Continuing the Spiritual Journey

Blessed but distracted

By: Jane Rutter

The text alert on my phone is dinging, I hear the TV in the family room and a Jeep without a muffler is roaring down the road. Shutting off the noise around me and zeroing into God’s presence is not an easy task.

We’re well into this joyful Easter Season, only days remaining until Pentecost. Examining my conscience, I ask myself what changes I’ve made in the last several weeks. How have I become closer in my relationship with God? Do I have a heart vs. head understanding of the Holy Spirit within me, guiding me on this path toward eternal life? Or am I still meandering about with one foot moving toward heaven and one distracted by earthly goings on?

Surely there’s nothing unique about the way I’m feeling. One minute I’m immersed in the rosary and the next thinking about my kids and grandkids, the grocery list and tomorrow’s workload. Few of us can separate ourselves from the 24-hour worldly cycle. Rather, from dawn to dusk, we are enmeshed in its patterns of home, work, school, chores, recreation, and sleep. Distracted, we are sorely in need of Ignatius’ Spiritual Exercises.

See more in this weeks Boone County Journal