Moving

Sometimes when I make plans to go out with my camera on a field trip, I experience a resistance as the time to go approaches. I tell myself it’s too cold out, or I’m tired, or I just don’t feel like going. I don’t know why this happens. Perhaps it’s leaving the comfort of the house and of the chair I’m sitting in, the attraction of watching sports on TV, or any one of a number of distractions that can pop up during the day. Inertia is easier than action.

If I ignore those negative voices and in fact do go out with my camera, I usually end up enjoying the experience and making some good images along the way.

Moving into a new year is a natural time for us to look back at how we have lived our life, how we are living it, and how we would like to live it. How has God been a part of my life, and how is God calling me to move forward?

Resistance is also a part of the spiritual life. St. Ignatius Loyola in his Spiritual Exercises speaks of the battle that goes on within us between the good spirit and the evil spirit. Sometimes we might experience a resistance when we feel moved to do the right thing, or to go to church, or to take time to pray. The evil spirit is always pulling us away from the right thing. Discernment, courage, trust, and resolve are needed to ignore the negative and commit to the right and good.

We pray that we might enter into this new year with a renewed commitment to discerning God’s plan for us and for our world, strengthened by the Spirit to step out of our comfort zone and say yes to all that God calls us to.

“All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation by our God.” (Ps 98:3)