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.
- -
- - - - - - - -
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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