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As a child growing up I had a tendency to get things mixed up.  For a while, I actually thought that “The pursuit of happiness” was one of the Ten Commandments.  It was a revelation to realize that I was not commanded to pursue happiness.  In fact, as I got older and began to read and re-read scripture, I discovered a rather contrary expectation – that God wants us to offer ourselves to Him freely, as He offers Himself freely to us.

I can’t think of a better model for this approach to life than Mary, His mother.  When she declared, “May it be done unto me, according to your word.” we often think of that as her “Fiat”.  The moment of absolute surrender and acceptance to the will of God – no strings attached.

So I try, in my own little way, to follow that model and I have found it wonderfully rewarding.  I am not a Buddhist seeking to renounce all hope and earthly expectations, but rather as a daughter of the Most High God, I seek to conform my will to His.  And that often involves informing my will.  For example, I had to read scripture to understand that it was not a blend of the US Constitution and Old Testament history.  Learning what scripture, especially the New Testament, actually says has been very enlightening. Learning what my church actually teaches has helped me to separate the honest pursuit of holiness from misguided plans and hopes.

Every day I find opportunities to put God’s love above my petty wants. I choose to get up every morning and see to the needs of my kids – even when I’d rather sleep in.  I pray every morning, even when I have to sacrifice other “important” things.  We gather as a family for meals, even when sometimes we’d would rather do things on our own schedules. The other day, when the temperature reached a remarkable 50 degrees, my seven year old son asked if we could all have a picnic outside for lunch.  I thought he was slipping into madness, but he went around and got everyone to agree and lo and behold, we had a little picnic and it was a lot of fun. Later the kids decided to do some art work out on the table.  They had a great day.  One never knows what joy you might bump into while practicing the art of fiat.

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