Tuesday, April 26, 2011

I Can’t Get No Satisfaction…

“The nether world and the abyss are never satisfied; so too the eyes of men.” Proverbs 27: 20

One day it rains and people complain and wish it were sunny. Another day it is sunny, but then it is too hot. Or it is too windy. Still another day it snows and we wish it was spring, then spring and we wish it were summer, summer and we wish it were fall, etc., etc., etc.

We try to eat at home and the food takes too long to make and there are too many dishes to clean-up. We go out to eat and they don’t cook our food the right way. We go to a fast food restaurant and the food takes too long to get to us.

We go to watch our favorite team play and they play bad and lose. Or maybe they win but the tickets and concessions cost too much. Or there was no good place to park. Or the lines going into the stadium were too long and slow. We go to the movies and the people around us are talking too loud, or blinding us with the cell phones as they text the whole time. Or we rent a video but it was too long, or too violent…or not long enough or not violent enough. Or the acting just sucked. What a waste of five bucks!

We go to Mass and the homily is too long or boring…or intellectual. The music is too traditional, or too contemporary. The pews are too hard, or too narrow. The incense smells weird, the wine tastes weird; the lector has a lisp. And what’s with the nature powerpoint slides on the wall behind the altar? Besides, the people here are too holy, or too sinful, or they can’t sing, or they won’t sing. Or they flip you off in the parking lot on the way out right after consuming Jesus in the Eucharist. And what about that family with the loud kids who eat pop tarts the whole time? Or the older people who yell every time they talk? How come there aren’t any younger people…or how come there are so many teens?

Any of this sound familiar? It seems like you and I are never satisfied, are we? There is always something to complain about. We can always find fault with others. We can always be wishing for something better. Something perfect. But you know what? Good luck with that. Because this world is fallen and the people in it aren’t perfect. And one of Satan’s greatest tactics is to keep us dissatisfied with everything and everyone, especially when it comes to God, the Bible or the Church. If the devil can’t stop us from praying or believing or attending Mass, then the next best thing he can do is to keep us always finding fault and seeing all the imperfections and distractions around us. As long as we keep doing this and thinking this way, we will never really pray or worship. We will never really grow in humility and we will never really become less selfish.

Let’s try to find at least one thing each day that we can be satisfied with. Whether it is our computer, our cell phone, our home, our parents, our kids, our siblings, our friends…something, anything. If we can learn to be satisfied with what God has given us and live each day with that attitude, the world will be a better place, not only for us but for everyone around us.

Dear Jesus, I want to stop complaining and seeing all the things I don’t have or all the imperfections in other people. I want to be satisfied with all that you have given me and with all that I have, especially all the treasures of the Church. Please give me the grace to do this each day. Amen.

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