Post-Hurricane Clean-Up Meditation
We shall through patience share in the sufferings of Christ that we may deserve also to share in his kingdom. (Rule of St. Benedict Prologue 50)
Patience is a topic that we get tired of quickly. If we were hanging out in the Italian countryside like St Benedict, maybe it would be more appealing. But crawling through the contortions of post hurricane traffic colic is not scenic. Sure, the traffic was bad before. Now it puts the colostomy in claustrophobic.
We call this “character building.”
Take it personally. Maybe not just the houses need repairs. Maybe we’re in for character remodeling too.
Brothers, divine Scripture calls to us saying: Whoever exalts himself shall be humbled, and whoever humbles himself shall be exalted Luke 14:11. (RB 7.1)
Or then again, sometimes God takes it out of our hands. No one has volunteered to suffer. So, he selects a few people for the exaltation track.
Humility AND patience? Seriously?
To clarify: we are talking about the building blocks of character. Might as well take care of the foundation qualities first! This is what you can accomplish as you’re inching down the road. You can allow the Holy Spirit to purge your soul.
That skeleton behind your drywall has been waiting a long, long time: it’s gotta go. Did you really not know what the smell was?
But maybe it’s not your skeleton. Maybe you inherited it from your dysfunctional family.
No worries. Clean what you can salvage. Start over.
Of course you didn’t choose this. No normal person wants to be a saint. But God may be tapping you anyway.
Patience is humility in action. The combo is called repentance. Buy one get two free.
“Humble yourselves therefore under the mighty hand of God, so that he may exalt you in due time” (1 Peter 5:6).
(Skeleton photo courtesy of Isabel van Strien, who has been working day after day to help people cut out wet walls and clean their belongings).