Praying and Running

Last week before Mass I  was once again surprised by what had sadly become cliche to me. On the 1 hand it saddens me that I have fallen into the trap of letting it become cliche and meaningless but on the other hand I am so happy for the times when I discover the beauty, truth, and goodness of our faith that gets buried in these cliches. The discovery was simply this, I am created by a God who loves me and truly want to be reunited with me. He doesn't just say this, He showed me by taking on humanity, walking along side of humanity and subjecting Himself to the worst humanity had to offer, hanging Him on a cross to die an excruciating death and forgiving humanity, and me, despite it. I don't think this is a free pass and don't want to imply that it is. I still have to respond but God wants me to be with Him and all I have to do is respond. When I really think about it this is cause for great joy. What should cause this joy to ever fade; what could?

Count your blessings. We have all heard it and probably said it. It helps us get through tough times and put our trials in perspective. There is certainly nothing wrong with counting your blessings. But how often do we contemplate our blessings and what happens when we do. A while back I spoke to a priest because I felt like my relationship with God had kind of stagnated. The priest introduced me to the daily examen prayer . In the daily examen prayer you look at your day with gratitude and spend time reflecting on the blessing that you received that day. And even though there are other parts to the prayer, it was through it that I discovered the difference between counting blessings and contemplating blessings. I have become very interested in this prayer because through it I can really see how God is in my life. It allows me to understand how strong that relationship is. Before I found this prayer I might go all day without thinking about God much at all except...