New Every Morning
Dear Friends,
I had a plan.
This time, this summer, things would be different. I was going to get it together—really get it together. There would be a routine. I would run 4 mornings a week before it got too hot, get dressed for the day, say my prayers in my quiet chair, then read for 30 minutes or so to finally finish the exhausting book I’ve been chipping away at for a while now. I’d do all of this before the family was awake so I could be present to them until it was time for me to head to the office. It was going to be a time of incredible spiritual growth, of dazzling encounters with the goodness of God like I’d never had before. I was even going to get my 5-mile time up in the process! It was going to be perfect.
That is, of course, not how things have gone. I run some mornings and miss some. I pray every morning, but not always in my chair and certainly not in the holy quiet before the family is up. I haven’t made much progress at all on that book, though I’ve read a few other things. In short, my best-laid plans have fallen apart. My shot at perfection has melted away, the way those things almost always do.
There is a grace in the melting, though. Because I’m forced to reckon with a truth that is so easy to forget: While what I do matters, while the habits and rhythms of my life are important, they just aren’t the thing that matters most. They aren’t the most important part of existence.
God is.
Listen to what the book of Ecclesiastes reminds us about God: “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning.” We are called to be people who are growing spiritually, who are doing important work in the world, who are slowly but surely finding ourselves more deeply committed to the love of God and our neighbor.
And in doing so, we will fail. We will mess it up, we will fall off the wagon, we will wonder what happened to the best-laid plans, to that shot at perfection. Do not despair when that comes. Do not give up when you feel lost and despondent. In those moments, on those days, during those seasons, entrust yourself to the steadfast love of the Lord, whose mercy is always new every morning.
God bless,
Fr. Quinn+