God Challenges, Never Offering a Quick Fix

Someone suggested I read the book, The Man Who Got Even with God, the Life of an American Trappist Monk by M. Raymond. It was a difficult book to find but it was a quick read. I visited Gethsemane Monastery in Kentucky and the book was about Brother Mary Joachim and his difficult journey to his life in that monastery. I wondered after finishing that book about how this man with a fiery temper and a long winding road to the monastery could live such a holy life. His abbot told him, ‘You are not a Trappist by coming Somewhere, but to Someone.‘

Biblical Examples

I often wondered about this struggle of coming to God. There are countless examples throughout scripture that relate to this experience. Job loses everything and he was tempted to renounce God. He did not really lose his faith and he was given more for being faithful in the end. Jonah was obstinate and a difficult relationship with God.

Even Peter himself denied Jesus three times and he became the first pope. These are great examples for us to ponder while we struggle with so many events in our lives – whatever they may be. How often do we have this temperament?

This struggle with God makes me wonder how do we really see Christ in our lives? Jesus was different for his time. He was also set apart from others. For the World Youth Day XI,St. Pope John Paul II said, “The way Jesus shows you is not easy. Rather, it is like a path winding up a mountain. Do not lose heart! The steeper the road, the faster it rises towards ever wider horizons.” That road is not attractive to us at first glance, but it is the road that will lead us to greater happiness.

Quick Fix

In a world where Amazon delivers the next day and you return what you do not want, it is quite easy to fall into that vicious cycle and hope for the easy road. But, the winding road of Brother Mary in the book and the winding road that JP II speaks of is full of challenges. I can only think of my first years of teaching. I was so young then and so idealistic. It was a tough road full of obstacles. I walked into that classroom the first day and I had no idea what to do in the classroom. My days at university were quickly forgotten. But I remember the people who supported me through it, and I keep in contact with them today.

I am not that innocent teacher anymore, but I still want to be attached to Christ. We dwell on our failures and insecurities so easily, yet we do not trust in the greater good that is waiting for us. John Paul II said again at the XVII World Youth Day in Toronto, “We are not the sum of our weaknesses and failures; we are the sum of the Father’s love for us and our real capacity to become the image of his Son.”

Facing Challenges

The bigger question for me is how to do that. In my daily tasks, which are quite banal, I try not to look for grandiose accomplishments but simple things. When I stray (which is basically all the time) I have people around me to remind me that the work I do is for Him and not for me or someone else. I have thought so many times that I want this or that to be much easier or that to simply go away. It is too difficult. But the challenge remains.

When I bought a fixer-upper house in the centre of the city, it seemed as though everyone was against the idea. They were critical enough to say that “Oh, why to waste your time, you cannot do that. You do not know enough.” Well, of course, I did not know enough but the Carmelite nuns gave me a suggestion. Ask St. Joseph for help – he was a carpenter. But when you are done, we will send you a picture of St. Joseph and tell others that he helped you. He certainly did to my surprise. Within two months that summer, what needed to be done was done beyond my expectations.

One day while I was renovating, there must have been four people who offered to help me. They just came. Maybe that sounds hokey, but it is not. It was great. I remember there was one day that I was preparing to redo the kitchen and most of what was in the kitchen before was ripped out to make room for the new. I looked at the garbage and thought, is this why I bought the place, to put everything in the garbage? No. I had to clean out to make room for the new and better. It turned out great but not without stress and sleepless nights.

We want the pandemic to go away. We want our sorrow to leave us and we look for a utopia that will make our lives easier. But that is not God’s way. His plan is so much greater for us and we need help to see that. “Nothing great is ever achieved without enduring much,” said St. Catherine of Siena. She was so young, yet she remained with a certainty that God’s love, God’s plan endures. It really does if only we do not allow ourselves to be distracted.

There is a prize at the end of the race as St. Paul said. That book about getting even with God as Brother Mary Joachim did was not about getting even with God. It was God indicating the road and that road will lead to real happiness and joy that we might not be able to comprehend at first.