Contemplating Derailment

So, I became a weary traveller on the information superhighway tonight. This is the perfect addictive medium for people like myself. I know it's a struggle because I like to keep connecting dots in the hopes of this elusive thing called clarity. The moniker "Communication Junkie" is not a joke. Heh.

In any case, I made my way to the story of a band of madrigal singers turned dark goth or whatever the heck it's called these days. I wondered why I hadn't heard of them before. The answer became obvious when I read of their journey. Although I was many things in my younger days, I am so blessed to say I never lingered in the truly soulless realms. Sure, I visited one or two, but never set down roots in seriously polluted soil. This particular band's story is one of touching a toe to quicksand, and falling in, with only the head above the quagmire.

Providentially, an excerpt from a book called Lukewarmness-The Devil in Disguise by Francis Carvajal appeared in our parish bulletin this very day. Here's the quote:

[from page 19, 20] “Lukewarmness leads to discouragement and sadness. The Soul is drained of its inner resources. The former desire for the things of God is diminished. Whenever possible, the Soul avoids dealing with God. IT TRIES TO SPEND AS LITTLE TIME AS POSSIBLE WITH GOD..."

‘We do the very same thing. When we see that people are NOT listening to us, and do NOT give us their attention no matter how much we ask them for it, then we decide to shut our mouths. If we were to continue speaking, we would only make them more inattentive. Yet when we happen to find someone who is willing to listen, we are immediately drawn to him so that we might share all that we have..."

"The life of the Soul demands that we keep ourselves open to new Graces. If we struggle to correspond, the Holy Spirit will go to great lengths to assist us. But when our struggle lags, then we become incapable of receiving the Graces which the Lord wants to send us. This is a classical principle of the interior life: 'He who does not advance, slides back.'"

Now, this is interesting to me on many levels.

Primarily, I can say, if no other truth was revealed to me during my illness, it was this:

God is present and at work in all places, at all times. Grace is in constant flow, even through the most startling conduits.

In the end, if one ignores or rejects the Holy Trinity's action in the world, one risks becoming derailed. Being derailed is not an apocalypse in the popular sense, which is a dooms-day scenario where most people fear being held accountable for their flawed humanity.

Derailment does, however, have the potential of being an Ἀποκάλυψις in the classical sense: lifting of the veil.

Long story short, the more I read about the "world," the more I plunge into this sadness that so many talented folks find themselves swathed in veils of dis-grace, literally, lack of grace.

In the words of many a mother, "Saints Preserve Us!" May our study of ordinary humans achieving a measurable level of holiness assist our perseverance in our struggle against getting too far off track. Perhaps even more importantly, may we always be mindful of the reality of the Trinity at work in all places, with grace flowing at all times.