A few weeks ago I voraciously read The
Long Run. It was the kind of book you opened every free moment you had. Matt
Long, a New York Firefighter and Ironman competitor, was on his way to work one
morning when a bus made a turn into his lane, sucking him under the bus leaving
his bike impaled onto his body. He sustained life threatening injuries that
resulted in doctor’s preparing his family for a mere miracle chance of survival
followed by dozens of surgeries and years of rehab.
I saw Matt speak about a month ago. He
started by noting he would talk about his comeback story though he hated the
word comeback. As an athlete who has been sidelined longer than I desired over
the past few years, though I appreciate the lessons from atrophy, I am attempting
to once more get back on my bike and needed inspiration and encouragement. Matt
delivered both from the podium; however, the genius he shared was in the quick
few minutes we chatted afterwards.
I asked about the process of coming
back: what did it look like in the midst I inquired. “It wasn’t pretty,” he
replied. I knew I had met somebody I could relate to. I myself had uttered the
same phrase many times. The thing, though, is that as much as it wasn’t pretty at certain moments, when I step back and take the “long view” (pun intended) I see
the life changing opportunities that came through obstacles that God used to
transform me.
Similar to traveling or hiking, once
you start walking, you realize how much further you want to go. Proverbially,
it’s when you live on the edge of your comfort zone your limits expand and your
comfort zone grows so that you have new boundaries. Comebacks aren’t a bad
thing; however, I think there’s more to be said about coming through and
experiencing metanoia, change of heart.
We fight change and we fear it. Yet, as
Christians, this is the gift of Lent. We are offered the opportunity to give up
life of the flesh and to live life in
the Spirit. We are given the opportunity
to turn from our ways of sin and turn to the love and mercy of God. We are
invited to die to ourselves so that we might live LIFE in ABUNDANCE. Lent is a
time when we mortify our mortal desires so that we might more resoundingly hear
the whisper of the Holy Spirit, who leads us verso l’alto. Are you living Lent
with the intention of being changed for the better ? Are you living Life
according to the Holy Spirit?
“Life according to the Spirit, whose
fruit is holiness (cf. Rom 6:22;Gal 5:22), stirs
up every baptized person and requires each to follow and imitate Jesus
Christ, in embracing the Beatitudes, in listening and meditating on
the Word of God, in conscious and active participation in the liturgical and
sacramental life of the Church, in personal prayer, in family or in community,
in the hunger and thirst for justice, in the practice of the commandment of
love in all circumstances of life and service to the brethren, especially the
least, the poor and the suffering. (CHRISTIFIDELES
LAICI, no. 16) “ Bl. Pier Giorgio, teach us how to be attentive to
the whispers of the Holy Spirit.
Peace,
Kathryn
There's a HOPE inside of me, getting stronger with every breath I breathe
Mercy will we overcome this, one by
one we will turn it around
I have been changed for good
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