God amid the clutter

FINDING God amid the clutter and tangles characteristic of our modern life is one of the skills we have to learn these days, and fast. The accelerating flow of data, info, interests, concerns, etc., make it imperative that we find ways to be connected with God and not to lose our proper bearing.

The other day I saw someone literally entangled with the products of today´s digital culture. He was driving, he was untangling the wires of his earphone, he tried to open his Ipad, his cellphone rang, he responded by a remote gadget, he dictated his insurance policy number...whew. What a life!

Images like this are now common. The new technologies that are supposed to make life easier have managed to make life busier and tenser. People from all walks of life have come to me confiding more or less the same predicament in their work places and even in their homes.

Pressures have mounted, challenges and problems have multiplied. From some medical journals I learned that the number of cases of nervous illness, largely due to our frenetic lifestyle now, has also increased.

There must be a way to keep things and our life in general calmer, more orderly and more focused.

For this, our Christian faith gives a basic answer. It´s found in the Gospel of St. Luke, where our Lord clearly says: ¨He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.¨ (11,23)

We need to understand that putting order into our life, acquiring the proper sense of priority and dominion over things, are a matter of being vitally united with God through Jesus in the Holy Spirit. In this, there are no ifs and buts, no middle ground, no compromise.

It is not just some smart management techniques that can do this. At best they help, but precisely as aids amd as supports, but not as the main source of the virtues we are trying to have. For these virtues, we need God.

Without God, it is also quite clear what can happen. Our view of things would be shallow and narrow, often reduced to what is immediately beneficial and relieving at least for a while. We would be prone to pressures and to give knee-jerk reactions to things.

Without God, we would not understand the value of suffering and of the cross, which in our Christian faith, are vital in our life. We, in fact, would run away from them, missing precisely the very element that is supposed to complete and perfect our humanity.

We have to learn to find God in today´s world of clutter, tangles, embroilments, etc. What can help is when one tries to develop and keep a sober and serene character, given more to thinking and reasoning rather than to get easily excited and swept up by events.

A temperament that lends itself easily to analyzing and planning while at the same time not averse to make prompt decisions and to take action would be a great gift. But whatever character and temperament one may have, it is the life of prayer, of constant dealings with God that matters ultimately.

When this life of prayer is realistically supported by a well-defined plan of pious exercises spread throughout the day, week, month and year, and nourished by proper doctrine and recourse of the sacraments, plus an ongoing effort to develop and polish virtues, then finding God in today´s mess would be a breeze.

When these things are done, one would find it easy to see the vital link of whatever he is doing, no matter how mundane, with God. He will always have a constant source of impulse for renewal and conversion that are always needed to cope with the demands of the times.

In effect, he will see God in everything, in everyone and in every situation, whether humanly good or bad, whether big or small. He would be a contemplative even in the midst of the hustle and bustle of modern life. This lifestyle would be second nature to him.

It´s truly important that everyone be properly equipped spiritually, first of all, to be able to face the challenges of life today in a realistic and effective manner. We cannot leave this aspect of our life behind while we give our all to our economic or technological progress. That would be a monstrosity, an absurd, lopsided way to pursue our development.

We need to improve our spirituality and life of piety without compromising our responsibilities in the world!