Saturday 4 June 2022

In God We Trust

 

Father Ignatius felt he was getting old now. He was in his early seventies and every so often he felt various pains and had a little difficulty walking. But his mind, and his ability to care and empathise, were as keen and as sharp as ever.

One day he was visited by Tony, a young man in his early twenties who spent his spare time looking after the gardens at the back of Parish House. Father Ignatius sat on the bench by the statue of the Virgin Mary, whilst Tony was potting some new seedlings to be planted in the vegetable plot nearby.

"Father," he said, "when I pray, how can I be sure that God is really bothered with me and my problems. How can I really trust Him?"

"Just like me!" was the priest's quick response. 

It had the desired effect because Tony stopped working and looked puzzled.

The priest smiled and beckoned Tony to sit on the bench. He then said, "you can't buy trust in the supermarket. It is not a commodity one can have. Trust is based on experience."

Tony nodded.

"Do you trust your parents love you?" asked the priest.

Tony nodded again.

"You base that trust on their behaviour towards you. On what they say and do for you. On the way they care and how they brought you up," continued the old priest.

"Yes ..." mumbled Tony.

"You are young," Father Ignatius said, "and you may not have had much experience of God. I am more than three times your age, and believe me, over the years I have had many occasions to experience God in my life. I have been through several difficult situations over the years, and although at the time I may not have realised it, God was there by my side, and He saw me through my difficulties and trials. I have experienced God's presence; that's why I trust Him."

Tony nodded pensively and said nothing.

"Trust between two people," Father Ignatius continued, "is built over time. It's the same with trusting God. Right now, you are building that trust by believing in God, in pure faith, by praying, and by hoping that He will look after you. These are your first steps into building trust in Him. Over time you will look back at various periods in your life and you will realise that what happened then, what decisions you made, were helped and guided by God through the Holy Spirit."

"Is that how you trust God?" asked Tony.

"Yes," said Father Ignatius, "God has never let me down. He may have answered my prayers not as I expected, but He never let me down. I see no reason why He should do so in future!"

There were a few moments of awkward silence, then the priest continued, "when we pray, more often than not we ask for favours. We pray because we want something from God. Rarely do we remember the simple prayers of thanks. Being grateful for another day that has passed safely. Thankful when we wake up for another day that beckons.

"We seem to expect God to go around distributing miracles as if they were candies. 

"But God is not like that. He is a loving Father who deserves our trust just as He trusts us to do the right thing. That's why He gave us the freedom to choose our path in life. 

"He trusts us. Do we trust Him enough when we pray in thanksgiving or in times of need?"

23 comments:

  1. ...many Americans love to say "In God We Trust," but they trust their guns more.

    ReplyDelete
  2. As soon as l saw the title...This came to mind..
    And just released a couple of months ago...Not
    everyone likes Rap..Me! I~LOVE~IT...!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2iUg5Mxb2Oc

    [Chorus: Tom MacDonald & Nova Rockafeller]
    The man on the news says the problem is me
    I'm just a small-town boy with big American dreams
    The world's going crazy and they lyin' to us
    Don't know who to believe, so in God we trust..

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you, Willie. Do you rap? Is it done on the spur of the moment or are the lyrics all written down beforehand?

      Trust in the Lord always. God bless.

      Delete
    2. Yes! I used to Rap..very good at it, l always
      did it on the spur of the moment..but it can be
      written down..
      I have tried it on and off in my later years..much
      the same but a lot slower..HeHe! A lot slower..! :).
      I prefer to put on some James Brown..and get
      on down in the dinning room, yes, the dinning,
      to some funky stuff...! "Get up..get on up..Get
      on the scene.."

      Must get back to 'Death on the Nile'...! :).

      Delete
    3. Peter Ustinov & David Niven.

      God bless.

      Delete
    4. Yes! From 1978...also with...
      Bette Davis...Mia Farrow...Angela Lansbury..
      Maggie Smith..Simon MacCorkingdale..!
      And just a little earlier on BBC2 was Ustinov
      again as Poirot in 'Evil Under The Sun'...!

      Delete
    5. Great actors all.

      God bless, Willie.

      Delete
  3. Trust! A great lesson for us today. We will hit the road for the final lap of this journey and are trusting God for a safe trip. Love from this side... on the road in a few minutes, Life is good. ;-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Take care, Jack and Sherry. Praying for you my friends.

      God bless.

      Delete
  4. Trust is something that we all have to cultivate. Also agree with what Tom said.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yes, trust is earned a bit at a time.

      Nice to see you here, Haddock. God bless.

      Delete
  5. Victor, I like the point you made about God taking care of us and bringing us through tough times guided by the Holy Spirit. I know I belonged to God before I ever realized it and made the choice to trust Him. He is the only One, in whom, we can fully trust. People let you down, butGod is steadfast. God bless you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. It is when we are at our darkest hour that God is closest to us. We may not realise it at the time, because we hurt perhaps; but He is always there beside us.

      God bless you, Nells.

      Delete
  6. It was a long time coming, but I've finally come to realize God's always had my best interests at heart. Sometimes, when obstacles block my way, I have to consider God may have redirected me, slowed my speed to save me from something really dire.

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    Replies
    1. I so understand and agree with what you say, Mevely. Often I wonder, in prayer, whether God is listening to me. And later, in retrospect, I know that He always is.

      God bless you always dear friend.

      Delete
  7. Dearest Victor,
    LOVE reading your Father Ignatius stories you published in your books!
    Hugs,
    Mariette

    Today my 2nd brother picked me up and took me to the site where Mom & Dad's ashes have been dispersed on Easter Saturday, 2020. https://mariettesbacktobasics.blogspot.com/2020/06/dad-is-one-year-in-heaven-now.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you so much for your many kindnesses to me, Mariette.

      I am praying for you and your family right now.

      God bless.

      Delete
  8. Our hope in Him is not empty because He has given us a reason to trust, He came to walk among us.

    ReplyDelete

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God bless you.