I own a dog. She’s cute and friendly and endlessly entertaining. What she doesn’t do, is work. Working like a dog in my house means nothing, because she is at best, a creature of leisure. She likes pillows or sleeping on our bed, preferrably on a pile of clean laundry. Somehow we managed to get through thirty-three years without this creature, and now, we rejoice to have a beastie that spends sixteen hours sleeping and the other eight requesting to be brushed, walked, fed and played with, adored, talked to and socialized.
She is always happy to see us.
It is not anthropromophisizing to say this, because we observe her behavior daily. She nearly faints with joy when we come home with work. Writhing, wiggling, curling into a quivering barely able to contain herself furry croisant, she bounds to the door when we approach. She stands watch when we leave to pick someone up or even just to take out the trash. Our dog remains perpetually devoted to us.
God likewise longs for our country and his heart quivers whenever we turn our eyes to Him. He watches us, waiting for us, hoping we will come home.
Tomorrow is Mardi Gras, and Lent begins the day after. Lent is an invitation to come home. God will shower graces, and all of Heaven will rejoice at our approach. It does not matter if we take a little step or a big one, God rejoices because we are returning to Him. His heart longs for ours, and though He is infinite joy, we are part of that infinity and our salvation is part of His joy.
So this Lent, go to adoration. Spend time with God and discover how much we fill up our lives with everything other than God even in the presence of God. Recognize that we are endlessly distracted even in the presence of the Divine.
Lent is a time to discover just how we suffer from sloth. Most people understand sloth is the “culpable lack of physical or spiritual effort.” while acedia is a particular form of spiritual sloth that stems from laxity in spiritual disciplines itself. So not attempting to fast, or even consider a fast, that is slothful, whereas having professed a plan to fast and making zero effort to practice, that is acedia. The one who says, “Yes,” and fails to do His master’s will after saying yes, suffers from acedia. The one who says, “No,” and holds to that no, suffers from sloth.
I guess we should be working like a dog to love God, and now, that saying makes a lot more sense. We should be eagerly hoping to meet our Master, our Lord, and delighting that He longs to take us up into his arms.
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