“We do not need more intellectual power, we need more spiritual power. We do not need more of the things that are seen, we need more of the things that are unseen.”
~Calvin Coolidge
We are in the midst of a huge renovation project at our parish church and school. The summer had been one of frantic activity as they prepared the classrooms for the return of the students. After their return to school, the construction people have been busy working in mechanical rooms, installing the new equipment that will provide heat in the fall and winter and air conditioning in the spring and summer.
One of the necessities for our renovation project is more power. We are bringing in a higher capacity service to the property in order to be able to run all the new equipment. This will require, on two separate occasions, a disruption of power to our physical plant.
Last night was one of those times. NIPSCO worked during the day to bring the wires necessary from their utility poles to a new transformer. In order to hook the transformer up, however, they had to kill power to our property for a few hours. We had already cancelled all activities in our buildings so that was not much of a problem — except for the fact that there is still someone on grounds: the priests. (We get our power for the rectory from the church plant.)
Being put in the dark on a hot summer night and wondering when service will be restored gave me pause to consider how we can be in the dark when we lose our spiritual power. Our spirits run, if you will, on the power of God. However, just as NIPSCO can disrupt power to a facility by pulling a few switches, we can disrupt the power of God to our souls by pulling a few switches as well. We call those switches “sin”.
When we sin, we choose to live in the dark rather than in the power of the light of Christ. Living in the dark is uncomfortable at best and extremely dangerous at worst. We can easily lose our way and fall so far off the path to the Kingdom as to make it almost impossible to find again. I say “almost” because, with the help of God, nothing is truly impossible.
We do not need an overabundance of intellectual power in order to make it to eternal life. We do not need an overabundance of monetary power in order to make it. We do not need an overabundance of personality power. We need spiritual power. Do not “drain the spiritual batteries” by living in sin. Charge your spiritual selves by living as completely as possible this great faith that God has given to each and every one of us.
FAITH ACTION: Whether it be by contemplation, prayer rituals, or active works, do what is necessary to strengthen your spirituality today.