{"id":1497,"date":"2011-02-03T00:53:59","date_gmt":"2011-02-03T05:53:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/community\/deaconsbench\/?p=1497"},"modified":"2016-09-30T17:47:48","modified_gmt":"2016-09-30T21:47:48","slug":"what-is-essential","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/deaconsbench\/2011\/02\/what-is-essential\/","title":{"rendered":"What is essential?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

A number of years ago, my father-in-law gave me a copy of what he said had become one of his favorite books: \u201cThe Gift of Peace,\u201d<\/a><\/strong> by Cardinal Joseph Bernadin.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>In it, the Cardinal Archbishop of Chicago, dying from rapidly advancing pancreatic cancer, writes with tender mercy about his approaching death.\u00a0 He also writes about the scandal that enveloped the last years of his life: the man who accused him of sexual abuse, later recanted, dropped the charges, and made peace with the cardinal \u2014 and returned to the sacraments \u2014 just weeks before his own death from AIDS.<\/p>\n

I pulled the book off the shelf last night and leafed through it for the first time in many years and my eyes fell on this passage below.\u00a0 So often, God gives us the advice we need, and the inspiration we seek, if only we ask.\u00a0 This seemed to speak to me:<\/p>\n

To close the gap between what I am and what God wants of me, I must empty myself and let Jesus come in and take over.\u00a0 I have prayed to understand his agenda for me.\u00a0 Some things stand out.\u00a0 He wants me to focus on the essentials of his message and way of life rather than on the accidentals that needlessly occupy so much of our time and efforts.\u00a0 One can easily distinguish essentials from peripherals in the spiritual life.\u00a0 Essentials ask us to give true witness and to love others more.\u00a0 Nonessentials close us in on ourselves.<\/p>\n

It is unsettling to pray to be emptied of self; it seems a challenge almost beyond our reach as humans.\u00a0 But if we try, I have learned, God does most of the work.\u00a0 I must simply let myself go in love and trust of the Lord.<\/p>\n

When the hand of God\u2019s purpose enters my life, however, it is usually not from the front, as I have always expected, but from the side, in murmurs and whispers that not only surprise but soon empty me beyond anything I could imagine.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Wise words from a man who, on more than one occasion, came to understand why it necessary to let go and let God \u2026<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A number of years ago, my father-in-law gave me a copy of what he said had become one of his favorite books: \u201cThe Gift of Peace,\u201d by Cardinal Joseph Bernadin. 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