WHAT DO YOU DO IF YOU FEEL LOST, ALONE OR DISCOURAGED? HOW DO YOU FIND THE WISDOM TO MOVE FORWARD?
The Bible says the beginning of wisdom is fear of the Lord. The height of wisdom is realizing the limits of man’s wisdom. But the perfection of wisdom is contained in five words: “Jesus I trust in you.”
A good friend of mine has written a book that summarizes this theme and more. He sent me an email after visiting my website, and I thought I would share it. It summarizes a book he has written and its strong but important message. Here is the email he sent me.
“I find your two books telling stories of the redemptive power of God inspirational. They instill in the mind great hope and trust in the never-ending Mercy of God. These narratives are very soothing, especially to a soul who feels the emotions of abandonment and despair. Also, they can have great appeal to people of waning faith.
Today, we live in a culture that has drifted much farther away from God than in ages past. We observe that many world cultures today are most consumed with the daily necessities of economic and social survival or the procurement of power and advancement.Thoughts of our eternal futures have taken a back seat to our preoccupations with the here and now.
Even among peoples of faith, there can exist a lukewarmness that God finds repulsive. We must realize that God demands to be the first priority in our lives. Many people of faith believe that faith in God and the afterlife is enough to achieve salvation, without putting any effort into establishing a relationship with God. God demands more. Why did God create me? To know Him, to love Him, to serve Him in this world and to be happy with Him forever in Heaven.
One of the richest treasures given to us by God, which is often overlooked, is the Living Ark of the Covenant. I am not speaking of the Ark that the Israelites carried through the desert, but rather the Blessed Virgin Mary. She is the masterpiece of Gods creation! She is the mother of all of humanity through which God has chosen to dispense all of His graces. Through the hands of the Blessed Virgin Mary He has chosen to give His children all spiritual gifts. From the cross Jesus declared to Saint John, and in turn to all of us, “Behold your Mother.” With and through the Sacraments of Reconciliation (traditionally known as the Sacrament of Confession) and the worthy reception of the Most Holy Eucharist, Our Lady can lead us to a true reconciliation with her Divine Son. We should go to Jesus through Mary.
In my book I pose the question: WHAT IF IT ALL ENDS TODAY? What if in the blink of an eye our earthly lives are snatched away by an unanticipated catastrophe, and suddenly, we find ourselves face to face with God at His seat of Judgement. How would one defend his or her life before the Divine Justice of God. Would the Blessed Virgin Mary plead with her Divine Son for the Eternal Salvation of the soul of one who was dismissive of Gods presence during earthly life, as she would for the many on earth who consecrated themselves to her Immaculate Heart and the Sacred Heart of Jesus? We need to give this situation some serious and immediate consideration. The condition of our souls at the moment of death will determine our eternal futures.
It is hard for most of us to fathom the concept of eternity, where time has no beginning or ending. This is the place of timelessness where God and His angels, and those that are saved, dwell. Eternity, unfortunately, is also that place where the devil and the condemned suffer with no end in sight.
A man was once asked by his son to explain eternity. The father stroked his beard and remarked, “Son… try to imagine a bird taking up one grain of sand, in its beak, on some beach and flying to the moon. The time it would take the bird to reach the moon would be about one million years. It would take the bird an additional one million years to fly back to earth and return to the same beach. Now try to image that this same bird would be instructed to take every grain of sand from all of the beaches on earth to the moon…one million years to the moon and one million years back to earth. Try to imagine the amount of time it took this bird to bring every grain of sand on earth to the moon and fly back. The total amount of time spent in this effort could be compared to just the very beginning moments of eternity.”
As scripture says: What is man… whose life passes like a shadow(Philippians 4:13). The average person today cannot fathom or too often does not focus on the concept of eternity or the short breath of our earthly existence.The good news is that life is eternal, but we must now take the appropriate measures to ensure that our eternity is one of great joy in the presence of God.
It does not matter what evils we have done in the past as long as we make the time to return to God’s friendship with sincerity and contrition. None of us knows when we will breathe our last breath. Therefore, we must immediately redirect our total existence, here and now, to restore our human dispositions to be in the good graces of God. God is waiting for our return to Him to grant us His forgiveness. There is but one condition… we have to ask for it. It is not given freely without the asking.
St. Alphosus de Ligouri had this to say, “God will not be mocked… He will not grant eternal joy to the soul who ignores Him”. We must go to Him as soon as possible, before our time of earthly life expires.
I have written a book, titled “IF IT ALL ENDS TODAY,” in which I discuss our current condition in the world in which we live, the risks many face by living apart from God, God’s many offers for forgiveness, evidenced in the many apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary. In these she serves as the deliverer of God’s desires for reconciliation with His children and, lastly, several conditional predictions of the future which hinge on our obedience to His dictates. My intent is to offer those in need both direction and a reassuring guide to be reconciled with God once again.
It is my hope that all will someday reunite themselves with God in His immense Love and charity during the acceptable time.
God’s Blessings upon you!
Lloyd Gerard Greenberg”
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