Keeping a Holy Lent - 9

There are two words in the image above:
do you see them?

Are there ways in which the graphic illustrates your life?
Do you divide yourself into good and evil?
Are you at war with yourself?

Spend a few minutes with this excerpt from a rule for monastic life...

Don't carry on a futile battle against yourself,
don't divide yourself into good and evil.

Resist the temptation to analyze yourself -
turn your attention to the Lord instead,
and be deeply receptive.

Accept yourself in God's light
and concentrate on the mission
you have to accomplish.

- from the Rule for a New Brother

Although the quote above is from the rule for a community of Dutch religious brothers, it holds wisdom for us all. Waging a battle between "my good side and my bad side" is futile and indeed is a battle with myself as the enemy. Those who follow Jesus follow the One who has overcome evil - he is the Victor! Turning our attention to him puts us in the winner's corner and concentrating on what the Lord asks of us, our mission, keeps us in God's light. (I'll wager that regular readers here are already thinking back to Brother Patrick's post here, or perhaps my homily of a few weeks ago here...)

When evil or any temptation to be less than God made and calls us to be enters our lives, we'd do well to remember the words in James 4:

Submit to God; resist the devil and he will take flight.
Draw close to God, and God will draw close to you.
Cleanse your hands, you sinners;
purify your hearts, you backsliders.
Be humbled in the sight of the Lord
and he will raise you on high.

This Lent, how might I more closely focus my attention on the Lord?
How might I be more open to his love?
What temptations do I need to resist, to decline?
How do I need God's help in doing that?
What mission is mine to accomplish?
How do I come to greater acceptance of who I am in God?
Lent2010

post number 2,263