Waking up this morning at 3:30, I started watching the all night news. They were reporting breaking news about the huge earthquake in Japan. One of Maria's best friend's mothers came here from Japan and her family still lives there. I don't know yet how they might have been impacted with this terrible catastrophe.
I just turned 47 this week, and I've never seen anything like the crazy things I've been witnessing over the past few years. It really is like 'birth pangs', as it says in the bible. Having given birth numerous times, and recalling the pains of labor, they start off as little twinges and are far apart. As time goes on, the pains get closer together, extend in length, and the peaks grow from twinges to awful pain.
As the time for the child to be born gets nigh, the pangs come almost one on top of the other, and each one is a tightening, then a building until the peak, where the pain is almost impossibly uncomfortable, then it begins to ease and fade away. Just as the mom- to- be catches her breath, a new tightening comes upon her. It is almost dreadful if there was not the promise of new life on the horizon.
At the very last part of labor, before the baby's head crowns, the pain is a chaotic, yet rhythmic, completely overwhelming experience. In my own experience, this is where any semblence of inhibition or modesty is abandoned. There is a sensation of complete vulnerability and a desperate succumbing to nature, which proves to be more powerful than anything in the human will. The only thing left for a lady in labor is to let nature fulfill its purpose.
Humans beings start life as vulnerable and dependent, but as we mature, we learn survival and independence. Labor throws us back to that primitive state of vulnerabilty and dependency. There is a point of no return and when the woman fully gives in, the fruits of her labor come forth, and the pain comes to a sudden halt. The child enters the world and all the agony is erased as she pulls the child to her breast. Kissing the sweet head, nursing the baby, caressing and examing this little bundle of love and joy makes it clear that all that pain has resulted in the highest degree of bliss a woman can know.
So, what can all this suffering and pain around us mean? I think it serves to take each one of down to utter humility, where we only be able to cry out in dependency to our Heavenly Father. We may be able to fight it for some time, but as the pangs increase in number and in frequency, there will come that point where we can no longer resist and will be on our knees. This is the moment before 'life' will come forth. What will happen at the end, at the climax of all this calamity? I don't know, but scripture hints at this bright future. So, don't be afraid. Stay in the present moment. Breathe through each tragedy, as a laboring mom does. Know that these things are happening because God has something wonderful in store for us. When it comes, the pain will stop! Ecstasy, joy, love, peace will make us understand the meaning to all the suffering.
Learn that when there is a break between pains, rest, do not run about and waste your energy on the wrong things. Rest in prayer and fasting. Do your daily duties with a good attitude. Reserve your energy so that when another pain comes, you'll be prepared.
This is the time (especially because it is Lent) to really open the door to your inner self. Examine it. Go over it with a fine tooth comb. Do you worship things instead of God? Do you turn to alcohol or drugs, or (gluttony) food, or illicit sex for your comfort? If so, these things do not bring peace, but rather, they will cause the pains to intensify. We must be honest with ourselves and recognize that a clear conscience is the best remedy to all our ills. Scripture talks a lot about planting, sowing, and reaping. Have you planted bad seeds that have taken root? Once a sin takes root, it begins to dictate what we do, and we become enslaved to it. It does not happen overnight, so we don't always recognize that.
It is one of the toughest things to pull out the roots and be bare and humble. We all have to do this throughout life. No one escapes the terrible reality of sin. I have offended God and fallen prey to my own temptations. I have found myself in a spiritual tug of war plenty of times. We all have the power within us to turn away and abandon sin. The catch is that we have to give ourselves over to God. That is the only real way to break the power of sin.
Won't you all join me this lent in weeding your 'garden'? Fast with me today. Say a rosary or read scripture, even for 10 minutes. Sit down and talk to God about all your worries, failures, sins. Or do something you really don't feel like doing for someone else--shovel a neighbor's walk, call a friend, say a prayer for the Japanese.
HUGSxxxAnnie
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