If you love something, set it free! - New Evangelizers

Gazing at my children in their cribs as newborns, I was amazed.  These tiny little infants, barely a few days old, trusted us for every need: feeding, diapering, comforting.  They knew at the slightest whimper, we would come running.  The trust of a child is so beautiful because his heart is beautiful.These little children learned something adults never master: trust and surrender. It’s one of the hardest virtues to obtain. A simple thing, but sometimes it seems insurmountable lesson God keeps teaching us. 

 As little children, we are able to surrender so easily. We depend on parents for everything and willingly trust them. We don’t worry if they will drop us while carrying us. We don’t fret about our next meal. We don’t lose sleep worrying about an illness. We merely trust, fully expecting our needs to be met. 

 As we mature, we hold on tightly to our mistrust. Where did our surrender go? We somehow become jaded. As children, we get wounded interiorly by a friend, a parent, a teacher and begin to fear/mistrust the world around. We do not hug as easily or confide in others as often. As teens, we often do not trust the adult world. Suddenly parents who love you so much become an opponents at times. 

 Without trust in God, we grow into worldly adults, feeling that we can only survive through our own power or worse yet, avoiding pain at all costs. Sometimes we begin to live in a vacuum, sucking up that part of the world that is “safe” for us. We run for anything or anyone uncomfortable. 

 As God would have it, we are sometimes thrust into surrendering. Visiting a relative, “Sam” at college, I had no clue he planned to leave the Church.  All the times praying rosaries and the mass together suddenly turned to dust.  It felt like a knife through my heart.  Why had he turned from the one who could truly fulfill him:  God? 

 I tried to beg, reason, plead, and arranged a return to the sacraments.  He wouldn’t budge. Finally a good friend told me, “Your job is to shut up and pray.”  Wow!  Strong words, but I needed to hear them.  This is when I began to surrender. 

 I turned to St. Monica, St. Augustine’s mother.  She had to surrender her son to the Lord.  Augustine went head-first into the world and all its vices: position, power, comfort, and women.  Augustine went so far as to openly oppose the church through heretic beliefs.  Finally, through years of sacrifices, tears, and prayers, Augustine converted.  In fact, he became the bishop of Hippo and later, a saint. 

 I followed Monica’s suit. I needed to surrender him to God.  When things got overwhelming, God reminded me that I did not fully let go.  I began a campaign of rosaries, penances,  masses, and calling monasteries for prayer.  Anything to bring Sam back to the church. 

 Then without warning, he went on a retreat, then another.  He began to go to Sunday mass because he enjoyed the mass and peace he experienced there. Gradually, he came back to mass intermittently.  God worked the miracle I could not.  He has become quite a beautiful person. Oh, yes there are still struggles, but I know from past experience to surrender Sam and my children to God.  

 Jesus knows our nature. He never intended us to pop pills to avoid life’s pains or run from one event to the next. He only wishes us to surrender into His arms. As St. Augustine said, “O Lord, our hearts are restless until they rest in you.”  

 Copyright 2015, Mary Mitchell