Something that came to my mind when I was driving. I had been having some arguements with my family regarding wedding planning and admittedly I did not handle the situation well. I said some words that shouldn't have been said, and let the situation get more heated than it should have for the subject matter. I realized afterwards on my drive home that I was not being compassionate enough.
I tend to struggle with living in the moment and trusting the Lord in the small moments in my daily life. If a small rude text comes through unprompted, or a minor (or major) inconvienience occurs and I am already wrapped up in my own bubble, its easy to become upset, emotional, and feel like the day is done. However, in the days I feel strong, and I instead choose to invite the Holy Spirit into my thoughts and actions, to guide me, I experience a great sense of peace. This sense of peace doesnt come in the form of "everything is going right" or "I'm getting what I want", but simply that God loves me and wills that I do his will. Praying "Come, Holy Spirit", I invite the Holy Spirit into my soul and in turn invite myself to be more open to discerning God's will for me in the moment. We many times fail to see the beauty of living in the present. Living in the present is accomplished in each of the small moments we have each day to share our life with God as he desires. He desires us to want to grow closer to him in our struggles, as that is how he perfects us and guides us to his kingdom. How can you invite God to share in your small moments today?
Back to compassion. The reason I bring up the topic of compassion is that the entirety of our story of salvation is founded on compassion. God has compassion for us - through his infinite mercy bestowed onto us by his only Son, through the ceaseless chase after us to come closer to him through the beauty of the sacraments, and conversely, through his patience with us so that we may come to him through our own free will. I think this is exemplified well in the following passage:
"If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you. By this is my Father glorified, that you bear much fruit and become my disciples. As the Father loves me, so I also love you. Remain in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commandments and remain in his love" - Jn 15:7-10
Jesus invites us to remain in his love as he remains in his Father's love. It is also clear, that God the Father wants us to seek him and to rely on him in the little moments. This reliance can be as simple as asking for strength in a hard meeting, the ease of a conversation, or for the peace of his love when you are feeling lonely or anxious. It is made clear that God seeks you, and wants you to seek him of your own free will. Jesus goes on to say,
“I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and your joy may be complete. This is my commandment: love one another as I love you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I no longer call you slaves, because a slave does not know what his master is doing. I have called you friends, because I have told you everything I have heard from my Father. It was not you who chose me, but I who chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name he may give you. This I command you: love one another." - Jn 15:11-17
Indeed, this is how God calls us to live in the moment. To experience living - in the little moments, so that the big moments can matter. To be able to experience living in the present with Jesus by asking the Holy Spirit to come down to us every day, we can experience what God's love truly is. How would you feel if you were shown love every time you fail or miss the mark? This is how God asks us to seek him. To free us of the slavery to sin, and to love one another, not as the perfect human beings we are, but as the children of God that are called to grow. As we experience God's love, his compassion towards us through our experience in the present with Him, we can learn to show compassion towards our fellow children of God.
As I move forward in my journey, I ask the Holy Spirit to enter into my thoughts in the tough moments, to be my rock and my foundation so that nothing will shake me.
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