At times when we are facing challenges, some of us look forward to the possibility of prosperity, but when things are too tranquil, do we not yearn for something new? Human hearts never seem to be completely satisfied. Perhaps Saint Augustine had it right when he wrote: My heart is restless O God until it rests in you (Augustine, Confessions).
In the time of Jesus, there was much upheaval in the lives of the Jewish people. Many of them looked to him as a sign of hope for the re-establishment of calm, yet he himself told them: I have come to set the earth on fire, and how I wish it were already blazing! (Lk 12:49). Whereas his hearers were seeking rest, Jesus was challenging them to greater enthusiasm about their faith.
How often do I find myself tossed by the many demands that life seems to place in front of me? Do I long for what I perceive to be more peaceful times? Perhaps we should learn to look at the world like Jesus does: where there seems to be overwhelming evidence of restlessness, ask whether that restlessness is the result of aimlessness. If on the other hand we are afire with enthusiasm enflamed by faith, we will have all the energy we need to rise up from our fatigue and to go out with joy.
Have a great day.
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