Do It Self!
Girl Tying Shoe by Tory Byrne (Freeimages.com)
By guest author Cheryl Spooner
All three of my children — a babe in arms, a two-year-old and a six-year-old – were dressed and ready to go. Whew! What a relief knowing we would be on time for a doctor’s appointment. Oh, dear! The toddler’s shoes were untied. I told her to wait for me while I put the baby down. Instead, she plopped down in the middle of the hallway and started trying to tackle them herself.
When I returned to help her, she insisted on trying to “Do it Self!” Too much in a rush to give her a lesson in tying laces, I grabbed the shoelaces and quickly created the proper ties. She wailed aloud at the humiliation of having her efforts pushed aside.
Thinking back on that episode, I feel somewhat embarrassed before God. My toddler was going through a normal stage of life, struggling to become independent. I am no longer a toddler, yet I know I often act the same way when I want to learn a new skill or when God calls me to draw closer to him. I don’t want to take the time to pray first. I don’t even want to wait on his perfect timing to take me step-by-step into a more joyful life.
Instead, I charge ahead with a “Do It Self!” attitude, often leaving behind a tangle of stressful and discouraging situations. Pouting, plopping down in frustration and wailing aloud have sometimes been my responses to the mess I created. Although those childish actions usually happen only in private, it is embarrassing to admit that they happen at all.
Mary points to the Cross
When I feel so discouraged, Mother Mary often brings the memory to me of someone else who had no time to pray and was in a rush to get things done: Martha. Ouch! That memory reminds me that I cannot maneuver the obstacles on the path to heaven without first spending time at the feet of my Lord and Savior as Martha’s sister, Mary, chose to do. Prayer is essential!
The Blessed Mother of God, Momma Mary, teaches me that the first and most important step in creating ties to God, she says, is to: “Think of my Son on the cross, my child. Listen to him, and do as he tells you.” Mary always leads me back to prayer. There she teaches me that just as the laces can’t form the bow without crossing the ties properly, I can’t find my way through the twists and turns of even one day without turning to thoughts of the cross.
It is there that Christ both offered himself to the Father on the vertical beam of pain and reached out to us with his arms on the horizontal beam of love. The two beams had to cross to form the holy altar on which he would be crucified.
In prayer, I am called to meditate on his sacrifice. My meditations of seeing him on that cross cause me great pain because I know that my own sins helped put him there. That pain feels overwhelming. It makes me want to run away from his outstretched arms and wounded side.
Stay at the Cross
Yet Mary points me to her own journey toward the cross. Staying by that cross teaches me to hate sin, desire goodness and think about Christ’s great love for me. That’s where I will desire to return his love by learning to follow him throughout my life. I will learn to be his child and to praise him tor his continuing gifts of tenderness, mercy and forgiveness!
Thank you, Lord, for giving me the gift of your radiant Son. Thank you also for giving me such a holy Mother who loves me, and who never gives up on me. She is always willing to take me by the hand and lead me to Jesus.
Cheryl Spooner is a certified Catechist for the Diocese of Ft. Worth, TX, and a member of the DFW Catholic Writers. She has taught religious education classes for children for many years and has also taught RCIA classes for middle school students. She is presently assisting with RCIA classes for adults.
