Accepting God’s will is the goal of a healthy spiritual life. Acceptance of God’s permissive will is an advanced stage of personal holiness.

Holiness is not the reward of a lifetime of loving service. We give a lifetime of loving service because we are holy. Holiness is not what happens to us if we are kind and forgiving. We are kind and forgiving because we are holy. Acceptance of the difficulties of life is the key ingredient of true holiness.

Those who have attained an advanced degree of holiness have done so primarily because of their basic disposition to do God’s will. This implies a willingness to accept all the bad things that God allows to happen in our life. Even though we do not fully understand it at the time, God can draw good from evil.

Let’s face it, bad things happen to good people. There is an abundance of misery and injustice in the world. Acceptance doesn’t mean that we should become doormats, or become absolute pacifists. It’s normal to complain, and fight back at times.

If one is disposed to do God’s will in all circumstances however, then one learns to accept what God allows to happen in our lives, even if we detest it. (Thy will be done, Thy Kingdom come). Your soul becomes ready for further growth when it reacts with faith not emotions. Paul said, “Be grateful in all circumstances.” Nobody can really do that, but we can be disposed to try.

There will be doubt and confusion all the way along. Even the saints lived in emotional turmoil as they tried to lift up their spirits. We gain heaven one day at a time, even though we may never be clear about what’s happening to us.

Thomas Merton, the Trappist Monk who wrote Seven Story Mountain, was no stranger to controversy and suffering. He wrote a helpful book on solitude, in which he revealed his interior struggle. Here is an excerpt:

“My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself. The fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe the desire to please you actually does in fact please you. And I hope that I have that desire in all that I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do that, you will lead me by the right road. Though I may seem lost and in the shadow of death, I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.”

This humble prayer expresses what most of us feel at times in our life. We are always trying to rise above the confusion and doubt. Our goal is to attain cheerful acquiescence. It sounds impossible, but with God’s grace all things are possible.

God wants to give us a share in His happiness. Trust His love and carry on in all circumstances. Never be discouraged. Pick yourself up, brush yourself off, and start all over again. In this way you can die in the peaceful knowledge that even though you were confused at times, you tried to do your best.

God smiles down upon you.

I confess I was at Bed Bath and Beyond the other day and I saw the box screaming at me to “buy, buy, buy the ShamWOW!” I mean, how could I resist when that geeky little guy on the front was telling me that “You’ll be saying WOW every time!”

I got the box home and stored a healthy amount in the kitchen and under the sink in the bathroom. The next time there was a leak I would be ready. As I was unpacking the box, proud of my contribution to house and home, I noticed a small piece of white paper that fell out. It read simply, “Do not place in the dryer.”

What?

Why would I need to be so gentle to my ShamWOW products? It’s not as if they could break or anything like that. Then I noticed the tag: 100% Rayon.

Rayon?

I bought a sheet of rayon from Germany? I don’t think an American has felt this ripped off since we built the United Nations. I still thought there must be something to these things and that all I had to do was wait until my next big spill so that I could use these little beauties.

Sure enough, a few days later, we had a spill at the house. It wasn’t just any spill. I was brining chicken breasts to prepare on the grill and the brining juice poured out of the bag and all over the floor. I screamed in anguish. Then I rejoiced. I had a ShamWOW! I would be saying WOW in no time!

What a joke.

I wiped at the floor and counters with my new towel and found that everything was still soaking wet. The little sheets didn’t even pick up that much liquid. In the end, I ended up grabbing a bath towel and wiping down my kitchen with good old fashioned American cotton.

I felt so betrayed by the ShamWOW. Here I was an innocent bystander and I had been taken in. I thought they wanted to help and it turned out they were just out to make a quick buck and supply me with something I could have picked up at the fabric store for about 50 cents.

I was so angry.

Then I remembered all the times that I had made big promises to people. “Don’t worry! I’ll take care of it!” “No, really, I just want to help out!”

How many times had those situations ended with me just apologizing for not doing the job I was supposed to do as I moved on to the next thing that I thought was important? Certainly not what a saint is supposed to be doing at all.

I think I may have turned a corner in my life, and this may have to do with Easter, but I really truly want to help other people. Not that I didn’t before, but helping people was part of a few things that I did. Now I think that there is a great amount of joy that can be found in cleaning up the mess of others, of making something right, of making someone better than they are, of encouraging them to move beyond the ordinary, the every day.

In the end, isn’t that what we are supposed to do any way? We can’t make big promises and advertise all these great things that we are going to do if we are not going to deliver. What if we promised to do just one thing today? What if we promised to help other people in a way that we might not have in the past? What if we were more concerned about the success of the people around us than our own success? What if we only did things for the benefit of others rather than for ourselves?

If we can all help each other to become saints, to become better, to live each moment as our final moment on the journey to sainthood, well…

THEN you’d be saying “Wow!” every time.