One day during one of my retreat trips to Erie, PA, I decided to take a walk along the monastery property and wound up on a deck overlooking Lake Erie. It’s such a pleasant place to sit with your thoughts. On this particular day, it was quite windy and the water was a bit choppy. I enjoyed sitting there watching the waves crashing and feeling the resultant mist sprinkle across my face. At one point, I noticed the sea gulls in their struggle to fly against the wind and thought to myself: “it would be so much easier if you turned around and flew WITH the wind” – then I chuckled- another lesson to be learned there, right?
After a few minutes, I changed my focus. This time I noticed the beautiful white, fluffy clouds – pure white. They showed no sign of struggle with the wind whose strength was apparent to me and the sea gulls. If you looked at the clouds for a split second, they didn’t even seem to be moving. However, if you focused on them for much longer you could notice their slow, steady movement.
Two things came to mind as I witnessed the clouds and the gulls – one as I sat there that day and the other several months after, as I contemplated my experience. The first thing that came to mind was my conversation with Fr. George on purity (see my post entitled Coming to a Place of Purity). I watched the clouds move slowly and steadily, all in the same direction. As I followed their path, I realized further down to my right that they were floating into one another – they were becoming ONE. Then it hit me – that’s what we are meant to become – ONE. Furthermore, our journey to oneness must be similar to the journey of the clouds – pure, slow and steady.
The second thing that came to mind was the contradiction between the two subjects in the same environment. The clouds showed no sign of struggle while the sea gulls looked like they were going nowhere fast. To me the clouds were the image of grace, humility and peace while the sea gulls were the image of over-confidence and struggle. What was the difference? The clouds seemed to be going with the flow, while the sea gulls were relying on their own abilities and going against the “flow”, if you will.
Think about your own struggles. Are they a result of your inability to go with the flow? I realize that life feels like a struggle when things don’t go my way. The times I feel struggle are the times I forget who’s in charge. At these times I regroup, change focus and remind myself that God is in charge and that He has a different plan for me. In Romans 8:28 we read: God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. Let’s trust in that! For me, when I trust in God’s plan, absolutely nothing in life seems like a struggle.
This coming year, let’s vow to be like the clouds: working toward purity of self, accepting all circumstances in life with much grace and humility and remaining in peace. God bless you!
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