Daily Thought For December 7, 2017

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A Child's Will

     It took having kids for me to start distilling some of Jesus' parables. The first grader, eager to please, jumps when offered a task-that is, until she hears the actual chore. If it doesn't fit her criteria of glamour or overall extraordinariness, you can see the wheels turning as she starts backing out. The four-year-old is more honest; he'd rather just play. The toddler throws things. 
     Their childish flightiness is familiar to me, even as I seek to do the will of my Father in heaven. Often I'm my daughter, raring to fight for a worthy cause du jour, at the risk of missing the daily cases God places before me in which it is difficult, boring, and tiresome to love. To suffer. To obey. I empathize with my son's desire to remain in comfort, and even the youngest's most willful rebelliousness. 
     Jesus warns us, Not everyone who says to me, "Lord, Lord," will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father. When my house is beset by storms, whose will have I centered it on? Like my children, I fail at obedience, but Advent is the time for reshoring that foundation. Children also have the incredible capacity to abandon themselves to a task out of sheer love and joy. That's the obedience I long to imitate. 
Reflection based on Matthew 7:21,24-27 
ELIZABETH HANSEN (Magnificat Advent Companion)

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