Finishing the book, Sacred Marriage, by Gary Thomas...
Frances de Sales [1567-1622] was a kind of Ann Landers of the seventeenth century encourages mothers with these words:
Persevere by remembering eternity!
We will soon be in eternity, and then we will see how all the affairs of this world are such little things and how little it matters whether they turn out or not...When we were little children, with what eagerness did we put together little bits of tile, wood, and mud, to make houses and small buildings! And if someone destroyed them, we were very grieved and tearful at it; but now we know well that it all mattered very little. One day it will be the same with us in heaven, when we will see that our concerns in this world were truly only child's play.
On yet another occasion, de Sales addressed a pregnant woman who was very discouraged. She was heavy in spirit, but Francis comforted her with these words:
"A delicate body that is weighed down by the burden of pregnany, weakened by the labor of carrying a child, and troubled with many pains does not allow the heart to be so lively, so active, so ready in its operations; but this in no way injures the acts of that higher part of the soul."
He tenderly exhorted her, "My dearest daughter, we must not be unjust and require from ourselves what is not in ourselves...Have patience with yourself."
De Sales challenges us to see every difficulty in life as an opportunity for spiritual advancement.
As I see it, Mission is NOT just what we do, but WHO we are becoming!
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