Don't look back

(a really cool photo taken of me by Holly when she was here this past week!)

Genesis 19: 16-17,26

16

When he hesitated, the men, by the LORD'S mercy, seized his hand and the hands of his wife and his two daughters and led them to safety outside the city.

17

As soon as they had been brought outside, he was told: "Flee for your life! Don't look back or stop anywhere on the Plain. Get off to the hills at once, or you will be swept away."

26

But Lot's wife looked back, and she was turned into a pillar of salt.

How often is looking back a bad idea? Often I look back at "my city" the places I used to spiritually reside and those I used to be intimately involved with, wondering how I can help my brother or sister, how I failed, or how comfortable it was... Just as Lot must have wanted to do when he was told to not look back... he was probably wondering about his sons-in-law whom he had warned. Probably always hoping that at the last minute they left...

14

So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had contracted marriage with his daughters. "Get up and leave this place," he told them; "the LORD is about to destroy the city." But his sons-in-law thought he was joking.

This weekend I made a mask for a masquerade, Michelle, her roommate Michelle, and I are going to in Connecticut this friday. We also took time out for prayer and cooked several meals together, with Marine providing a nice french meal on Sunday night. And somewhere in all of the excitement, we took time to review St. Ignatius' first six rules as a group. ( http://cfpeople.org/Books/Exercise/EXERCISEp15.htm )

It's incredible, the wisdom in these rules. They remind you how much one needs to focus on God and God alone, how when you look to "earthly things" you begin to fall away from peace, joy, hope and everything that makes life a beautiful symphony.

It's like riding a bike on mountainous trails or on slick roads... point the head wheel in the direction you want to go, the rest will follow. Regardless of how out of control the rest of the frame feels, if you focus on this one thing (and the small things that support keeping the wheel pointed to where you want to go) you'll be riding smoothly soon enough. You just have to trust.

Sometimes I forget to keep my eyes on the Cross. I forget to do the small things, the quick exclamations of prayer, the moments of meditation, the daily reflections, the minor acts of penance (i.e., not eating ice cream after every meal or waiting ten minutes before I do). And in these times I find my feet moving away from the Cross and I find myself becoming the saviour, "how can I.."? Instead of realising that there is only one who can save someone, only one who's prescence can move mountains, can bring hope to desolations dark, can bring joy to someone considering suicide, can bring meaning to a life devoid.

And He bore a cross, I can't even bear discomfort.