Our need for a daily reset

By Fr. Roy Cimagala

GIVEN the obvious fact that we are easily trapped in our worldly condition, practically unmindful of the ultimate spiritual and supernatural dimensions of our life, we should feel the need for a daily reset so as to be properly anchored and directed to the ultimate goal of our life.

Yes, we are meant for keep a spiritual and supernatural bearing in our life here on earth. This is not only for some people. It is for everyone. We just have to help one another to develop this spiritual and supernatural bearing, since this is what is proper to us.

As persons with intelligence and will, we cannot help but have a spiritual character in our life. With these natural endowments, we are meant to enter into the spiritual world of ideas and rationality, of cognition and love that goes beyond the material and sensible aspects of our life.

And as children of God, created in God’s image and likeness, we are meant to enter into an intimate relation with him, which cannot be other than supernatural, since God is beyond our nature.

This is always possible since God gives us his grace, and we, on our part, with our spiritual endowment of intelligence and will, are enabled to be elevated to the supernatural order of God when we, with the proper disposition of humility, faith and charity, correspond to God’s grace. That’s when we enter into the supernatural world of God.

This basic truth of our life should always be on our mind, and should animate all our thoughts, words and deeds. We need to pause from time to time to allow this truth to take hold of our mind and heart, and of our life, in general, using the appropriate means.

We really have to learn how to deal with our spiritual and supernatural world because that is where the real action is and where our ultimate goal is. That’s where we are truly defined, where our radical dignity is established. That’s where we can have our encounter with God.

For us, the material and natural world is nothing if not related to the spiritual and the supernatural world. Our material and natural world can only have meaning and purpose if related to the spiritual and the supernatural, that is, if related ultimately to God.

In this regard, we should have some working plan and strategy, consisting of some practices of piety, like prayer, presence of God, recourse to the sacraments, etc., so that we can keep that spiritual and supernatural bearing even as we immerse ourselves in the things of this world, as we should.

To be sure, there is some kind of awkwardness involved at the beginning of this effort. In this, we should not be surprised, since what is involved requires us to go beyond, but not against, our natural self. We have to train our natural powers to align themselves or to correspond properly to the spiritual and supernatural means that are needed.

Again, a lot of humility is needed here so that the powers of the divine gifts of faith, hope and charity can operate and lead us to where God himself wants us to go. Let’s remember that as creatures of God, let alone, adopted children of his, meant to share his life and nature, we are supposed to follow the guidance of God through his providence.

This daily reset can be done right at the beginning of the day, as we wake up, when we remind ourselves of who we really are, what our ultimate goal in life is, what means we can use, and always reminding ourselves that God is constantly guiding us.

Email: roycimagala@gmail.com