passive acceptance

I had felt whispers of the word “acceptance” for the past few days, and I was beginning to pay attention. Then at church tonight, the teaching was an absolutely beautiful introduction to active and passive faith, particularly the passive side, which is not apathy but is acceptance of what God is doing even – or especially – in the painful parts of our lives. These are a few of the quotations that John Mark used and they blessed me. I’m still just beginning to learn. Read them slowly, savor the words, let God speak and point out and be with you. 

“Let nothing disturb you;
Let nothing make you afraid;
All things pass;
but God is unchanging.
Patience
is enough for everything.
You who have God
lack nothing
God alone is sufficient.”

-      St. Teresa of Avila 

“Would to God that all men could know how very easy it would be for them to arrive at a high degree of sanctity. They would only have to fulfill the simple duties of Christianity and of their state of life; to embrace with submission the crosses belonging to that state, and to submit with faith and love to the designs of Providence… The passive part of sanctity is still more easy since it only consists in accepting that which we very often have no power to prevent, and in suffering lovingly, that is to say, with sweetness and consolation, those things that too often cause weariness and disgust. Once more, I repeat, in this consists sanctity.”

-      Jean Pierre de Caussade 

“God grant me serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
As it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
If I surrender to His will;
So that I may be reasonably happy in this life
And supremely happy with Him
Forever and ever in the next.
Amen. “

-      Reinhold Neibuhr 

“We mature by meeting life, just as God and nature designed it, and accepting there the invitations that beckon us ever deeper into the heart of life itself. But that is a simple cliché, more easily said than done, because as we go through the seasons of our lives the challenges we meet there can just as easily harden the soul as mellow it.”

-      Ronald Rohlheiser