April 26, 2014 - Saturday

But you, LORD, are forever on high. (Psalms 92:9 NABRE)

Certainty.  Where does it come from?  Did I always have it, or has it grown with time?  In my experience, certainty of God has deepened over time by a process something like this:

It began with a childhood choice I made, surrounded by uncertainty.  I had no tangible evidence of God, I simply agreed by choice that what I had learned about God was true.  I was a child and the basic tenants of my faith were familiar to me and largely unquestioned.  Even so, there was always the smallest seed of deep recognition that this was, indeed, all true.

To look at that first choice another way, children make all sorts of choices each day as they explore their world.  They make choices freely and without reservation.  They pick their favorite color.  They can tell you their favorite food, and so much more.  Choosing comes so easily and naturally to them!  Honestly, it is only now, on reflection, that I even realize it was a personal choice I made myself, to agree that those things I had learned about God were true.  I had no idea how important that particular first choice was!

So I made a choice.  Naive?  Perhaps, but it was just the beginning of a process.  (Making that first choice as a child was, most likely, what I personally needed; though many other people make their first choice as adults--the church even has a special program to teach them about the faith, to help their process along.)

How I admire anyone who makes this choice as an adult!  I don't know if I would have been able to wade through the pressures of my adult life, the temptations and distractions of this world, and the swirling options of opposing ideas to arrive at even one brief moment of calm reflection during which I might simply agree, to myself, that God is indeed real.

So what happened next for me?  That choice allowed me a willingness to believe things to be true even if I could not see them.  This willingness was not a whimsical inclination to be misled, but an openness to believe something to be true based on the acceptance that I might not know everything or have access to all the evidence yet!  I might call it trust.  This trusting mindset, allows glimpses of evidence in familiar places where I might never otherwise have recognized it--the familiar awe we all have of sunsets and the power of the ocean, of newborn babies and the wisdom of the aged, for example, can all begin to be evidence of God.  With a little time, the evidence piled up and encouraged me to study.  At some point, I noticed that the pile of observed evidence and study had begun to increase and sustain my certainty of God, the certainty which I now know to be so important in the face of this life's challenges.

So a little choice and a trusting mindset is all it takes.  The reason why it is so important is for another day!

Of special note:  Tomorrow is Divine Mercy Sunday.  This year, we honor two new saints who's lives were dedicated to service and prayer.  I still remember attending Mass in 1979 at the Boston Common presided by Pope John Paul II--I was 15 and one of those glimpses of evidence happened that day for me!

Lord, I thank you for the confidence I have in you.  I am certain that in all the circumstances of my life you are with me, you guide me, and you protect me.

Today, I will pray especially for those who seek certainty and confidence that you are forever on high.