{"id":3111,"date":"2024-06-14T07:24:08","date_gmt":"2024-06-14T11:24:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/chocolateforyourbrain\/?p=3111"},"modified":"2024-06-14T07:24:08","modified_gmt":"2024-06-14T11:24:08","slug":"there-is-always-a-bigger-picture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/chocolateforyourbrain\/2024\/06\/there-is-always-a-bigger-picture\/","title":{"rendered":"There is Always a Bigger Picture"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>
Recently, I took a quiz from my local paper about where I want to go \u2013and the bottom line is, I want to be by a pool or body of water with little to stop me from doing, or from doing nothing. \u00a0 I grew up with the beach as an expectation and reality, not a possibility. \u00a0 Now, it feels like life is too busy and too full to stop for such a long time, much less to be that still.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
I know, this is what is missing, the stillness that comes from being surrounded by water, by sand, by wind, by a world of nature so strong and wonderful and yet untamed.\u00a0 It is my prayer place, and so much more than a happy place, it is a place I walk to find peace by walking until my legs say it is time to turn around. \u00a0 My spirit says, it is time for a serious walk.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
However, we still have three days of school left, a graduation and a party to plan, so the walking will have to wait.\u00a0 That left figuring out how to have that still time that writing, prayer, fishing and walking on the beach create.\u00a0 For my husband, it\u2019s gardening and hiking and listening to symphonies.\u00a0 I started thinking about my children and where they become contemplative.\u00a0 For one, it\u2019s art.\u00a0 For another, it\u2019s running.\u00a0 For a third, it\u2019s dancing, and for two of the youngest, walking and drawing.\u00a0 The one in Chicago loses herself in listening to music and cooking and growing herbs and plants.\u00a0 I thought of my third son, he plays music and listens to it, and falls into books. \u00a0 The contemplative is a necessary part of life, a part that gets lost in this busy world. \u00a0 We do not understand, as Martha did not understand, the better portion.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
My brain turned to these two sisters as I am preparing for a graduation party and am anxious about many things. What I should be focused on, is the goodness of this moment. Two daughters are graduating.\u00a0 My mother and aunt are coming. Cousins are coming.\u00a0 My brother and his family are coming.\u00a0 There are many reasons to rejoice, and here I am stressing about of all things, hamburgers.\u00a0 \u00a0 A friend pointed this out, \u201cYou\u00a0 have good things to think about.\u201d\u00a0 and she\u2019s right \u2013memo to tell her, \u201cthank you.\u201d Choosing the better portion is just that, an act of the will that the soul must domesticate itself to accept, to receive.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/p>\n
The grace of being still required I recognize I was being exactly not that in my life. \u00a0 I needed to stop spinning and be still.\u00a0 Stillness doesn\u2019t come naturally to me except in the situations I outlined above, and so yes, it requires from me, a lot of will. \u00a0 My spirit struggles to be willing and my body even moreso.<\/span><\/p>\n
As if to underscore the point, today\u2019s first reading talks about hearing God in the silence \u2013and that requires that one have a docile mind, a quiet spirit, a quieted body.\u00a0 \u00a0Since the feast of the Sacred Heart, I\u2019ve been trying to read the morning offering each day, and the Litany of Jesus and the Act of Consecration.\u00a0 There\u2019s been a lot of memes about anxiety being from the devil, and undue stress can certainly feel oppressive and exhausting \u2013but God permits us to weather such things, not because they are good, but because if we cooperate with the Holy Spirit, He can bring about greater good in us.
\n
\nYesterday was the last day of the school year for students, and one with whom I have had many frustrations, many struggles, came by at the end of the day to ask me for snacks.\u00a0 I gave him my last three granola bars.\u00a0 He put out his hand and shook mine.\u00a0 It was a thank you.\u00a0 \u00a0It was meaningful in part because of all the times I\u2019d called home or written an administrator.\u00a0 \u00a0God\u2019s understanding of our struggle is so much bigger than our own understanding.\u00a0 \u00a0It doesn\u2019t negate the struggle or the suffering, only it reminds me, there is always a bigger picture than just what I see.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d been feeling down about the year, because few students come on the last day, and I\u2019d been gone the day before for graduation, so it felt like the school year was unfinished for me.\u00a0 \u00a0Now it wasn\u2019t.\u00a0 \u00a0 Asking God \u201cwhat next\u201d means being willing to wrestle with and for the answer.\u00a0 \u00a0Writing seems to be something that has become an act of the will \u2013meaning it must be through work, rather than inspiration that the words will come and if I want it, it will require that quieting of the mind.\u00a0 \u00a0I\u2019m going to try.\u00a0 \u00a0 Why? Because again, the quiet it takes to write, fish, pray, or walk until your legs burn, helps me discover not merely what I think, but what God wants of me.<\/p>\n
Getting back to the point of this post, I understood in a flash, that at the end of all things, I will come to my Lord and probably ask for something to eat, and He will be happy if I reach out.\u00a0 He knows I\u2019ve been a pain every semester of my life, requiring saint interventions, guardian angel intercessions, Holy Spirit infusions, oceans of forgiveness and grace and more than a few free granola bars.\u00a0 \u00a0I know He knows, my heart says today and every day, \u201cThank you.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Recently, I took a quiz from my local paper about where I want to go \u2013and the bottom line is, I want to be by a pool or body of water with little to stop me from doing, or from doing nothing. \u00a0 I grew up with the beach as an expectation and reality, not […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4510,"featured_media":3099,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[975,215,227,440],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-devotion-of-the-sacred-heart","category-holy-spirit-taps","category-waiting","category-writing"],"yoast_head":"\nThere is Always a Bigger Picture<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Recently, I took a quiz from my local paper about where I want to go --and the bottom line is, I want to be by a pool or body of water with little to stop\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/chocolateforyourbrain\/2024\/06\/there-is-always-a-bigger-picture\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"There is Always a Bigger Picture\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Recently, I took a quiz from my local paper about where I want to go --and the bottom line is, I want to be by a pool or body of water with little to stop\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/chocolateforyourbrain\/2024\/06\/there-is-always-a-bigger-picture\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Chocolate For Your Brain!\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Sherrytex\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-06-14T11:24:08+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/1402\/2024\/06\/ship-716778_640.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"424\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Sherry Antonetti\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@sherryantonetti\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Sherry Antonetti\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/chocolateforyourbrain\/2024\/06\/there-is-always-a-bigger-picture\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/chocolateforyourbrain\/2024\/06\/there-is-always-a-bigger-picture\/\",\"name\":\"There is Always a Bigger Picture\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/chocolateforyourbrain\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2024-06-14T11:24:08+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-06-14T11:24:08+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/chocolateforyourbrain\/#\/schema\/person\/40bdffd4fd2b058195e0057ad167fadd\"},\"description\":\"Recently, I took a quiz from my local paper about where I want to go --and the bottom line is, I want to be by a pool or body of water with little to stop\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/chocolateforyourbrain\/2024\/06\/there-is-always-a-bigger-picture\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/chocolateforyourbrain\/2024\/06\/there-is-always-a-bigger-picture\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/chocolateforyourbrain\/2024\/06\/there-is-always-a-bigger-picture\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/chocolateforyourbrain\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"There is Always a Bigger Picture\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/chocolateforyourbrain\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/chocolateforyourbrain\/\",\"name\":\"Chocolate For Your Brain!\",\"description\":\"Sometimes serious, sometimes funny, always trying to be warmth and light, musings on the unique struggles of raising a large Catholic family in the modern age. 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