The First Issue–Living Words
The very first devotion from April 1, 1985
Read Colossians 3:12-17
Have you noticed that when you face a tough task, you can find a hundred things to do just to get ready? many of us can stew for hours, days or even months preparing to do something.
In the spiritual life of many Catholics, this fidgeting can go on for years. We have a nagging feeling that God wants us to start getting closer to him, and that, deep down, we want to get closer to him. But we can’t seem to get ready to get ready to get ready. “On your mark! Get set, get set, get set…”
We seem to be spending our LIVES getting set instead of going!
Yet, this stumbling need not be a source of despair. Trying to get set is better than avoiding the issue entirely. Besides, what seems to us a hopeless series of false starts may in God’s mind be an encouraging beginning. As the contemplative, Thomas Merton said: “No man or woman can seek God unless they have already begun to find him.”
God, I know you are waiting for me to begin a deeper life of union with you. Surely there is no better time to start than Holy Week! Help my first steps be steady ones.
James Adams
