Wednesday, August 1, 2018

And God Said Let There Be Light(s)


It was an ordinary Monday afternoon, as I lay on the couch quietly reading, when …
There was a loud knock on the front door.  “Good grief!  What salesman is coming now,” I wondered.  It was my neighbor, who asked: “Do you have power?”  I reached over and flicked a nearby light switch, and nothing happened.  “I guess not,” I replied, and as we stood there another neighbor came walking over.  “Hey, do you guys have power?”  He told us it seemed that our whole block was without electricity, yet across the street the power remained on.
Talking with my neighbor, I said how I was invited to a dinner that night in Ann Arbor, to honor a fellow K of C member, but with my car stuck in the garage because the electronic door opener wouldn’t work, I guessed I would skip that dinner.  But then I recalled I also had my Monday night midnight adoration hours scheduled --- and I would not miss that --- so I asked my neighbor to help me disconnect the opener and raise my garage door and get my car out.  And we did.
The dinner in Ann Arbor was about 30 people, and the guest of honor was running late.  When he finally arrived, in the dining room there were three full tables and one table completely empty of guests --- and I couldn’t let the guest of honor sit alone, so I directed him to my spot and I went to sit alone at the other table, where I was soon joined by a woman and her husband, both strangers to me.
It was good that the three of us were alone, for we talked throughout the whole dinner, explaining how we each were working to help those in need, me through friends and an organization we were just starting, and her, who is the director and part of a large nationwide charity, helping the poorest of the poor.  At the dinner and ceremony’s end, we exchanged contact info, and she promised she would get help to those I was struggling to help, and our organizations would work together in the future.  (And promptly Tuesday morning I received calls from her employees who were enthusiastic in helping find aid for those in need who God had put in my life.)
Later Monday night, I did go to my midnight adoration time, leaving my still dark house.  As I prayed at the chapel, I suddenly remembered another chapel I often visit, and that its 8-day vigil candle on the altar there was near its end, so I went to the Monday night chapel’s storage area and picked up two candles, to take to the other chapel.  And then I recalled my dark house, and said aloud: “Lord, I will take these candles to Your house, so that You will have light.  You know it would be kind of nice if You visited my house also and brought me light, you know, kind of a tit for tat thing?”  And I smiled, as I went back to my prayers and meditations.
And when I arrived home at 2:15AM, the lights were on.
Tuesday morning, I saw my neighbor outside in his driveway.  “Let me tell you what I did for you last night,” I said.  But he responded: “I KNOW what you did for me!!”  And I laughed and said that he couldn’t know because I hadn’t yet told him the story.  And I proceeded to tell him how I had planned to light God’s house and asked Him to return the favor, and I saw that He did.
Then my neighbor said how God does answer prayers, such a blessing, but that is not that he wanted to tell me.  “Last night, at about 12:30AM, I was sitting on my front porch reading the paper in the streetlight from across the street (we still had no power), when the repair truck came down the street.  It went down the block, then came back and stopped in front of your house, Tom.  And then the repairmen went into YOUR back yard, and fifteen minutes later, we had power.  What did you do??”  I laughed and mentioned the control box at the back of my yard, which somehow must have been the source of the problem.  But then I said: “You know, when I told God I was bringing light to His house, so could He bring some to mine, I didn’t mean it that He literally had to come to my house, but I guess that just shows God hears our prayers and loves us even in the little things --- even to the point of making house calls!”
God came to my house and said: “Let there be light(s)!!”   : - ))
And I realized that the time He came was the same as when I said that joking invitation to Him in the chapel.
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Later Monday night at the chapel, I continued reading the book The Spark of Faith, by Fr Wojciech Giertych, O.P..  In it, he explains how the spark of grace, given at baptism, is the start of faith, meant to grow from there, and even explains how babies and young children (and their parents) nurture this growth.  But I especially liked his Chapter 5, Growth in Faith.
He categorizes three levels of faith.  The first is recognizing the existence of God, as provoked by grace, “received on the basis of the authority of God Himself.”  Not much results from this.  “Christians frequently live only this first stage of faith; they accept but are not really interested in the divine Word.  They do not try to know revealed truths, do not care about them, even though they do not reject them.  Their faith is not alive and vibrant.”  (I recall this stage of my life vividly.)
The second level of faith expresses trust in God.  We know He exists, and He is part of our lives.  The truthfulness of the Word is recognized, and we live with Hope.
But the third level of faith is much more.  We believe in God and set out in His direction.  “I take hold of myself and tend toward God and, as a result, this focus on Him has an impact on everything I do.  At this level faith is formed by Charity, as so one tends towards God because He is loved, because there is a friendly relationship with Him and everything is done for Him and in view of Him … The believer who lives out an enduring encounter with God not only behaves well, but wonders how he can contribute to making something of divine charity visible present here and now, for the pleasure of God Himself.”
“There are two movements of the will: the desire of good for oneself, Heaven, and the drive of the Will for the good of others.”
And then in Divine Intimacy (Meditation 260) I read: “He who loves Me, loves all that is loved by Me.”  If our charity is arrested by the difficulties encountered in dealing with our neighbor, it is evident that our relations with our brethren are not regulated by our love of God, but our love of self.
Divine charity is loving those who seem un-lovable, even going to their house and turning on the lights for them.  This is loving by the drive of the Will --- His Will.
Reading those words, I know that is what I seek with my life, to do His will, living in Charity.  I pray He helps me to see the light.

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