Really. It’s That Easy.

24 Jan

“This is how you do it: you sit down at the keyboard and you put one word after another until it’s done. It’s that easy, and that hard.”  ~ Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman is a prolific English author who tells it as it is:  you cannot do something until you do something.  If you are going to write, you have to begin by sitting down at the keyboard and put down words.  If you are going to play ball, you have to begin by hitting the court or the field.  If you are going to swim, you have to jump in the water.  It all sounds so basic; yet, difficult at the same time.

Why?  Because some people who say they want to write really do not want to.  Those who say they want to play ball might just be talking.  Those who say they want to swim might fear the water.  Wanting to do something is entirely different from doing something.  The desire, in and of itself, does not guarantee the result.  What guarantees the result is the actual doing.

You might be thinking, “Quit talking in riddles and tell us plain”.  Okay, I will.  But, let me say it by asking a question:  Have you ever said you wanted to be more holy?  Have you wanted to have a better prayer life?  Have you wanted to go to church more often or regularly?  Have you wanted to help others more?

Have you?  Okay.  Now let me ask the next, and more crucial, question.  Have you actually done what you said you wanted to do?

Ah.  Did I catch any of you?

We often say that we want to be closer to the Lord, to be better servants, to be deeper people of faith.  But, we often fail to attempt to become so.  We talk a good game but fail to deliver.  Gaiman would remind us that we are only going to get more holy by becoming more holy.  You want to have a deeper prayer life?  Pray.  You want to serve others?  Volunteer.  You want to go to church more often?  Get in the car or walk to church.  Don’t talk.  Do.

FAITH ACTION:  Is there anything in the practice of the faith that you have said over and over again that you were going to do and have yet to do so?  Begin today.