Earlier this week Sr. Josephine Garrett shared her surrender story on Hallow. Her pivotal moment came during a conversation with a spiritual director when he asked, “What’s your greatest hope?” When she couldn’t come up with anything meaningful, he pressed, “What did God make you for?”
As we wrap up Lent 2024, I think that is a perfect question to end on. What did God make us for? When we pass to the other side will we realize our purpose? Will it be a Mitch Albom’s “The Five People You Meet in Heaven” type phenomenon?
It makes one’s life feel a greater sense of urgency when you stop to contemplate what God’s purpose for you is. Have I fulfilled my purpose? Will I? Am I currently?
According to Erik Erickson’s 8 Psychosocial Stages of Development, the last stage is ‘Integrity vs Despair.’ People who look back on their lives and feel despair over missed opportunities, often face death with fear as opposed to those who view their lives as fulfilled. If you have ever known someone who “willed themselves alive” as they surpassed medical odds of survival, you know how powerful this stage can be.
So, what does God expect of us? If you have been following along with the theme of Hallow’s Pray 40 this Lenten season, you might say “surrender.” That seems to simplify it enough. We don’t need to fully comprehend the ins and outs of God’s plans for us, we just have to trust Him enough to surrender to God’s purpose for us.
So, to everyone reading my blog this season, I want to thank-you for entrusting me with your precious time. Thank-you for believing that the words I write might have a spiritual impact on your life for the better. I will not be writing every day moving forward (perhaps more like once a week) but I pray that we all continue to work towards bringing ourselves closer to God. After all, it is harder to hear God’s plan for us, if we are far away.