The Slow Work of God

So often I am discontent with my current state in life. I often think to myself, "I can't wait for next year to come, so that I can try out another new and exciting ministry." Or "I'm eager to be finished school, and moving on to ministry in the "real world." " Or still yet, "I'm looking forward to being somewhere else other than Notre Dame - perhaps back in New England, closer to my family." And finally, "I'd like to be in a relationship and wonder when it will be my turn to fall in love and experience all that beautiful mushiness."

Granted, my personality type is prone to being future-oriented. I shouldn't be so hard on myself for thinking about the "what if's and what could or might be-s." However, God and His grace are most available to us in the present moment. Instead of focusing on the future, what if I spent my time looking for the graces in my life right here, right now?

I came across this great prayer that I think should be my motto:

The Slow Work of God

Above all, trust in the slow work of God.
We are all, quite naturally, impatient in everything to reach the end without delay.
We should like to skip the immediate stages.
We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new;
And yet it is the law of all progress that it is made by passing through some stages of instability – and that it may take a long time.
And so I think it is with you.
Your ideas mature gradually – let them grow, let them shape themselves without undue haste.
Don’t try to force them on as though you could be today what time (that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your own good will) will make you tomorrow.
Only God can say what this new spirit gradually forming within you will be.
Give God the benefit of believing that the Spirit of God is leading you, forming you, transforming you;
And accept the anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete.

Pierre Teilhard de Chardin