ReasonForOurHope

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

New Evangelizers Post: Resolution in the Abstract

I have a new article up at NewEvangelizers.com

The Lenten season is always a struggle for me, so I reflected quite a bit on why we go through it every year.  The below article is the result.

I am not qualified to write this article.  I will freely admit that up front, lest anyone accuse me of presenting a better picture of myself than what is found in reality.  But truth is truth and the truth is unavoidable.

We are now more than two months into 2014.  I’m sure that many of us carried on the tradition of selecting a resolution for the New Year.  How is that holding up with you?

If you are anything like me, that resolution to improve your life fell by the wayside rather rapidly.  In my spiritual life, I can recount several times this has been the case.

I’ve left the confessional with the words of the Act of Contrition echoing in my mind: “And I firmly RESOLVE with the Help of Your grace to sin no more…”  And yet time after time I return to that dark corner of my Church and confess those same sins again.

I know what I’m supposed to do.  I know who I’m supposed to be.  And yet for the life of my resolutions dwindle to dust.

Why is that?

Because resolution is an abstract thing.  It is an act of the mind, a concept of behavior we would like to have or an image of the person we would like to be.  Positive mental imaging is important to achieving any goal, but the image is not the reality.


You can read the whole thing here.


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