you've got mail

you've got mail from Him. do you have time for it?

whenever we receive email messages from friends, we eagerly open them, impatient to find out what they have to say. yet when we hear about receiving messages from God, two things immediately pop up in our minds - saints and lunatics. we never see ourselves as saints, and we definitely don't want to be thought of as crazy, so we simply flip off those messages from on high.

if there's anyone who's messages are worth reading, that's Him. we call Him Lord, and Provider, so there are no blessings that don't come from Him. we call Him the Healer, so there is no healing without Him. we call Him Messiah, so there is no redemption without Him. it simply makes sense for us to listen to whatever He has to say.

yet we usually don't want to listen to what God has in mind for us. we're so sure of ourselves and our control over our lives that before we come before Him, we've already made up our minds about what we need. then we pray for the Lord to grant our wishes. God as Santa Claus.

last december, i attended a recollection run by a contemplative nun. her religious order's special charism is praying for people's petitions. (question: if she's contemplative, what's she doing running a recollection and talking? answer: her purpose was to teach us about listening in prayer.)

she told this story: one day, a lady came to their convent. she was quite young, in her late 20's. she had a good career going. she was happily married, and had an 8-year old child. her problem was that according to her doctors, she was suffering from a terminal illness. she didn't want to die and leave her family behind. she asked that she be healed so she could get on with her life.

before praying for any petitioner's intentions, the standard operating procedure of the nuns is to first pray for discernment on the will of God regarding the person's concerns. they never presume to know what is best for the petitioner, or that what the person asks for, is what God has in mind for the petitioner. after the congregation prayed about the lady's problem, one nun spoke and revealed the message she received. the woman, who had asked for healing, should instead prepare for her death.

bummer! not the kind of message you would run to the petitioner with. how could they tell her that God would not allow her any more time on earth, that she would have to leave her husband and her 8-year old child? instead of passing on the message right away, the nuns prayed that the lady would find peace in what God had in mind for her. before the woman could come back to the convent, the nuns received word that she had indeed passed away.

these are the messages we don't like to hear. we happily welcome good news. we don't even want to hear them; we just want to see them happening. to limit the chances of getting any bad news, we come before the Lord with a prepared list of needs and wants. anything not on the list, is out of bounds. God should stay within the boundaries of the list. when He does speak but doesn't mention anything in the list, it's just white noise to us.

what? did He say something? i didn't hear Him say anything about the items on the list, so, maybe it was just the wind.

we don't really expect Him to say anything anyway. we just wait for Him to fill up our grocery bags with the items on the list. we petition Him on our knees or prostrate ourselves on the floor or whatever position we deem will get us the best results.

maybe we've got this whole prayer thing backwards. maybe He already knows what's best for us and that's what He will give us. chances are, we never thought of that thing, and it isn't on our list at all. perhaps that's what jim morrison of the doors, meant when he screamed, "you cannot petition the Lord with prayer!" we have to listen to what He has planned for us instead.

but that's the trick, isn't it? finding out what God has in store for us personally? wouldn't it be great if we were given 3 easy steps to God's mind? 3 steps it is, but each one is anything but simple and easy.

1.find a place where you can meet your Maker.

remember this is the Big Kahuna (or Kahuni, whichever), the One, the Only, God the Almighty. approach Him with reverence and awe. leave your brains and ego at the door. they'll only get in the way.

2.thank Him for deigning to see you, then listen!

after saying "thank you", shut up. be quiet. be silent. be still. anymore words from you will jam up the communication channels. what He has to say is more important than anything you could.

this will be difficult if you're not used to listening in earnest, but don't give up. keep at it. your patience and humility will be rewarded.

3.accept His message, wholeheartedly, completely, fearlessly.

if He says something pleasing, great! but if the message is something you don't want to hear, take heart. if it's from Him, it must be good for you.

you might ask, "how do i know it's from Him?" i ask you, "whom did you approach?"

it takes a lot of discernment to know God's will. it takes even more courage to accept it. maybe it isn't in God's plan for you to pass that exam you've been studying for, or to get that high-paying job. maybe that man or woman, you want to marry, isn't the one for you.

when we don't get what we ask for, major disappointment! we begin to create scenarios in our minds to explain the absence of the desired response.

anger: is God listening to our prayers? does He care? is there even a God? yes, He is. yes, He does. yes, there is

guilt: i'm not deserving of His blessings. i've sinned. i don't pray enough. He created you, you deserve His blessings. you've sinned? He sent His Son to redeem us all. not enough prayers? some say you can't petition the Lord even with good works. everything comes to us from His grace.

consolation: maybe God has something better planned for me. maybe He really wants me to have my wish, but not at this time. maybe's don't cut it. don't guess! find out what His will for you is.

unfortunately, it often becomes less a matter of discerning God's will than His discerning ours; less a matter of our submitting to His wisdom than His submitting to ours. we know what's best for us. He should just listen and act.

yet, it is us who need the reverence to listen to Him; the wisdom to understand His message; the courage to accept it; and the fortitude to live it out.

knowing God's will, and living according to it, allows us to remain in harmony with Him. being in harmony with Him, the world is spared our negativity.

and that's life as benjie today, striving for a harmonious existence in and with God. join me?