By: Sister Teresa Christine, O.C.D.
I love the beginning of a new year, the time when we make a fresh start as we recalibrate and break up the soil of our souls to prepare for new seasons of growth. It’s a time when we naturally step back from our normal day-to-day view of things, to see our lives from a broader perspective. We recommit ourselves to those exercise routines that have fallen by the wayside during the holidays and set goals for the trajectory of the coming year.
But beyond all these little plans for self-improvement, God desires to expand our vision. If we could see our lives as we truly are, if for one moment the veil was lifted, and we could see ourselves with the clarity of God’s vision, I think we would be astonished to see as God sees. From the moment of our birth until our last breath, the entire span of our lives is only a brief preparation for something eternally grander! St. Paul tells us that even if God were to describe what He is preparing for us, our minds wouldn’t be able to comprehend it (1 Corinthians 2:9). Every choice we make now has a direct impact on how we will spend eternity; each moment a note of a melody that will swell into a symphony that goes on for all eternity.
Nothing is meaningless. The little choices we make throughout the day have eternal significance in God’s sight, because nothing happens in a vacuum. A little act of kindness can change someone’s day. Even if no one sees me, every time I give in to or overcome temptation, the grace of that choice ripples out to directly impact my Sisters, my neighbors and the world. In eternity, everything will be magnified by a lens so great we can’t even conceive of it, but I can choose what the image will be. There IS nothing small in God’s sight – every little act of love, every prayer of faith prayed in the dark…it never dies away.
This is why Carmelite spirituality is so intent on bringing love into even the smallest moments of our day. St. Therese became one of the greatest saints of modern times by practicing this little way of love: when the Sister next to her in the laundry was splashing her with dirty water, she chose to pray for that Sister. She went out of her way to be kind to the grumpy Sister who was rude to her. She took every opportunity to love, no matter how insignificant it seemed, because, truly, nothing is small when it lasts for eternity.
We have to prepare our eyes to see Him. The beauty of heaven will blind us unless we give our eyes time to adjust now by exposing them to the light of His love bit by bit, day by day. Our ears must be trained to listen for the gentle whisper of the Holy Spirit so that in eternity we will be able to hear the harmonies of the heavenly music. So, as we move into this new year, let’s ask the Lord to give us true vision. May He break open the places in our hearts where we have lost sight of what is truly important, to allow Him to bring forth new seasons of restoration, healing, and greater integrity.
