Flow With What God Gave You
In Ireland was a fellow who was encouraged by a friend one day to write. It's something he always wanted to do. And had a talent for. But no one had ever encouraged him. The simple nudge by the friend sparked a flow of events that led to the person becoming a professional writer. Just a few words of encouragement was all it took.
How often do we do that? Look at what the repercussions of doing such a thing can be: a "ripple effect" or chain reaction -- potentially affecting large segments of society.
Instead, too often -- instead of cooperating, of offering inspiration -- we compete, wanting what others have.
Don't worry about that. Never seek what others have (except holiness). Never covet. Don't feel envious -- desiring to take what God has granted others (and especially: not what Satan, in the guise of grace, has granted them).
Instead, multiply what God has given you. Enhance the gifts you have; hone the unique way He made you as you reach for His plan. You are unique and have a unique path to Heaven. If you focus on enhancing what you already have, you will be filled with true contentment for a hundred million years instead of the artificiality of terse earthly ostentation. You will also accomplish your mission. Your talents (perhaps just hugging others) hint at your mission.
Do you have a natural inclination to smile? Use it more frequently. Sharpen it. Widen it. Are you good at sewing? Become the best you can be -- without comparing yourself with others. Do you have a nice voice? Strive for the most exquisite note. See where it can benefit folks. Be not a jack of all trades but rather a master of what you were given. When money is the goal, we often stray.
We are all gifted, in different, equal ways, because we have different stations in life. Pray to find yours. It's when we try to force our way into what others have, or how others are -- instead of praying to be who we really are -- that we lose peace and head on wayward paths. Covet not; be content with your role; all roles are equal even if it doesn't seem that way in the eyes of the world.
God is in a golden city. But His gold is not the gold of a world that is passing. Reach too far -- for something that is meant to be out of reach -- and you will fall into a chasm. Fine-tune what you have, and you give Him glory.
The God of Universes Unseen is your constant companion when you let Him be just that, when you don't seek to create your own role, your mission, when you follow His lead in prayer, with no eye toward what others have. Think of universes unfolding, one into another, for eternity; of the farthest stars.
He is also right next to you, pervading you when you pray with no pride; with no wrong ambition. "For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, and hewn themselves cisterns -- broken cisterns that can hold no water," says Jeremiah 2:13.
Remember that the Lord anoints with the mighty roar of Living Waters, which come from His cistern when we do what He has ordained us to do. "This water flows into the eastern district down upon the Arabah, and empties into the sea, the salt waters, which it makes fresh," is today's Mass reading. "Wherever the river flows, every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live, and there shall be abundant fish, for wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh. Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow; their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail" (Ezekiel 47).
Measure yourself against the standards of holiness, not by what what a neighbor or friend or relative has.
This comes most readily with "purity of intention," which allowed saints to do what they never sought, never lusted for, and never imagined and in the end brought them above every trial of earth.
[resources: In Sinu Jesu ,and A Life of Blessings]
