WHAT SHALL I DO NEXT?
Friday of the Thirty-first Week in Ordinary Time
My dear encountered couples:
The manager was about to lose his job, an experience many people today go through. But instead of spending a lot of time feeling sorry for himself and falling into a state of depression, instead of panicking or getting drunk, he immediately began to plan for the future. “What shall I do next?” he asked himself.
The passage of time and circumstances sooner or later force us all to move on. Changes in our lives are inevitable. Nothing is permanent. Though we would like peace and security, people and things and a way of life we can always depend on, and we might get it for awhile, it just is not going to last forever. Places of employment, neighborhoods, families, people change. Maybe we would like to grab hold of it all at a certain point and say, “This is the way I like it. Now stay that way.” But deep down we know we are not going to get our wish.
Over the years, or in an instant, all that we are familiar with and accustomed to moves on, and we will have to move on too or be left in a rocking chair with memories that will never be realities again. Earth is not our home. We are here to learn, grow, and become the people we need to be for an eternity with God in heaven.
Never let stagnation, lethargy, or nostalgia take over your heart and soul. “What shall I do next?” The person who often asks God that question in prayer, and acts upon the answers he receives, is very wise.
