Detachment and Receptivity
“Let the clouds rain down the Just One, and the earth bring forth a Savior”- Isaiah 45:8
Last May, on my daughter’s birthday, Colorado Springs experienced an unseasonably heavy snow storm. Earlier in the week, we were experiencing weather in the 80’s. However, our original plans for an outdoor party at the park came to a halt with several inches of snowfall. We sadly watched out the window as limb after limb fell off healthy trees during her indoor birthday party. The green, leafy trees simply could not bear the weight of such snow.
In God’s wisdom, there is a plan even for nature. When seasons change and leaves fall off deciduous trees, their dead appearance actually allows them to carry the weight of snow without detaching from their life source, the trunk of the tree. As the catechism teaches that God speaks to man through visible creation, let us strive to listen. Perhaps seasonal changes demonstrate the need for surrender and detachment from certain things in our lives. This letting go and emptying could allow us to fully receive the Lord in His abundance and goodness, especially on Christmas day. Today’s gospel tells us which people received Jesus’ saving grace- the poor, blind, deaf, even the dead. Their need and dependence on the Lord can similarly teach us lessons. Maybe being poor in spirit means going to confession for the first time in a while. Perhaps we need encouragement to be “blind” to other’s faults while addressing our own. Or, could we intentionally become “deaf” to gossip this holiday season? Whatever our particulars, let us strive to acknowledge our need, detach, and surrender to the Lord.
Lord, help us to receive Your saving help. Help us to rid ourselves of anything in our lives that limits our receptivity to You. Amen.
Patty Hussey