“Stepping onto a brand-new path is difficult, but not more difficult than remaining in a situation, which is not nurturing to the whole woman.” ~
I have said it a million times before; but, this is one of those “eternal truths” that can always be said with confidence: as a rule, we abhor change. Change is frightening. Change is uncomfortable. Change demands a different way of approaching life. Change is, well, change is just not desirable.
Maya Angelou knew that. She knew that changing — stepping onto a brand-new path — was difficult to do. She also knew that it was more difficult to stay where one was presently situated, though. Refusing to step out into a new direction would be equivalent to digging a deeper rut for oneself. Sooner or later, the rut would become so deep, it would be difficult, if not impossible, to climb out of it.
We get ourselves into ruts in all sorts of ways. We allow friendships to grow rather stale with a sameness that takes us nowhere. We allow our positions in employment to keep us where we are at: neither leading to promotion or to new or better ways of doing our jobs. We also allow ourselves to grow in spiritual ruts as well.
We might think that it is all right to say the same prayers every day, day in and day out. For example, some might always say a rosary in the morning, a chaplet in the afternoon, and read from our prayer book in the evening. Is the rosary valid? Are prayers valid? Is reading from prayer books valid? Yes. However.
If we do the same thing day in and day out, we will quickly become stuck on one plane of spirituality. We will not deepen our relationship with God because, to do so, it would demand something more, something different, something new. If we refuse to do the more, the different, the new, we will not move to a different level of relationship with God.
Will God still be our friend? Yes. Will He still love us just the same? Yes. But, will we be more fulfilled in our spiritual life with Him? No. In order to grow deeper, in order to be more in love, we must be willing to move to the next level. It will involve change. That might frighten us. However, if we refuse to move, we have very little to gain.
FAITH ACTION: If you find that you are stuck in a spiritual rut, take the initiative to begin something different that might help you to move deeper in your spiritual life.