The Center for contemplative practice
A Lay Cistercian Looks at Spiritual Reality
SeekING GOD AT COSTCO
Several days ago, I found myself looking at a very low tire pressure on my right front tire of my car. It looked like a slow leak. The next day, I went to Costco, Tallahassee, Florida, where I had purchased the tires and told them of the problem. They fixed it in about thirty to forty minutes. I found myself sitting on a bench in the tire department waiting for them to fix a slow leak. They found a screw in the tire but it would be thirty minutes before I could get my car.
Bored, with no magazines to read, I kept looking at the stacks of Micheline and B.F. Goodrich tires in rows on the stack before me. There was a strong smell of rubber. Glancing to the right, I saw three rows of batteries all displayed for customers. Faced with a long wait, I usually try for some form of lectio divina, based on my eight words, “have in you the mind of Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 2:5). What a queer place to seek God, I thought. What could I possibly see at Costco to remind me of Christ, my center?
The tires I saw reminded me of how Faith wears out and must be maintained and even updated every so often. Faith is one but, unfortunately, I only last until I die in the hope of the Resurrection. The Sacrament of Penance is the check-up to see how my Faith is doing. Sin is a nail in my tire that may cause a slow leak. No wonder the Scriptures tell us that the wages of sin is death. Ever tried to drive a car with only three wheels?
The mechanic is Christ who stops by now and then to ask if everything is okay and to see if I need anything. If my battery is low (they only last so long), then I need a replacement. The battery of my spiritual life is Christ who gives me grace or His own energy to sustain me as I travel down the road towards my final destiny. Christ gives us our spiritual batteries at Baptism(no cost), along with a credit card. There is only one limitation to the card–I must love others as Christ loves us. Everything I do is contained on that card which I will present to Christ as a result of my stewardship on earth. Matthew 25.
Christ tells me that he is the map (the way, the truth and the life) but will not drive the car for me. That, I must do for myself (but he will sit in the front seat and be a passenger). “Learn from me for I am meek and humble of heart.”
This is only a brief snippet of what I thought about in my Lectio meditation. In this very simple setting of the World, I managed to transform myself just a tiny bit from my false self to my true self, an adopted son of the Father.
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