Friday, April 6, 2018

Who Wants to be Radically Obfuscated With Me?

When I was in college, I helped start a women's household and led it. A women's household consisted of a group of women who lived on the same wing of a dorm. They had a certain charism (ours was on the Eucharist) and would get together for prayer and different activities. 

Okay, I'm about to be vulnerable with you in what I am about to share. My household sisters gave me a nickname. That nickname was ZORC. It stood for Zealous, Obfuscated, Radical, Catholic. Do you know what the word obfuscated means? I didn't know what the word meant and had to look it up in the dictionary (we didn't have google back then). The word means perpetually confused! 

Now wait, before you think my household sisters were being mean, they actually meant it as a compliment and out of love. You see, in the natural I usually didn't have a clue as to what was going on around me. I wasn't up on the latest gossip, trends or even the latest news. However, whenever we would get together, somehow I would know exactly what needed to be said. You see, I did have a strong relationship with the Lord, would seek his will and he would give me wisdom and insight. I would then end up sharing exactly what the other women needed to hear!

I want to get back to that kind of radical dependence on God! He was always the first thing I thought about in the morning and the last thing I thought about at night! He was my main source of wisdom and knowledge!

In recent years, with the invention of the smart phone, I have succumbed to checking my phone first thing in the morning before I spend time in prayer. I have gotten caught up in the noise of the world which causes distractions when I do go to pray. I suspect I'm not the only one. We want to know the latest gossip and latest news right away. Is this however choosing to eat from the "tree of knowledge of good and evil" instead of the "tree of life" as described in Genesis? 

What would happen if we put down our phones and sought God along with his wisdom and knowledge first? Is this too radical of an idea? 

If you are willing to be a radical Catholic like me, let us return to our first love! It is the Easter season! There is abundant grace available for us to draw closer to Christ, even more so than during Lent! Let us take advantage of this grace, seek the face of Jesus and become his worldly obfuscated followers, knowing by His wisdom and grace exactly what to say in any given situation! 

If you are trying to reach me and are not able to leave a message!