One interesting talk we had in our parish school of religion with the 6th graders was all about Osama bin Laden and how he was dead. Some of the kids were very happy about this and it was a teaching moment:
So I asked them, "Well, what does Jesus tell us to do for our enemies?"
They replied with hesitation" to pray for them" but clearly this was not what they wanted to do. They replied, ' But he was a bad guy. It's good that he's dead.'
To which I answered, "Is that what the church teaches you? Is that what we've discussed here? To rejoice when our enemies suffer? Is that what Jesus taught us to do?"
Well, clearly they knew the answer, but they struggled with the 'doing'. In the end we did agree to pray to God to have mercy on his soul but it wasn't easy.
I often struggle with the doing too. It's hard when you know what you should do, but you don't want to do it, you don't feel like doing it and every fiber of your being tells you, your heart's not in it. What I've learned is that it doesn't matter if your heart is in it, if you feel it or not. What matters is the will and the 'doing', regardless (and sometimes in spite of) how you feel. (It's a sweeter gift to God too, doing from sheer will as opposed to out of a desire.) I for one fail more often than I succeed in this particular area. Too often I'm quick to give up, but I have the hope that with God's grace I will persevere in persevering when the rubber meets the road.
No comments:
Post a Comment