I had dinner with a dear friend of mine tonight, and she shared a story she heard on a retreat once. The religious woman (Sister) giving the retreat said "How can God do anything in our lives if we go to Him with our hands clenched?" How true this is. If we pray with our fists balled up, it means that our egos are holding tight to our own understanding of our lives, of our challenges, of the decisions we need to make. Our egos are relying on our own limited logic about how and when God should work in our lives. If we go to God in prayer with our hands open, it means that we are surrendering to God - and grace.
The Gospels teach us that our God is a God of abundance. Jesus plans on feeding a huge crowd with only a few loaves and fishes. Yet his followers protest - "There won't be enough to feed everyone!" Jesus proceeds to feed everyone who is there - and there are loaves and fishes left over! When Jesus talks about the final judgement, he says we'll be judged on how well we have fed the hungry, given drink to the thirsty, or clothed the naked. He does not add, "If you can afford to." God expects us to give without fear and count on Him not to be outdone in generosity.
Our minds and our egos cannot of themselves conceive of abundance - always enough for everyone. Our minds and egos cannot conceive of unconditional love. Only the gift of God's grace in our lives can fill us with the peace of knowing that God, Super-Abundant Love, can do anything and everything. Nothing is impossible with God. If we open our hands and surrender to grace - God's life within us - we don't need logic, we don't need certainty. We only have to trust in the slow, steady, sure, super-abundant work of God.
Our egos think that if only we can have everything in place, the way we want it, we'll have peace. Faith - and grace - says "If you possess the One Who IS Peace," everything will fall into place in God's perfect timing.
The world does not understand the abundance of God, Unconditional Love. The world has an either-or mindset. "Our country can either give to the Veterans or give to the refugees, not both, so we should give to the Veterans instead of to the refugees." Or, "Either you believe in abortion, or you can't be a Democrat." Or -"Either you're a Conservative, or you believe in gun control." We pay lip service to faith, but have such a scarcity of faith that we cannot reach out in faith to a God Who loves Veterans, refugees, pro-lifers, gun control advocates, Conservatives, Democrats, and Republicans equally, and Whose priorities embrace people far beyond political party lines and walls.
Fr. Richard Rohr observes this about the worldview of scarcity:
"Our unhealthy economics and politics persist because even Christians largely operate out of a worldview of scarcity: there is not enough land, water, money, and housing for all of us; and in America there are never enough guns to keep us safe. A saint always knows that there is more than enough for our need but never enough for our greed. In the midst of the structural stinginess and over-consumption of our present world, how do we possibly change consciousness and teach the mind to operate from mercy and graciousness? It will always be an uphill battle, and it will always depend upon a foundational and sustained conversion. Even the churches tend to be stingy with grace and mercy, as Pope Francis continues to point out."
When we allow our minds and hearts, surrendered to God, to operate out of an abundance of love and mercy, we can forgive. We can believe that working for peace is always better than going to war. We can work to rebuild faulty relationships. We can even accept the people who, because of illness or disabilities, bring continual "drama" into our lives. We have the humility to know that, if all were left to us, we would not have the mercy or the endurance to do these things. Only God can accomplish such abundant works of love and mercy in us, through us, and with us.
Our outer lives will always consist of "We look for peace, but terror comes instead." But we can have abiding peace in the inner sanctum of our souls if True Peace dwells there. If we embrace Peace, with open hands,we can trust that God will bring everything to the good for those who love Him, surrender to Him, and trust His way instead of their way. God's abundant love far outstrips our ability to love. Thank God for that!