Aging and Chronic Exhaustion My child, how creative My love is, how I long to take hold of My children swiftly, and how many slip away and escape Me. But you, let yourself be taken captive. And exhausted as you are, for you have suffered, rest on My heart. Do you think I don't know about the trial I've asked you to bear? Gabrielle Bossis, He and I, p. 313. Exhaustion is a universal experience. As the years pass, it can become a chronic state, especially when health issues arise, whether they are long-term, serious, or terminal. How we respond to this reality is important. Moments of joy and happiness are often accepted without question. It is usually suffering, whether our own or that of those we love, that leads us to ask deeper questions. The closer suffering comes to home, the more urgent those questions become. For Christians, suffering can be salvific for ourselves and for others. When it is lived in faith and in relationship with Jesus Christ, suffering is no longer meaningless. It becomes a participation in the mystery of Christ and deepens our communion with the Body of Christ. This can gradually transform the way we pray. We begin to carry the world and its many peoples in our hearts. Compassion and empathy grow. We learn to see Christ in others and come to realize that Christ, in some mysterious way, suffers in each one of us. As members of the Body of Christ, we are united to one another, and all are being gently drawn into the mystery of God's love. As faith matures, prayer continues to change. Our hearts become more universal in their embrace. We become less preoccupied with judging others and more inclined toward understanding and mercy. We learn that love is not diminished by being given away. Rather, it expands. The reward for love is to love more. Br. MD
Well Brother Mark, you certainly touched my heart with this one! Like an arrow to the Heart since I have, I am afraid being taken to be bed rather a lot myself of late. The saints when asked about this often said that there will be plenty of time to rest in heaven Ah those saints! One French writer said that the Cross we get is the Cross we most need. It occurs to me that there are much things worse to fall on us than the need to sleep. For myself I find my bedroom become a Chapel and my bed an altar. What could be more wonderful As we are told in Romans all things work unto the good for those who love Him. Even feeling tired. For myself I know this is just a passing thing for I know God has still much for me to do. But I always look for jewels in the dirt and for me this gives me a great chance for much, much deeper though and prayer. Sweet tiredness that joins the hands in prayer.
Wonderful thread! I wonder, does anyone else experience a loss of the ability to concentrate while praying? I have to pull my mind back from its wandering, zigzag path so many times that I question the value of such prayer.
Sometimes. St Louis de Montfort described the distractions which occur during praying the rosary as “flies buzzing around a cake.” I just keep trying. Our efforts to continue must be valuable to Heaven.
The best thing I ever read concerning this was from St Teresa of Avila. She compared our thoughts to a herd of sheep that wander all over the place during prayer. She said we must gently shepherd them back to the right path and carry on. Emphasis on the word gently. Not to become obsessed and fearful about the wanderings. Wanderings are what happens to everyone. But one other thing God does not often Judge us as we Judge ourselves. Take an extreme example. A man has just been told by his Doctor that he has terminal Cancer and will be dead before Christmas. He has not even passed on the news to his family. He decides to take a walk and say his daily rosary. But no matter how he tries his thoughts wander. How will he tell his family? Will his death be painful? Are there no other medical remedies and so on..But nevertheless he presses on with the Rosary to the end. But he is sad he thinks his rosary has been such a failure. Nevertheless this rosary was a result of really heroic effort on his part. The best of his life. He may regard it as a complete failure but God and His Blessed Mother regard it with deep delight. The last 18 months my prayer has often been distracted. So much to do with my new house and getting settled in my new country. My thoughts were all over the place in prayer. But now things have settled down my prayer seems so much better now I have the time for it. But I would not say necessarily my prayer is better now than it was then. Like I say we do what we can with what we've got. God Judges such things differently than we do. 1 Samuel 16:7 7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart.”
Matthew 9:17 17 Neither do people pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.” I think very often life is like this this. We may judge ourselves one way and perhaps God may Judge us another. For instance when I get exhausted, not able to do anything and have to go to bed I can feel such a failure. But I am 70 years old and am often working in extreme heat. I am surprised when people want to help me. For instance if a heavy package they often insist on carrying it for me to the right place. I have forgotten my age. Similarly when my angel guardian corrects me,as he very often does I am very happy with this and love to learn these things. But on the other hand when my angel Guardian approves me or even praises me as he does occasionally I find it very hard to take. It makes me very,very uncomfortable. When my family visited here a few weeks ago they , to my great surprise praised what I had done here to the high heaven. One of my brothers said that it was a little piece of heaven. I had not seen it this way because I was concentrated on what else to do and of what I had done that needed improvement. But they thought it was wonderful. What I mean is that sometimes in life and in the Spiritual Life in particular,we have to give ourselves a break. It is good to be strict with ourselves but it is also good to see the Light as well as the Dark. Psalm 91:11 11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;
