Accept the invitation

I’m warm right now. I have coffee beside me. I’m dressed. I’m not hungry. I’m … just fine.

A mom my age in Ukraine is not fine right now. She’s cold. She’s worried. A mom in Gaza is not fine right now. She’s hiding in rubble. A mom in Israel is not fine. She’s scared to death.

So, am I to feel guilty? Am I to feel ashamed for what I have? Am I to find a way to give it all up and go and be cold and afraid too? What does God want us to do?

God wants us to grow. We can grow in our awareness of just how influential we can be simply by being mindful.

Be mindful! We can hold the hands of these others in our minds’ eyes. We can lift them up to God in prayer. We can know our thoughts of them — because they are motivated by love and because of God’s mercy and grace — do, in fact, buoy them, comfort them, encourage them.

Be mindful! We can bring knowledge of them and their plight to bear on how we behave, allowing their trials to put ours in proper perspective. In other words, we can be bigger people in the everyday of our lives.

Be mindful! We can place our own suffering at the feet of God. We can rise from any self-pity or self-centeredness. We can embrace God’s invitation to use our own crosses to change the world around us. The cross of Christ did so; therefore, we are invited to do the same with ours.

Reflection

How can I practice mindfulness when faced with the awful sufferings in the world around me?

Prayer

Dear God, I often sit in relative comfort. You do not call me to feel guilty. You do call me to participate in the flow of your grace by practicing mindfulness. May I realize, more and more, the power of this practice, the power of your grace! Amen.