Process of Living

Put on your thinking cap for a  moment. Quickly, think of any number between one and ten. Double it. Add six. Divide by two. subtract your original number, the remainder is three. 

How could the final number always result from any starting number? The final number, three, was of course, predetermined. But to get that answer, the important thing was not the original starting number, but the process. In life, too, the important thing is the "process" of living. the answer to any "problem" of life is usually not difficultl; the trick is to follow the process that will guide us to the answer.

Much of this process of living is a matter of "processing" problems - knowing how to cope with trials, hardships and difficulties. In heaven there are no trials or stress, so there we won't have to "cope"; we can "rest in peace." But here on earth in coping with life's adversities, tribulations and hardships, we tend to think of them as periods of darkness. the darkest parts of these trials we regard as sort of "midnights" - events often preceded by some threatening darkness, and often also followed by periods of depressing darkness. Thus, the foreboding fear of losing a job becomes the midnight of being fired, followed by the dark depression of extended unemployment. The fear of cancer precedes the midnight of the shocking lab report, followed by the darkness of suffering or painful treatment. Most trials are climaxed with a seemingly intense darkness.

As part of God's mercy, he keeps most of the future veiled from our eyes, yet we can't keep from wondering what that future holds for us - the inevitable "midnights," and how we will cope with those darkest moments. Jesus reminds us that "Each day has troubles of its own" (Matt. 6:34). So, with this predetermined, like the final number on our math trick, we can realistically expect quite a number of "midnights" within any given time-frame. The trick is to see light with your heart while your eyes see only darkness. As one quipster put it, "Real faith is the ability to let your ight shine after your fuse is blown." 

This excerpt is from the book Coping with Life's Darkest Moments, by John H. Hampsch,C.M.F., originally published by Queenship Publishing Company. It and other of Fr. Hampsch's books and audio/visual materials can be purchased from Claretian Teaching Ministry, 20610 Manhattan Pl, #120, Torrance, CA 90501-1863. Phone 1-310-782-6408.