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The Opposites

I had this coming together in my mind before the wise priest confirmed it all for us, but the two most opposite things in the entire universe--besides God and the devil, which is fittingly obvious--are prayer and sin. That itself is fitting, I suppose, because I have great difficulty in praying at times. Some people are aided by formal prayers, and that is good. But I very well could be one of those people who can pray without really praying, to paraphrase Pope Francis. I will always need the freedom to simply talk to God. Maybe the greatest challenge is honesty with God and ourselves. If you're anything like me, (yikes!) you find within yourself that you don't really want the things you ought to want. But if you do in the smallest measure, start with that. Ask God to increase that desire.

One thing that never stops is our smallness. One truth that will never fade is our need for Him. I keep stupidly waiting for this to change, and I am reminded--usually after I make a huge mess of things--that it won't, ever.

Maybe that's why He made me the way I am, as a graphic, visible reminder that we're all helpless without Him. I keep fighting against this, in more ways than one, but it's here again, surely as you read the words on this page.

We all want to be happy. The trouble is, in large ways and small ways, we have the wrong definition of happiness. I feel like our society makes these circles of affirmation, where we gather around each other to tell each other we are happy, when we might even know we are not, or even if we know we shouldn't be, with one situation or another. Or is that just me? It feels like the whole culture is one big lying group hug. Please don't mistake me: I'm only a culture-warrior in the most indirect sense. But someone should say it.

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