Through the Eyes of Les
Miserables
To quote Victor Hugo then in the epic of Les Miserables
“…and we abandon ourselves to the care of Providence. That is the way one has
to do with a man who possesses grandeur of soul.”
In this case the woman speaking is the sister of the great
Bishop of her Dioceses. He is not great because he is so learned and is not so
learned as to command great things. His grandeur lay in his simplicity and care
for his public. He was the same debating heads of state as he was when treating
the sick. And his door was always open, nothing but a small latch to keep it
closed. No locks, no keys. Such was the Bishop’s trust in divine Providence
that he would be taken care of. He, and the welfare of the two women that
served him. As Bishop he had much at his disposal but as such he wanted nothing
and took nothing as his return. He truly was a man that possessed grandeur in
his soul.
If a survey were sent, one that happened to inquire about
the belief we hold out for divine Providence, I wonder where I would put my
mark? At this point I know where that mark would reside, firmly dead center. I
believe, but not quite believe that everything comes from the Maker. At this
point I still want to believe that some things come about because I had
sufficient cause to initiate them. Fool. What does it profit a man to gain the
world while losing his soul?
I believe that all of us fall somewhere in that median range
when it comes to abandonment. We all want to hang on to the things that matter
most to matter. Food clothing and the like are great luxuries which are taken
for granted on a daily basis, but please, to digress, these are not the things
we are concerned for the most and most likely because they are the most common
necessities. What I believe most concerns us is honor, position -our own weight
in the world.
These things make the monkey out of me in my own struggle to
conquer the world at every, single, turn. I cannot fight the world and tire of
fighting myself so that leaves me with fighting as Don Quixote did with his
windmills. The trick is not to fight then. The trick is to be. But how does one
just be I might ask. Is it written in the Sanskrit of Indian Literature, do I
find that peace in Yoga, or do I find my peace in letting go and letting God be
who and what he say’s He is?
It is the most difficult of tasks to let oneself go. And
yet, we did this as children. At the pool, on the swing, we trusted our fathers
to not let us down. Perhaps in the end some did. I know I have. But that great
loving Father in heaven never will, never has, and as impossible as it might
seem, never could let you down.
So we stand at the crossroad. Me and God, which will it be?
How much do I need and depend on myself and how much of this am I willing to
give over? Tough question as it requires the dying of self to achieve the
perfect adherence to God’s eternal sacrifice for you and I. I only hope that
after this Lent is done that I can look forward and believe that there is nothing
impossible for this God and nothing I’ve done is possible for me alone. In hope
then is where I would reside, hope and sacrifice for my good and the good of
those around me. They need that- I am
here. Thank God!
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