One at a time

Many people have told me that life didn’t used to be so hectic. Life didn’t used to be so materialistic. Life didn’t used to have so many choices and activities tugging and pulling us in so many directions. Is it any wonder that we continue to hear health professionals talk about high blood pressure, heart disease, obesity, and the need for all of us to live more healthy lifestyles? We, all of us, have contributed by our choices and by our actions to this action packed world we live in, and for some, they think that’s just okay. For others, though, they want to change and they want things to be like they "used to be."

How do we go about that change, or how do we go about getting through those really stressful times in our lives? For me, having a supportive family, supportive co-workers and friends is a good step. They have always been there for me and I hope that I can be there for them in their times of need. The other real way to affect change, though, is to pray, to ask Jesus to be there with you, especially during the stressful times, and to help you make good decisions about how to proceed.

Stewardship is about trying to live our lives as disciples of Jesus, attempting by our words and actions to imitate His life, and to gratefully acknowledge that everything each of us has been given is a gift from God. Jesus had some stressful moments in His life, too, and at those times went to pray, to ask God to be with Him and to assist Him.

Our relationship with God will also grow stronger as we spend more time in prayer with Him. Our lives will then more closely reflect our relationship with Him. This relationship with God, rather than with materialistic things, allows us to be the stewards that we have been called to be through our Baptism. It is then that we can more confidently cope with the challenges of our daily lives and the many temptations that strive to tear us away from God.

Each of us through our Baptism have been invited to take this journey of stewardship, to try to discern how God has blessed each of us in our lives and to discern how we are called to share these gifts we have with, and for the benefit of, others. This bundle of gifts is different for each of us, and how we are expected to share these gifts is also different, so we cannot just match the actions of a friend or family member. We must continue to listen to what God is saying through regular dialogue and prayer with Him.

As with a diet, exercise, stopping smoking or other activities, some people are capable of making a dramatic switch in their routine, either because some life event has forced them to make this change, or this person has adjusted because of sheer willpower. Many of us, though, need to take small, planned steps to make these changes and to make them more than a passing fad.

The process of growing in our understanding of stewardship and what God is calling us to do is ever evolving and requires many continuous small steps. However, we first must have the desire to begin moving, and that begins with prayer and with listening to what the Holy Spirit is whispering into our minds. As we come to understand more fully how deeply God loves us and the magnitude of Jesus’ gift for each of us through His death on the cross and Resurrection, we will want to share in gratitude our talents, our time, and our treasure with and for others. It is then that we will realize that each of us, through our actions and through our decisions, taken one at a time, can and will begin to change this world we live in. Are you willing, and are you ready to take that first small step?