Ruined

Dangeous Activity
Joan Chittister

Those who have no flame in their hearts for justice, no consciousness of responsibility for the reign of God, no raging commitment to human community may indeed be seeking God. But make no mistake, God is still, at best, only an idea to them, not a reality.

Indeed, contemplation is a very dangerous activity. It not only brings us face to face with God. It brings us, as well, face to face with the world, face to face with the self. And then, of course, something must be done.

Nothing stays the same once we have found the God within.... We carry the world in our hearts: the oppression of all peoples, the suffering of our friends, the burdens of our enemies, the raping of the Earth, the hunger of the starving, the joy of every laughing child.

~Source: http://www.30goodminutes.org/

Joan Chittister sums of my experience so very, very well.

My heart is aflame with a burning desire to see God's Kingdom come and to see justice realized for all of the oppressed people of the world.

My hungry stomach rumbles alongside the starving.

My back is bent with the shared suffering of my friends.

My soul aches for the raping of our earth.

The moment I met the Living Lord, Jesus Christ, God ceased being a theological abstraction.

...and that moment has forced me to live out my life's greatest paradox.

I find myself completely ruined, yet saved at the same time.

Strange but true,

...for me at least.