The next right thing

Discovering what to do each moment of the day has become a challenge for me recently. I have no home to keep, no children to raise, no job to do. After a lifetime of being busy all the day long almost to the exclusion of time to really think about it I find that I have excess time on my hands.

While listening to the readings at Mass this past weekend it suddenly became quite clear what the next thing was. The first letter of Saint Paul to the Corinthians chapter 7 verses 32-35 speaks about how single men are concerned with the things of the Lord while the married man is concerned with the duties of being a married man and thus he is to serve the Lord. The same is true for virgins and married women. Many times in my life I have heard this reading and knew only on the surface the application for my life.

This past Sunday I began to realize in a deeper fashion the application of this for my life. When the kids were growing up finding time alone to spend with the Lord was often at a premium. Often my best praying and meditation time was spent while rocking and soothing a baby. While kissing boo boos quiet prayers were breathed over the head of the little sufferer and many prayers for patience where whispered while on the way to referee little disputes and battles.

 Just as this guy takes little steps each day on his way to growing up, so too his grandma has to take little steps back into the world that stress left behind.