Monday, October 31, 2011

Work, Seeking God Alone


            Yesterday, when I was in the room of a good priest my eyes fell on these words: God alone!

            My look at that moment was full of weariness and pain, and my mind was thinking about so many other days like yesterday, full of anxiety, and above the whirl of so much anguish, and above the confused sound of so many sighs, I seemed to hear the amiable and good voice of my angel: God alone! disconsolate soul, God alone!

            Above a window there was a cyclamen plant, further on was a corridor with a few priests piously meditating, and further still a crucifix, a dear and venerable crucifix which reminded me a fine, unforgettable years, and with my eyes filled with tears I ended up at the feet of the Lord. And my soul seemed to be lifted up, and a peaceful, comforting voice seemed to come down from that pierced heart, and it invited me to come up and confide my sorrows to God and to pray...

            What a sweet silence, full of peace... and in the silence God alone!

            I went on repeating to myself God alone!

            And I seemed to feel a calm, beneficial atmosphere around my soul!...

            And then I saw behind me the reason for my present difficulties: I saw that instead of trying to please  God alone  in my work, for years I had been begging praise from men, and I was continually seeking anxiously for someone to see, appreciate and applaud me; and I came to this conclusion: I must start a new life right here: to work, seeking  God alone!

            To work beneath the gaze of God, of God alone!

            Oh! yes, a whole new rule of life is in these words, all that is needed for the Work of Divine Providence is here: the gaze of God!

            It is necessary to restart a new life, and it must be restarted from here: to work, seeking God alone!  To work beneath the gaze of God, of God alone!

            The gaze of God is like dew which strengthens, like a shining beam of light which fertilizes and expands: so, let us work without great noise and without respite; let us work in the sight of God, of God alone.

            The human gaze is a scorching ray which turn colors pale, even the most resistant ones: in our case, it would be like an icy breath of wind which folds, bends and ruins the still tender stalk of this poor little plant.

            Every action which is done to attract attention and to be seen, loses its freshness in the Lord´s eyes: it is like a flower that has passed through many hands and is hardly presentable.

            O poor Work of Divine Providence, be the desert flower which grows, opens and blooms because God has told it to do so, and which is not upset if a passing bird notices it, or if the gusting wind disperses its scarcely formed leaves.

            For our soul and for the whole of our life:  God alone!  God alone!

            Solitude without God will rest the spirit, but embitter the heart: it is a fragrant, flower-covered plateau, but has nothing except a pale, lifeless sun.

            Solitude with God, on the contrary, is a sweet, warm atmosphere which alone knows how to cure torments of the heart!

            God alone!  Oh! how useful and consoling it is to have only the will of God for a witness!

            God alone,  is sanctity at its highest level!

            God alone,  is the best founded security of one day entering Heaven.

            God alone, my sons,  God alone!