Short Fuse in the Cold Air

01-07-2018Weekly ReflectionFr. Brian Jazdzewski

The more I’m around people, the more it seems there is a common complaint about people just being lesstolerant of each other; more quick to toss the first stones; rapid to criticize and the like. I also hearbroadcasters on heavy metal genre of satellite radio to mention how people, particularly at concerts, need tobe present in the moment rather than experiencing the concert through their mobile device. The saidbroadcaster continues to mention that people ought to be present in the moment with their families andfriends. Generally speaking, in the midst of a culture in which we appear to be digitally connected, we havesomehow allowed that virtual reality to deceive us into thinking that is our new reality; and somehow it’sbetter.

These thoughts provide a lot of content for us to reflect upon, particularly when these thoughts impact ourrelationships with people: our family, our friends, the members of our community. I was taunted a bit bysome friends this weekend because I was choosing to bed down early on New Year’s Eve rather than stayingup like so many do. Honestly, I was trying to relax and enter 2018 with a bit of an edge. Even that sense ofrelaxing gets distorted among our culture. When we go to vacation, we fill our days with plans and activitiesand never really allow our bodies to decompress.

Perhaps it’s that lack of decompression which creates some of these issues of not being present to the peoplearound us. If we are not in touch with our own joys and sorrows, how do we expect to be sensitive to theneeds of others (or have the energy to do so)? We know we get in touch with ourselves through the time wespend relaxing and being attentive to the workings of our hearts and minds.

At the core of a greater sense or relaxation and building relationships leads us to our relationship with theLord. Problem is, we are so far from ourselves, and in turn others, that we see a really big chasm between usand the Lord. To this point, Bishop Callahan encouraged us through his seasonal video, to take just a littlemore time in prayer. Specifically he mentions coming to church a bit sooner or lingering a bit longer, to allowthe silence to speak. Perhaps more clearly, to allow the Lord to speak in the silence. Maybe we will considerour bishop’s message and make choices to support deepening our relationship with Jesus.

While digital communication has done so much to raise our awareness about things around us, we might haveallowed those means to take away from what is going on within us. What we really desire is for the Prince ofPeace to overwhelm us with His peace. That peace can only come through our communication with Him fromthe depths of our hearts.

While we enter into A.D. (Anno Domini = year of our Lord) 2018, each and every one of us will be faced withcountless choices. Among those choices is how well we will interact with God and one another. Each day is anopportunity for us to shorten our fuse of temper and cool our jets in order to build upon the matter God hasalready written upon our hearts. Through His graces, we can do our part to build up the community and beagents of Jesus, the Prince of Peace!

BACK TO LIST