I'm sitting at one of my favorite local coffee shops, doing some work. 2 burly men just walked in, obviously on their break from some construction job, all decked out in their work gloves, work boots, overalls, and smelling of cigarettes. One of them asked the other, “Have you ever had a mocha?” “Uh, I don't know.” “Well do you want one?” “I want something hot.” “A mocha is hot, it's like a hot chocolate with espresso in it.”
Overhearing this conversation made me reflect on how I live a much different kind of life than most people. Over the past 5 years, I have spent countless hours consuming my favorite caffeinated beverages, talking with young men and women about the the Love of God and how to pursue it more intensely in their lives. A combination of my 2 favorite things. I live a privileged, blessed life. Yes, fundraising my salary can be difficult at times, and some months are better than others, but the Lord good and always provides. I do not reflect often enough on how indebted I am to Him. At the moment, I am half-way through a book called “He Leadeth Me,” a book written by a priest who spent over 23 years as a Soviet prisoner, spent partly in solitude confinement and the other part in a Siberian slave labor camp. And over and over he comments on how every day that he lived was a gift! What faith! What an example of true gratitude. I, on the other hand, get upset when I have to get up early for an appointment.
It seems as though the Lord has been slowly showing me more and more intentionally how much I need to simplify my life. I have been blessed to serve on several mission trips where the people who were hosting me work much harder, and have much less than I. And yet they gave everything they had. An amazing example of heroic generosity. It's been a great moment of reflection on how much I give of my time, treasure, and talents. How much I seek daily pleasures like that mocha with whip cream. How much I give of my self when it's asked of me, and how much less I give when it's not asked of me.
If there was one area in my life that I would like to work on most, it would be in the realm of discipline and strengthening my will. In this time of Advent, it is the perfect time to give of myself, in anticipation of the coming of our Lord, who humbled himself in the form of man, so that he could give everything for our sake. To the point of death on a cross. He loves us that much. Lord Jesus, teach me to love as you love. To give completely as you gave of yourself. Without restrain, without conditions.
