Course Correction

Every once and a while, God sends us something that is meant to redirect us towards Himself. Sometimes, this comes in the form of great changes such as a new baby, a job loss, or a serious illness. Other times, though, God sends us small things to correct our course. He sees when we are beginning to veer off, and before we can get too far He brings us back to Himself. It is up to us, though, to respond to this direction.

Yesterday was one of those "off" days for me. Some would say I woke up on the wrong side of the bed. For some reason, all day I was overly concerned with myself. I was stressed about work, stressed about finances, and just generally stressed about getting everything done that needed to get done. As a result, I was impatient with those around me, with my co-workers, with Liz. I was convinced that I was God's greatest contribution to society, and I couldn't understand why people wouldn't just let me do what I needed to do. (Well, that might be an exaggeration of what I was thinking, but you get the drift). In short, I was a grump.

But then, last night, Liz and I sat down to watch the movie "Of Gods and Men". It had been highly recommended to us from a number of people, and after watching it, I can also highly recommend it to all those who haven't seen it. It is the story of seven French Trappist monks in Algeria facing persecution from Muslim fundamentalists and is based on actual events that occurred in 1995-96. As time goes on for these monks, it becomes clearer and clearer to them that if they stay where they are the radical Muslims will kill them. The movie shows the process each monk goes through in making his decision and frames the story within the daily rhythm of monastic life. It is a beautiful portrayal of the decision to offer oneself up to Christ, a decision that is ultimately a response to His love for us.

Watching the movie, God gave me a gentle course correction. The movie presented me with a number of beautiful lessons in silence, humility, love, devotion, and ultimately, self-sacrifice. I knew that throughout the day, I had been so focused on WHAT I had to do, and not WHOM I had to do it for. My soul was "loud;" it had strayed from the desert of God into the city of Babel . The movie was a reminder of the silence and humility that form such an integral part of the Christian life. These two gifts from God are always available to us, but we must accept them. For the larger part of the day, I had not been accepting them.

This tiny course correction was just another way in which God shows His love. The greatest challenge of this correction is to absorb it and make it my own. It's so easy to slip back, to return to the way I was acting before. But the beautiful thing about these course corrections is that they teach us to always return to God. Why would I need one of these corrections if I were not weak? And if God gives me a correction, shouldn't I trust Him all the more afterwards? One of the most beautiful lines in the movie came very early on. It was in a hymn the monks were singing, and unfortunately I may butcher it here. However, it summed up what God corrected in me: "Recognizing weakness is not a virtue, for weakness is a fact. The virtue comes from the response of Faith, Hope, and Love."