Key to freedom: Live in the now and say yes with your own free will!

Accept what is.

I have to accept things that I cannot change. Accept what is. This is the specifically human approach to the situations in which one is placed. Starting with bad weather. “I’ll make the best of it” should be our basic attitude. Everything is a matter of perspective.

It’s never too late until the end!

My past is in the hands of divine mercy, which can make good out of everything. My future is in the hands of Divine Providence, which does not forget me. Have I perhaps missed opportunities in life? I can start over every day. #nevertoolate

The action word love is only conjugated in the present. Many great Catholic authors in history spoke of stages – seven mansions of Theresa of Avila, twelve stages of humility of St. Benedict, etc. In our lives we are always evolving. But today I can only go one step further. This is my duty for today. “To love you, O Jesus, I only have today,” says Therese of Lisieux.

Live in the now – God will take care of tomorrow

I can only suffer today, only right now. You can’t suffer all your life. But only moment by moment. Life without suffering is called heaven. This is what we are moving towards, especially if we manage to grow by accepting the situation we are in, even if it means suffering.

In Etty Hillesum’s diary (reading recommendation) we read: “The biggest obstacle is always the Imagination, not reality. You accept reality. By accepting those sufferings, your resistance also grows.” But the ideas and worry that go along with suffering add infinite problems to the current suffering that are not actually necessary. It is imagined suffering or living in the anxiety of the unknown… while we already have enough to bear living in the reality of the present suffering. Negative ideas are poison for us that take away our joy in life.

In Mt 6:31-34 we read: Therefore you should not worry, saying, What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we dress with? This is what the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things. Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be yours. Therefore, do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will take care of its own. It is enough that every day has its own plague.

Say no to negative thoughts

Sometimes we are plagued by negative thoughts. We exercise our freedom by not giving in to them. Not to constantly deal with the negative. We say no. In the Easter liturgy we renounce evil. We speak out against the spirit of impurity, inaction, despair, discouragement, etc.

Prayer and silence as a source of the strength we need every day

In the Old Testament, God gives manna to the Israelites. But he never gives it to them in order to stockpile – it is always only for their daily needs. This is also how it looks in our spiritual life. Without daily prayer we cannot progress. Christianity stands and falls with prayer. God gives us the strength to handle whatever is asked of us. If we stop praying, we will perish. We need times of silence to organize ourselves – and to meet God.

Live – and don’t wait to live!

In the creation account we read that God “saw that it was good.” God sees that it is good. God gives me the opportunity every moment to discover my current situation as good – because he is present in it. There is a danger of spending your entire life waiting to live rather than actually living. “Once this and that is solved, then I can live,” many people think. But that’s how life passes us by. God says that he is a God of the living, not a God of the dead. No matter what difficulties, they are no reason to wait to live! It’s like Waiting for Godot. Godot never comes. We must not fall into this trap!

A calm heart to be able to love

A restless heart cannot respond to others, and cannot actually love. We must remember that behind everything there are people. I work through emails… but do I also meet the person behind them? Therese of Lisieux says: “I can save souls if I just pick up a pin with love.” Do you have two minutes for the person who is looking for you? Can you give your neighbor a moment? You meet God in every person. Let yourself be disturbed.

Time to meet

There is a time of the head and the real time, the time of the heart. The head usually causes us stress. I divide my time rationally. But the essential time is the time of the heart. That time when my heart is open and my attention is focused on bigger things. This time is a connection with eternity. We accept this time, we receive it. We practice it: with great freedom, detaching ourselves from personal ideas. You have to be willing to do the opposite of what you set out to do. We must live in surrender – without restlessness, without fear. Available to the will of God, to events, to people. Then we have the wonderful experience that nothing is left to chance. That divine providence guides our lives in a rhythm that transcends our thinking but that makes us happy. Everything is arranged in an infinite wisdom. (cf. J. Philippe, Inner Freedom, p. 113)

Quotes and thoughts by Father Jacques Philippe (Community of the Beatitudes) from his book “Inner Freedom” presented by P. Johannes Elias (Prior of the Johannesgemeinschaft in Marchegg, Lower Austria), Transcript by Gudrun Kugler