...my temporary assignment.

Listen.

Luke 8:16-18

“No one after lighting a lamp hides it under a jar, or puts it under a bed, but puts it on a lampstand, so that those who enter may see the light. For nothing is hidden that will not be disclosed, nor is anything secret that will not become known and come to light. Then pay attention to how you listen; for to those who have, more will be given; and from those who do not have, even what they seem to have will be taken away.”

Fitting words for the times we find ourselves in.

Impeccable timing as well.

A faith journey brings with it enhanced and enlightened senses. What might have been simply glossed over before, now seems so obvious, compelling and illuminating. The sentences, the phrasing and the words take on an entirely new meaning.

In the past few days, the lamp has become a beacon. Things hidden away in the dark are becoming known and coming to light.

“Pay attention to how you listen; for to those who have, more will be given;”. When your senses awaken, things sound different. They take on new meaning. Carry a different weight. If you hear it like that once, you will hear it like that again. Again. And again. More of that will be given if only you can hear.

“…and from those who do not have, even what they seem to have will be taken away.” Those who have not listened. What they seem to have, will be lost. Speaking from experience, truer words were never spoken. I for one did not hear. Chose not to listen. And as a result, so much was lost.

So much.

Perhaps your light simply starts as a candle. So be it. May be it is the only such source in your life. Feed it. Share that glow with the world around you. As the ember grows, make it into a lamp and carry it with you wherever you go. Guiding you forward and others towards that loving glow.

Your other senses will become illuminated.

“Pay attention to how you listen; for to those who have, more will be given;”

Begin to hear what is always being said. You will be given far more to hear.

Truer words were never spoken.

Positively habit forming.

“Excellence is not a gift but a skill that takes practice. We do not act ‘rightly’ because we are ‘excellent’. In fact we achieve ‘excellence’ by acting ‘rightly’.

Plato

Acting rightly is never the result of flipping some internal switch. You do not wake up one morning to find yourself transformed into the epitome of excellence.

And yet, you do house some of the infrastructure that can become the mechanisms needed to learn, develop and hone this particular life skills set. As long as you can follow direction, accept input, both externally and internally driven, and handle some of the disappointments that come your way, you should be in a good position to assemble a diverse and deep array of habits.

You see, achieving excellence is all about acquiring habits.

Habits that can last a lifetime. Habits that create a positive and lasting impact on you and those around you. And for a habit to take firm hold in your life, it needs reps. Not one, two a dozen or a gross. The habit acquisition process needs to be constant and committed. Certain and ceaseless. Ongoing and unremitting.

Self-discipline is an invaluable friend, confidant and ally throughout this process. Enabling you to follow directives, both external as well as internal. It reinforces the assembly process as you create the personal mechanisms that lead to the creation of excellence.

Self-discipline keeps you with and on the program. Finishing “this” before you start “that”. Holding you right “here” in the present while shedding just enough light on what may lay ahead as to keep your head up and eyes down that path. Focused on the here and now, inspired by what is yet to come.

If you have the right mindset about this venture, then there will be nothing burdensome about the effort and journey whatsoever. Its purpose is to lead you. To create the trajectory that will direct you to become what you were meant to be and where you were meant to go.

In time, your actions will rightly lead you to excellence.

One of the best versions of self-inducement.

Positively habit forming.

Now that is freedom.

“Bitterness is captivity.”

― Lailah Gifty Akita

The most compelling thoughts that are conveyed with minimal verbiage, create a telling and lasting impact.

Like this one from Ms. Akita..

A subject to which I can speak.

Bitterness is akin to a never healing sore. A fixture residing on and within your soul that invites fixation, picking and obsession. A nemesis that works to maintain your hostage status. Guiding one to reject self forgiveness.

Bitterness is captivity.

But only so long as you choose to accept a role of prisoner.

Now choices take time. Not so much to make them. But more so to fully embrace the commitment and make it “you.”

And yet, if you confront that sore, the fixture and see the nemesis for what they are, then little by little, you can begin to transition them to the bin that is meant to hold all of those generators of bitterness.

Therein lay the challenge. Removing the lid, saying “goodbye” then closing it back up.

Never to be reopened. Because you finally allowed yourself to.

The bins have been laid out. All that remains is to fully embrace the commitment so I can make it “me”.

And practice some much needed self-forgiveness.

Bitterness is captivity.

Forgiving oneself?

Now that is freedom.

And what you are.

“We are our choices.”

― Jean-Paul Sartre

Choice not chance determines your destiny. That is, you can choose to hear your calling and fulfill your purpose, not lay in wait for fate.

Since excellence is never an accident, it cannot be consigned to chance, circumstance or happenstance. And to convince yourself of these falsehoods is to fully believe that “it wasn’t meant to be”, or “my timing was off”, and “I didn’t want this anyway.” Responses that are embodied in some form of luck, as it were.

Choices actually serve to create the chance to be your best. Choices guide your decisions in situations when unforeseen circumstances raise their head. Choices ultimately dominate happenstance and coincidence, transforming them into opportunity. Another way of considering how the impact of your chosen response, to an event, produces an outcome.

You can choose to believe it wasn’t meant to be – or – you can make it be. If the timing seems off, maybe your choices made it so. And if you didn’t want it anyways – you never really did. You simply chose to be dishonest with yourself.

Chance serves as an excuse that enables one to validate failures, blame others, engage in self-pity and defend disengagement.

Choice is the engine that drives you to become all you were meant to be.

And what you are.

With pure joy.

In one of Bishop Barron’s frequently inspiring gospel reflections, he implores us to wait, to watch and to keep steadfast vigil.

Actions dependent and contingent on our ability to believe in what could not yet be seen.

Faith.

Resolutely sticking to it, with an unfettered resolve, while letting go at the same time.

Perseverance.

All because we believe in what we know, but have yet seen.

Faith and perseverance exist in a perfect symbiotic union with one another. The active act of patience – waiting for what you know to be true – so that you can feed the energy of persistence. The sustenance which enables you to make the journey. Leading all to discover the life we fully intend to live.

As James once said, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance…”

All so that you may mature, become complete and not lack anything needed for this level of a divine life.

To realize the product of your spiritual endeavor.

And experience a level of grace that feeds one’s soul.

With pure joy.