Luke 12:25: Our Span of Life
Thursday, May 22, 2025
Let go of control AND let God’s life flow. (Rohr 134)
A number of times, we have reflected at noon that when we make certain to devote a portion of each day to time with God, we find that we have more of this precious gift of seconds, minutes, and even hours. Now that I have aged, I smile each time I hear my ego-self say, “I don’t have time to reflect and write today, I have too much to do”. Now that I am wiser, I know from experience that on the days I spend time with scripture, more time appears for me. This is unfailing. Just when I think I can better spend my summer morning in attending Morning Prayer or Mass, I remember the days that magically lengthened when I spent time dedicated to listening for and to God alone. This happens without exception.
Teresa of Avila reminds us that God visits us even among the pots and pans and so we can easily dedicate each moment of work and play as an opportunity to experience God through our work and interactions. Once we master the art of giving and doing all for and in God, we will find ourselves praying non-stop, giving our worries over to God, thanking Christ for accompanying us, asking the Spirit to breath patience, prudence and endurance into our minds and hearts.
This paradox may be difficult to believe and so Richard Rohr, OFM reminds us that . . .
“Only when you give up your preoccupation with control will you be able to move with the Divine Flow. Without all the inner voices of resistance and control, it is amazing how much you can get done and not get tired . . . Giving up control is a school of union, compassion, and understanding. It is also a school for the final letting go that we call death. If you practice giving up control early in life, you will be much happier and much closer to the truth, to the moment, and to God – none of which can be experienced if you are doing all the engineering and steering”. (Rohr 135)
We may wish we had learned this lesson earlier in life; but no matter the age of our understanding, the lesson never leaves us once learned. Our scholarship is well worth the effort.
For all your worrying, you cannot add a single moment to your span of life. (NAB)
This message is so difficult.
Can any of you live a bit longer by worrying? (GNT)
This message is so direct.
Can any of you by worrying add an hour to his life? (CJB)
This message is so simple.
And which of you, by taking thought, can add to his stature one cubit? (DRA)
This message is so wonderful.
Has anyone by fussing before the mirror ever gotten taller by so much as an inch? If fussing can’t even do that, why fuss at all? (MSG)
This message is so full of promise.
Today we practice the art of letting go so that God might flow within us. When we fully realize that we cannot make events happen that must happen, or prevent circumstance that must occur, we begin to experience the common wonderful gift of living in God’s time rather than our own. And we begin to recognize and appreciate our place in God’s creation.
God’s actions are not measured by time. To better understand this concept opened for us by Teresa of Avila, read God is moving among the pots and pans by Lorraine E. Espenhain in Seton Magazine at: http://www.setonmagazine.com/homeschool/general-homeschooling/god-is-moving-among-the-pots-and-pans
Enter the words God time into the blog search bar and reflect on The Common Wonderful gift of time.
Richard Rohr, OFM. A Spring Within Us: A Book of Daily Meditations. Albuquerque, NM: CAC Publishing, 2016.
When we compare different translations of these verses, we find tools to help us in our letting go . . . so that we might enter into God’s Common Wonderful.
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