you “put up” with suffering and misunderstanding, but when you accept them with joy, because they do not touch or wound you. You are not happy because you have been insulted, but you are happy notwithstanding the insult.
It may appear to be a contradiction, but Francis is happy even though he’s been expelled from the Order, even though his friends, his “children” treat him badly; he is happy no matter what because their mistreatment does not cut him off from his communion with God.
This is the ultimate secret of joy: feeling protected, impassible to the “meanness, or the kindness” of your neighbors, friends or enemies. “
It also better explains a martyr’s love that trascends the physical.
Thanks for this marvelous explanation of joyful detachment, Pia. And as Ann says, it is something we come across so often in the lives of the saints and the martyrs. I think many of us experience this during certain periods of our spiritual journey, but, and I speak only for myself, perhaps it is not at the deepest level, because it doesn’t seem to be sustained, and we still feel beaten down by the world at times. On the other hand, when we arrive at this place that is closer to the joyful detachment the Franciscans describe, we are looked down on, even by fellow-Catholics, as not taking the problems of the world seriously enough, not being enough of an “activist”. And this too we have to accept with joyful detachment!