Ok! I know it’s been a while since I’ve updated. I’ve been sick with strep throat and my computer has been sick as well. I’m hoping to rescue it from the shop tomorrow afternoon. Now, on to some substance…

But first, a quote, from The Imitation of Christ. "If only people would use as much energy in avoiding sin and cultivating virtues as they do in disputing questions, there would not be so much evil in the world, nor bad example given, nor would there be so much laxity in religion!"

I was doing some reading last night and came upon that quote. I think it’s a great one to think about, not because I can read it and judge other people with the quote, but because I can read it and examine my own self with it. How often do we run through our lives, dealing with this problem here or answering some other question there? We spend a considerable effort doing that. Now, if we only re-directed a fraction of that energy into our own spiritual lives, think of how much we would accomplish!

I recently read somewhere that taking 15 minutes out of your day to say a rosary is only one percent of a 24 hour period. One percent! The other 99 percent, we are doing something else. That seems to be a fairly unbalanced ratio to me, and I am guilty of it myself. Secondly, adoration for an hour only constitues four percent of your day. Combine that with saying a rosary and you have now devoted five percent of your day to God, while the other 95 percent remains your own.

Sounds pretty easy right? No problem. Think of what else you could compare with this percent. Here’s a thought (if it makes sense)… How much do you tip a person in a restaraunt? 10 percent, if the service is bad? 20 if you receive good service? We are more willing give a greater percentage (monetarily, not time-wise) to our fellow man than we are to God. (At least, I do!)

Here’s a crazy challenge that I just thought up. Perhaps it would make a good Advent renewal idea. (I’m going to try it.) Think about how much you tip in a restaraunt and give to God the same amount. We are generous with our treasure, now we should be generous with our time and talent. This could be something that you do on a weekly basis. If you tip 20 percent normally, try and spend about five hours praying to God during your week. Let’s try to give to God something of ourselves that we also deem fitting for our fellow man.