Ah, Lent. Spiritual house cleaning is upon us once again, and it feels due. Part of my Lenten practice this year is to pray the morning and evening prayers of the Liturgy of the Hours. This is an attempt to create a better balance of something I've been marveling at recently; how much time I spend nourishing the body, and how little time I spend nourishing my soul.
I'm amazed by the hours I spend every week on grocery shopping, preparing meals, and cleaning up after them. I go to the dentist, take my kids to the doctor. I clean the house. I highlight my hair, brush my teeth, put on makeup. I run and take walks, throw in a few yoga poses here and there just to get my body through the day. It really is remarkable. And how much time do I spend praying, reading Scripture, attending Mass? Very little, especially considering that my body will wither and die, but my soul is eternal.
I never find myself too busy to eat for an entire day, but I do find myself convinced I'm too busy and too tired to pray--why is that?!
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Reading this I thought about how recently I've been getting so impatient, frazzled, angry even, at dinner time. The kids are hungry and cranky, I'm getting hungry too. I always feel like there's just one thing more than I can handle and I frequently lose it.
Yesterday I paused just as I got to that point and realized I was hungry. I got myself a snack and it did help to fend off the worst. But I still felt overwhelmed. You made me think: I wonder if I paused and took a spiritual snack as well as a bit of food if that wouldn't help me through that hard time?
An interesting question, isn't it! I don't think it's possible to always be spiritually 'on', but I do try to throw out those requests for saintly intercession when I hit moments like the one you describe. I've shouted the Hail Holy Queen more than once. By the end, I'm usually not shouting :) I think it's all a part of the spiritual refinement that is being a mom- and I'm pretty sure that if I were better grounded in faith I could sacrifice more graciously.
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