Giving up something daily

IF we have the mind to follow Christ’s self-emptying and

his advice to deny ourselves daily, it might be a good idea to make it

a daily habit to give up something—be it a matter of comfort,

preference, convenience, opinion, food & drink, etc.

            To be sure, we will never run out of things that we can

give up either permanently or temporarily. We, of course, should try

to permanently give up on vices that we may have, but even in those

things that are not necessarily bad, we can choose to give them up, at

least for a while, if only to follow Christ’s example and advice.

            Nowadays, with all the things that can truly enslave us

and imprison us in our own world, keeping us in a state of

self-centeredness, this daily habit of giving up something can somehow

extricate us from that predicament and return us to the path that is

proper to us.

            We cannot deny that many are into some forms of

addictions. We are not referring only to drugs, alcohol, smoking and

sex, but also to things that otherwise are good or at least are

morally neutral but have managed to dominate and enslave us.

            These things can be the new technologies, the Internet,

the social media, the games and sport in general, the hobbies, the

entertainment, shopping, travelling, etc.

            Some people may rationalize that their recourse to these

things is their way of resting if not of coping with the pressures of

the day. Obviously, these reasons are valid, but we just have to make

sure that such resting and coping do not take us away from God and

from our proper relation with everybody else as is proper to us.

            The problem that we often see is that these forms of

resting and coping tend to distance if not alienate us from God and

from others. They tend to build a shell, a cocoon, a silo that

separates us from everybody else, including God. They tend to lead us

to indulge in our own selves, and to become a very sweet poison that

can actually ruin us as a person and as a child of God.

            It’s the wrong kind of resting and coping. The right one

can only heighten our relation with God and deepen our relation with

everybody else. Yes, we need to distance ourselves from time to time

from our usual activities and concerns not only to rest and to cope

with the pressures but, more importantly, to recover our proper

senses, to regain our proper bearing.

            Yes, everyday we need to give up on something, even the

legitimate ones, because the erratic impulses of our wounded flesh,

the deceptive allurements of the world and the wiles of the devils

will always hound us. We should not be naïve about this reality.

            We need to confront that reality realistically. And one

good way is to see to it that everyday we are giving up something.

That would help check our tendency to slide very surreptitiously into

self-centeredness.

            In fact, we should try to promote this habit as widely as

possible, because it is a genuine necessity of ours, given our wounded

human condition. Everyone should help in this campaign. Parents,

teachers, priests should take the lead. And how wonderful it would be

if even our political and business leaders would also do the same!

            To be sure, it’s a giving up that would fill us up with

something proper to us!