Suddenly, out of nowhere, these words came whirling fast into his head, totally uncontrollable and spontaneous, yet as clear as if they were spoken to him there and then.
“How shall I pray?” said the words in Father Ignatius’ head.
“Shall I beg over and over again for you to hear me? Is that what You want of me?
“Shall I plead for ever like the widow to the judge until she was heard?
“How do you want me to see You? As an over-powerful ruler demanding His own way?
“How do you want me to love You? As one loves a monster, with immense fear lest I arouse your anger and wrath?
“Shall I fear you for ever and cower at the thought of your fury?”
Father Ignatius stopped praying and made the sign of the Cross. He took a deep breath … and yet the words continued in his mind … somehow gentler now … somehow softer …
“Love me as a child … with no fear and no dread.
“Trust me as a child trusts his parents when they give him food and drink.
“A child never questions whether the food is good to eat … he takes it in trust and asks for more.
“He never doubts when led by his parents … he follows eagerly holding hands along the way.
“Love me as a child … and I’ll treat you with love and compassion.
“Ask me as a child … and I’ll give you what’s good for you in good time.
“Trust me as a child … and I’ll show you the way …
“No matter how difficult your journey ahead, I’ll always be there … guiding you into eternity … with Me.”
The words suddenly stopped as quickly as they’d started. Yet their message remained with the priest for a long time.
Beautiful post Victor! The words are so comforting.
ReplyDeleteThis is very sweet Victor! And, thanks for praying for me and my family!
ReplyDeleteYou know Victor I am sure I have said a similar prayer at some time in my life.....oh but I do love my prayers....:-) Hugs
ReplyDeletePowerful words.
ReplyDeleteHello Daily Grace, Anne, Bernie and Elizabeth,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for calling in and for taking the trouble to write. I very much appreciate yours and other readers' comments.
God bless you and yours always.
Victor: Explain to me what this Ignatius character is about..is this your prayers recited through a character? This is very interesting. And I really need to practice "trust" of late, so I'm glad I read it....like I said to you in an email..nothing is by accident. Oh, are those signs on real trucks/advertising? Take care. God Bless
ReplyDeletecrookedhalocatholicblog.blogspot.com &
cucinananette.blogspot.com
Hi Nanette,
ReplyDeleteThanx for visiting my Blog.
Father Ignatius is a character from my book "Visions" which you can see promoted on the right of this Blog. "Visions" is a stand-alone story in its own right and the book is available through Amazon and other good bookshops.
Since writing "Visions" I have used the character of Father Ignatius, (and other characters from the book), to feature in short stand-alone stories published here on this Blog. You can read the Father Ignatius stories by clicking on his name at the end of this post. You can also read a selection of stories by downloading the FREE E Book "Golden Drops" on the right of this post. None of these stories are from "Visions" which as I said is a story all by itself.
Trust is a very delicate emotion. Whether we trust other people or whether we trust in God. Once trust is broken it is very difficult to regain it again ... totally or fully.
Our trust in God is very personal. Some of us see Him as a powerful Being demanding our obedience, love and respect or else ... I believe He wants us to see Him as a loving Father caring for us, ready to hear our prayers, and responding accordingly in His own way and in His own time. Now this very fact can be very testing on our trust and our Faith. In our impatience for Him to respond to our requests and demands we sometimes let our trust and Faith weaken.
The bus signs are there to promote my book. Feel free to copy the pictures on to your Blog if you wish.
God bless you Nanette. Thanx for visiting me and taking the trouble to write. I hope you call again soon.
This beautifully comforting, Victor. I love your response to Nanette's comment.
ReplyDeleteGod bless!
Thank you so much Karinann for your continuing and very welcome support.
ReplyDeleteGod bless you always.
This is so true Victor..Blessed be the heart of a child..
ReplyDeleteAmen Crystal Mary. Amen.
ReplyDeleteGod bless.
Ditto Karinann-your response to Nanette is lovely!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Anne for your constant encouragement.
ReplyDeleteGod bless you.
This is something I'm trying to learn. I've been praying a lot more than usual lately, trying to spend time on my knees every evening in addition to my usual morning quiet time. I love that time with God, and I look forward to it. But as it becomes a habit... it becomes a habit. And almost a rule that cannot be broken. So if I have to miss my prayer time one night, I feel guilty, like I've let God and myself down.
ReplyDeleteI don't want to feel that way. I want to feel like a child with her Father, just as you've described here.
I wonder if I will ever get that balance right--putting works with my faith, but not trusting in my works to save me. I want to be consistent with my prayer time, but not feel like it's something I HAVE to do.
Hi Sarah,
ReplyDeletePrayer should be a conversation with a friend and a loving Father. Anytime ... anywhere. Not necessarily time-tabled or structured; but if this helps then OK why not?
I tend to pray anytime ... for example when I meet an elderly person and they tell me about their aches and pains. I pray silently to myself that God may help them.
In fact I'm praying for you and your family right now.
God bless.
Hi Victor! I see you've met Nanette! I always read the comments on blogs and I love what you wrote in response to her comment.
ReplyDeleteThis was an excellent post. When I was young I thought of God the Father in this manner (the monster in the sky waiting to punish his children every time they made a mistake). I'm not quite sure why I thought of Him this way, I didn't think of Jesus in this manner or the Holy Spirit though I knew that they were one with the Father. My thinking didn't really make a lot of sense back then. Your story beautifully expresses God as a true father to his children! I loved this!
Hi Mary,
ReplyDeleteWe visualise the "punishing monster" God from what we read in the Old Testament.
I'll write a post about this very subject shortly.
God bless.