‘Finding Black and White in a World of Grays: Making Choices’ by Peter Kreeft
“I wonder sometimes whether God might not deliberately let the times get so bad just so that a good man can live in them. Good people, good ethics, and good moral chracters are produced by bad times, as diamonds are produced by centuries and tons of pressure, and steel is produced by high heat. I think God in His wisdom deliberately allows bad times, troubles, trials, and temptations precisely to hammer out saints on the anvil of suffering in the furnace of wickedness. He both provides good men for bad times and bad times for good men. The bad times are ‘a vale of soul making’ and the good souls that are made in that dark valley heal the world and bring light into the valley. The world is a giant saint making machine, and saints are the ones who in turn change the world.”
I received this similar message this morning prior to Mass…that by allowing temptations, God was merely pointing out my “weak spots”…that it was up to me to decide what to do with it. I obviously could give in and go right into sin (not an option for a Christ follower), but I also could decide to turn my back to it and run, OR I could ‘listen’ to what it had to tell me and grow from it by revealing its lies (as Jesus did to Satan in the desert). The third option requires ALOT of grace…leading a Sacramental life is non optional.
At Sunday’s sermon, Fr. Ron suggested we consider the acronym HALT…that we aren’t to allow ourselves to get too Hungry, too Angry, too Lonely, or too Tired! I’m thinking though that during Lent…with God’s grace…we head into the Desert with Jesus and embrace our hunger, loneliness and tiredness…and allow it to talk to us and reveal our temptations!