Our personal relationship with God can be difficult to manage. While God is always present, it can be easy for us to fall into “out of sight, out of mind” syndrome. Things almost get to be like a long distance relationship. You are full of love and fervor when you’re together (i.e. in the Sacraments), but when you’re “apart” (daily life) it can be hard to keep your tank on full.

Benedict has been teaching me a lot about my relationship with God. That’s because Benedict is quite needy. At two months, he needs either Alison or I to do everything for him. When he doesn’t get what he wants, he cries until he does. When he’s got what he wants, he mostly ignores me. That sounds a lot like what we do to God.

Our faith walk is a relationship. It’s a real relationship that we must constantly nurture and dedicate ourselves to. But how do we avoid becoming like a newborn child when it comes to how we treat God?

• Call home often. When I spent my first week away from home at camp, I called home often. Several times a day often. From a pay phone. I missed my family. I wanted to talk to them and share with them what’s going on. We need to be the same way with God. Yes, He knows everything already, but that doesn’t mean that He doesn’t want to hear about it from us. We can call home often by praying daily.
• Stop by for dinner. Leaving home is a big step in a man’s life. Being independent brings great pride and dignity. But that doesn’t mean that we don’t love a home cooked meal. Stopping by weekly, or even more frequently, to the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass can help us catch up on what’s going on. There are lessons to be learned and graces to be gained. Nothing is better than that!
• Live sacrificially. Contentment is our goal. Consumption is the world’s. One of my biggest struggles is losing my focus. Instead of being thankful for what I have, I focus only on what I want. A great way for me to keep myself in check is to say no to myself. When I go without, my senses are heightened. I'm more grounded. By giving up a good thing for a short time for the purpose of growing closer to God, we can really make solid progress in moving towards living a content life.

Babies are allowed to cry and they’re allowed to demand attention. They aren’t mature and they don’t know any better. We’re men. So let’s get it together.

Tags: Reflections