Have you ever noticed how that when faced with a personal struggle that it dominates every waking moment and often those moments when you should be sleeping as well? This is how it’s been for me the last number of days. For a number of reasons I have gotten into the middle of a disagreement. It hasn’t been pleasant. It has monopolized my thinking when I should have been thinking about other things. It has been my focus when I should have been focused on other things. During this whole affair I find myself waking up in the middle of the night and my mind has gotten geared up when it should have been geared down. And now, as you can see it is even impacting the words I write. I do so mainly because I suspect that we all at times get ourselves into fights. I also do so because I suspect that for all of us maintaining a spiritual attitude in the midst of the fights we get into is not an easy task.
Recently a Ms. Noonan who is a contributing editor to The Wall Street Journal wrote an article entitled, “Fighting is Easier Then Praying” where she described a conversation between Mother Teresa and the Catholic writer Henri Nouwen, who was a priest. He went to her and poured out his problems .... he wasn't appreciated, he was misunderstood, higher ups weren't helping him in his good work. She listened and then responded, “You wouldn't be having these problems if you prayed more.” And that's all she said. At first Nouwen felt resentful and defensive. He had expected encouragement, understanding, empathy or at least sympathy. Instead he got a blunt statement that pierced his heart and he knew, in a moment, that it was true. He really wouldn't be having these problems if he prayed more. So he went home and prayed, and the problems became manageable.
Why is it that we find ourselves embroiled in the midst of fights, whether they be all out wars between two countries or disagreements between two people about what is right? In my mind it’s because there is little doubt that it is easier to fight than to pray. In fact it's a whole lot easier to fight than to pray. Now it’s easy to pray for wrath & destruction on the offender but to genuinely pray for eyes to see what Father wants to accomplish in our circumstances isn’t easy. And it’s very difficult to have the patience needed to let those things unfold. As a result it's one of the main reasons why we do more fighting than we do praying. Overall we tend to do more of the former than the latter because one takes faith, the other is all about us maintaining control and winning.
The interesting thing is that fighting is hard. In fact it’s very hard. It saps our strength. It wearies our minds. It impacts our dealing with other things. However we still fight more than we pray. Why? It’s because living loved often gets sabotaged by our pride and self interests.
Karol Wojtyla is likely a name that many are not familiar with. To most of us this man is better known as Pope John Paul II. Long before he became the pope, during World War II Mr. Wojtyla was in his late teens when the war started. After the Nazis invaded Poland he worked manual labor, on the freezing overnight shift at a factory, outdoors, breaking and carrying rocks. He was ill fed, grew thin, and suffered tremendously. He had only one pair of shoes, and they were wooden. What energy he had after work he gave to art, to help keep Polish drama alive, for he felt that art would help his nation live. He was unusually generous with others, shared what he had, and was known for his kindness. He helped friends in the Resistance, but he did not join them. Why? Because, as he told a friend, the only resistance that would work was asking God's help. He is quoted as saying, “The only thing that will be effective is prayer.” And so he quietly and constantly prayed, for the liberation of Poland and the end of Nazism and the safety of his jailed and abused Jewish and Christian friends.
When it comes to the fights we get into I have a feeling that the hardest thing is what we all had better be doing more. It's not only the best answer to ending fights but the only one.
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