Putting Things into Perspective

And so... we have entered into the month of October.  I have a strong suspicion that this year isn't going to creep by - rather, it is going to fly by, in the best way possible.  Yet, that doesn't change the fact that each day is either slipping by or being savoured - which one is it for me?

It is a challenge, indeed, to savour each day, both the good and the bad ones, yet isn't this precisely what we are called to do as Christians?  For, what is time, after all, to our beloved Father in Heaven but that which shapes us into who we are to become?  As it says in the Scriptures, "But do not ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day" (2 Peter 3:8).

For myself, reading that verse, I am reminded of the fact that it is often the smallest and littlest of things that have the greatest impact.  It's all a matter of putting it into perspective.
How often do we think of the fact that our small actions throughout the day - such as doing an authentic charitable act for a brother or sister - are either pointing us towards eternal salvation or away into eternal damnation?

It is indeed mind-boggling to think of that jarring truth.  Yet, in light of that truth, it should not be discouraging to us to know that even one of our days can be like "a thousand years" to our Heavenly Father.  Rather, this truth should inspire us - to live our lives as though tomorrow might never come - that instead, Christ is waiting eagerly for us, and that we should always anticipate being with him, and that we are ready to be received into Heaven.

And that's the striking beauty of it all!  Odd, isn't it, how these things, which matter the most, often slip our minds during the mundane day-to-day tasks that we are called to do?  Yet, if we make each act during the day an intentional step towards loving our Lord, we are precisely being led to eternal salvation.  And this is the truth that should excite and invigorate us.  How awe-some it is, that our Lord made it so that the actions we do with charity (the love that Jesus speaks of in the Scriptures) are actually leading us closer to Him.  Amazing - if you ask me.

Yet, this revelation does not come without its struggles.  What about the times that we are called to act charitably, and we fail to do so?  Well, this is when Christ calls us back to Himself through the mercy of His Cross.  "[For] In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of his grace...." (Ephesians 1:7 - emphasis added).  Christ is merciful to us.  If we simply are willing to ask for his forgiveness,  He comes to us immediately in mercy and in love.  The "Divine Mercy" is indeed a very real and beautiful thing.

So, in light of all these beautiful and awe-inspiring truths, where do we go from here?  After all, I did say it was simply a matter of "putting things into perspective". ;-)
Yes, it is indeed a matter of "putting things into perspective".  The simplest and littlest actions make the world either a more beautiful or a more broken place.  And so, with that, I challenge each of us, to make the world, through our daily mundane tasks, a more beautiful place, despite having been broken.

Let us savour the beauty of each day, at the end of each day, recalling to mind all the things that we have done, both good and bad, and offer it all up to Christ, who knew, as He suffered out of love for us on the Cross, that we would fall from time to time.  Yet Christ's mercy remains triumphant.  Let us then indeed savour the beauty of each day, for this is the day God has given us.