Guest Post: Making Room to be Still

Pilgrims

[Editor's Note: As part of the WordCount Blogathon, participants were encouraged to exchange guest posts with other bloggers.]

Walk - Build - Proclaim

Hello Joe Catholic Cyber Community. My name is Tracy and I am the author of Walk.Build.Proclaim. I was inspired by Pope Francis’ words to the Cardinals on March 14th, 2013, when he told them that their job was to Walk, Build and Proclaim. My blog looks at different ways that we as Christians are called to do this as well.

Making Room
I would like to start by saying how grateful I am that I was asked me to be a guest blogger on Joe Catholic. When I was told that this blog was about the universal call to holiness, my mind was racing with a million different ideas. What I finally settled on was writing about how we make room in our lives for God so we can hear and respond to the universal call of holiness. This reflection is based Psalm 4:1and my own experience drawing meaning from it.

Cleaning Tirade
The week of May 6th I was on a cleaning tirade in our house. It all started with the desire to take on one project that has eluded me for years. The major component to that project was, of course, at the bottom of the potential avalanche pile in a closet. That one project led to three days of sorting, washing, donating, walking down memory lane and throwing things out. I was on such a roll that I was able to sort, organize, donate and throw things out from a closet, three drawers, a storage area and three different kitchen cabinets.

Answer Me
It felt really good to do all of this, especially because this wasn't a project that I had started the week wanting to do. The project took on a life of its own. It wasn't until that Saturday, May 11th, that I figured out what had gotten into me. The answer was present in Psalm 4:1: "Answer me when I call, O God of my right! You gave me room when I was in distress."

An Opportunity to Make Room
Little did I know that I was being given the opportunity to make room for God in my life. You might think how can someone who spent seventeen years of their life /career working for a church not have enough room for God in their life? My answer is that physical-material things in your life can take up more space in your life than you are aware of. There is so much unseen maintenance that goes with having material things, it can almost be suffocating; not having that room can become a way of life.

Call to Holiness
Next time you're thinking about cleaning the basement, garage or closet, instead of that project being a daunting task on your "to-do" list, re-Read Psalm 4:1. Then, look at the project as a way of making a little bit more room in your life for God, as well as making some room to contemplate how you are going to answer the call to universal holiness.

Feel free to read more of Tracy's posts on Walk.Build.Proclaim. This week she has begun a series on women who are Red-Shoe Worthy. You may also join her on Facebook where they will begin sharing Francis’isms – quotations and reflections from Pope Francis’ daily homilies that inspire us to answer the call to universal holiness.