WHY The Stepping Stones?
This site hopefully will be informative for, and helpful to you. Your comments on articles are welcomed. You are encouraged to suggest topics that you would like to see covered in future posts. This site will contain articles about life, it’s difficulties, it’s traps, and our response to these. The pitfalls that we face are the stumbling blocks that prevent us from reaching the well balanced, joyful life that we all crave. We will investigate why the sadness, and the joys that we feel. In short, there will be articles about how our lives challenge us to get insights into our lives, into our world. All of this will be focused on Christ and Christian beliefs. This is not to say that only Christians should come and visit here.
All of us, regardless of our religious beliefs, have the driving goal to lead our lives in a manner that we are proud of, and that our God expects. All of us struggle to get our lives in order. We struggle to rid ourselves of some problem, some worry, some activity that is not only robbing us of our future, but destroying our present. Here, our philosophy of life, as it were, is put to the test. Here we can measure ourselves, our actions, yes even our goodness to see if what we are, what we have become, is really what we should be. We need only be honest with ourselves.
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My comment concerns Sr. Faustina’s three attributes. It seems the first two are somewhat similar: being open and not hiding anything, and also being humble and not wearing a mask. I want to say, “Why bother?”
However, it seems to me that another problem might be that we (or I) don’t really look at myself to learn who I am at all times. Usually, when my emotions are charged negatively, that would be a good time to sit quietly and ask myself, “Who am I? What did i just do?” Example: If I find myself feeling down, ask myself WHY? No, really, WHY? What is at the bottom of my feeling sad. Example: If I find myself angry or losing it, ask WHY? Is it because i am not in control? Is it because I still cannot endure difficult moments with calm and patience? If I can get to the bottom of me, I think I can see the flaws that need to be confessed honestly and without hiding anything if I want to make progress in the spiritual life. These are just my thoughts. So, maybe in my remaining years, I can figure out who I am and get on track. It’s like pealing an onion. Take off each layer; of course, there will be tears. But each layer helps us see not how bad we are but another hidden way we can take steps to a happier, holier life. Thanks.
I don’t understand why you feel there is a similarity between being open and being humble. The first, we lay our soul before Christ as a slate to be worked on, the latter, we approach Christ with no pretenses, grateful and aware of our indebtedness. But these are just nuances, anyway. Goodness has many faces, but is still goodness.
Two thoughts strike me in the body of your comment. First: The repetitive WHY, and Who am I. These are questions each of us ask ourselves, again and again. We strive to know and understand ourselves, and the more we try, the more confused we seem to become. You might want to take a look at these three posts. They won’t provide an answer, but possibly a direction for you. a) Running on Empty, b) Why do We Dislike Some People and c) Who Am I
Second: St. Faustina is speaking about the importance of spiritual confessors. Maybe we need a spiritual confessor, one to whom we can speak freely from our heart of hearts, our souls, about the confusion that we feel.
Dear Joe,
I kept your kind letter of some time ago and finally logged on to this site. Hopefully I am at the right place. It certainly looks Catholic, professional, and helpful to people. I am sure it will also help me. God love you. Fr. Len
Thank you. Please keep me in your prayers. I am new at this and not sure if this is what or where God wants me to work. Joe.