One Step At A Time
“You don’t need to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
It seems that the quickest way for us to become immobilized is to look at the entire picture and think that we have to take it all on at one time. When faced with a new project, a new goal in life, a new anything, we need to look at all that goes into it, examine how best to approach it, and then begin with the first manageable step. After that step, the next one becomes more manageable and the one after that and the one after that. If we would have thought that we had to do the whole thing at once, we never would have begun.
If someone would have told me on February 21, 2012, “I want you to write Daily Reflections for every day from now until November 29, 2018”, I would have laughed and walked away. However, that is exactly what I have done. But I did not write them all in one day. I wrote them a day at a time. The hardest part was very recent. I wrote the reflections for the Seasons of Advent and Christmas. When I sat down to begin, I looked at the scope of the project and did a little panic. However, I remembered that they are simply one day at a time and I began.
Jesus told us that we must be perfect, even as our Heavenly Father is perfect. He told us to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and care for the poor and the needy. Jesus said that we must be made anew. None of these things are possible for us immediately. They take time; sometimes, an entire lifetime. Yet, if we begin to whittle away at the task, it becomes easier for us each day.
Nothing we can do today will make us incredibly holy immediately. Nothing we do today will enable us to rival the great saints of the past. Yet, if we begin today and continue everyday, we will get there one day. The day will come when we will be incredibly holy. The day will come when the great saints of the past will look at us and say, “Great job!” The day will come when we are perfected. But that day can only come if we actually begin the task today and continue the work each day.
Jesus calls us all to holiness. Instead of looking at the entire picture and becoming immobilized, let us pick something manageable to do and accomplish it today.
FAITH ACTION: Do something extra in your faith life today. Perhaps it will be taking extra time in prayer/reflection, doing a kind deed for another, or some other corporal or spiritual work of mercy.