More on the Culture of Life

My dear sister messybessy has written a lovely post on building the culture of life. How true, how right she is! We do have a lovely world, in so many ways. Even I, who am the pinnacle of anxiety and even pessimism, see and love the world God has blessed us with. And yet, I also have this current of pessimism coursing through me, a fear of all this goodness being taken away. The Culture of Life, I believe, banishes this pessimism and fear. It stands against the nihilism and hopelessness which attends our secular world and which creates the Culture of Death. Christ came to cast out fear, right? But it isn't just like falling off a log, espousing this Culture of Life. It isn't just a matter of saying, "I support life," and then fear is gone and we are all happy. I believe that as a Christian I must CHOOSE to build the Culture of Life every day, as messybessy has done. Supporting ours and other's families, hospitality, and prayer are all indeed necessary in this, and I love to read messybessy's encouragement on these. These are my additional (albeit mostly redundant) resolutions on this:

1) Build trust in the Love of the Lord, and surrender each day to Christ, trusting that he will make better use of it than I will. A Daily Offering would be appropriate here. Fear makes me want to be in control, but where does Life come from? God, not me. Did I make the beautiful flowers or the sunset? Did I design my darling daughter's blue eyes? No. The overabundance of Life, that Life that we are trying to build in this world comes from God and His Merciful Love, not from me. The best way to Build Life, or even build a life (my own) is in fact to turn it all over to Christ first thing. Didn't someone special once say that a man must give up his life in order to gain it? When I can turn over my own small life, and the life of my family to the Lord, then I have a starting place from which to build the COL. I think of the powerful image of the candles at Easter Vigil: if I turn in trust to the Lord, he will light my little candle with which I can in turn bring light to the world. In order to spread Life to the world, we have to have Life to begin with. Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life - we know where to turn.

2) After surrendering each day to the Lord, I have to gain and then hold onto a vision of what life I am trying to build and promote. Obviously, life in Christ is the goal here, but I think I need to hold onto a picture that is even more specific. I think messybessy's ideas about how to spend family time and how to be hospitable hit on this. I think of it in terms of my daughter. I want life for her, but more importantly I want a GOOD life for her. Again, prayer and a Christian life are the main substance of this life, but I need to keep in mind the smaller details as well. How can I create a life for her which is full of Light and beauty and goodness? If I have a vision of life that I work to build in my own home, then I can realize that vision and become a picture of life for others to witness; I can become a part of the COL. For me this vision includes affection, humor, cheerfullness, graditude, communication, hard work, good works, and of course love. Kind words, good use of my time, art and music, patience, education, and wholesome recreation are all things I need to pursue. And again, prayer first and foremost. If I try to realize this vision every day, I will be a sign to the world that life, a good life, is possible with Christ.

I think that is my main point: the world can indeed be a scary place, and seem very bleak. Fear is not living, it is hiding from life, and so the best way to overcome the fear that the world can build up (even if I am afraid too) is to counterattack by creating lives which are full of light and hope. Life and light need to be lived. I believe that this is my apostolate to the world in my vocation as a wife and mother. I hope that Christ can build my family to be full of love and light so that others might see us and know that REAL Life, rather than merely breathing and then dying, really is possible. In order to live this apostolate I need to turn to Christ first as the picture and origin of Life, then continually re-present that vision to myself, and then I need to work towards realizing it.