03/16/2020
For my upcoming book: All Roads Lead to Heaven
As Sadie cooks today after having thoroughly saged her home, a splatter of a spice/perhaps a seed from the dell pepper (in the form of a red heart) lands on her white shirt. Yes, right in the area where her heart beats below. As she gazes out the window, two white doves appear on the fence as the music and the birds chirping remind her that she is alive and well. She is currently, like many people worldwide facing much uncertainty. Too many to enumerate; and it seems that most people are petrified and terrorized by this virus that is named COVID-19.
She will not let panic set in her heart because she truly believes that God spoke to her this morning as she meditated on the Word. Instead, she enjoys her noodles and sautéed vegetables and after lunch writes in her journal:
I don’t believe in my lifetime that this has affected us in this manner. There are no live sports on television: March Madness, The Masters, NBA, Tennis to name just a few… things that I have enjoyed all of my life. What? I won’t be able to just “veggie out” and enjoy my Sunday? What’s gonna happen with my competitive nature? Will I have to now devour more of the books I’ve enjoyed? Write more? Workout more? But what if I can’t go to the gym daily as is my custom? What if? What if?
This last week has been surreal to say the least. Yes, I watch the News to keep up with what is happening; but after 10 minutes, the anxiety sets in and I have to turn off the television. I’ve never been a t.v. ju**ie so all I’ve ever truly enjoyed is sports and some of my recorded favorite shows; but even then, these I watch only at night, an hour before bedtime to unwind. So what am I to do?
What if I can’t just stop and pick up some yogurt, a Lotto ticket, or an eyeliner at CVS? How about my usual chicken taco at Anglina’s Tacos? Or a Snickers bar at Valero? What about my chiropractic alignment or my allergy shots? What’s gonna happen then? Social distancing? What is that; aren’t we already there?
Ahh all of this is just bunk! I’m not going to go dark; but what if?
And as if on cue, she reaches out to glance through The Way of Perfection, a book written by St. Teresa of Avila hundreds of years ago.
“Let us now come to the detachment which we must practice, for if this is carried out perfectly it includes everything else. I say ‘it includes everything else’ because, if we care nothing for any created things, but the embrace the Creator alone, His Majesty will infuse the virtues into us in such a way that, provided we labour to the best of our abilities day by day, we shall not have to wage war much longer, for the Lord will take our defence in hand against the devils and against the whole world….but it remains for us to become detached from our own selves and it is a hard thing to withdraw from ourselves and oppose ourselves, because we are very close to ourselves and love ourselves very dearly.”
She then goes on to remind us that where there is prayer and charity among us, God will hear us; but we must let go of our indulgences and not complain. “Why, then do we shrink from interior mortification, since this is the means by which every other kind of mortification may become much more meritorious and perfect, so that it can be practiced with greater tranquility and ease? This, as I have said, is acquired by gradual progress and by never indulging our own will and desire, even in small things, until we have succeeded in subduing the body to the spirit….as I have said, you are very careful about your prayer, you will soon find yourselves reaching the summit of the mountain without knowing howIf a humble soul is tempted in this way by the devil that virtue cannot fail to bring her more fortitude and greater profit. For clearly the temptation will cause her to look into her life….This human nature of ours is so wretchedly weak that, even while we are telling ourselves that there is nothing for us to make a fuss about, we imagine we are doing something virtuous, and begin to feel sorry for ourselves, particularly when we see that other people are sorry for us too. In this way the soul begins to lose the occasions of merit which it had gained; it becomes weaker; and thus a door is opened to the devil by which he can enter on some other occasion with a temptation worse than the last.
A nap beckons her and that is what she will do. She had been preparing for the possibility of going totally virtual with her Practice but now due to the current worldwide pandemic, she will just let the nap guide her. She enjoys them more lately since it is as she sleeps that she converses with Jesus in heaven.
