You know, I ignored Zippy's advice again. (I do things like that.) I prayed hard for the virtue of patience and forbearance. I did so because I decided that I really needed to work on the virtues. You probably know that when you pray for a virtue God doesn't just hand it to you. Oh no indeed, a virtue, like a muscle, needs a vigorous workout. And the Good Lord has answered my prayers in every aspect of my life, which I believe confirms the need for work on these virtues, as well as on many others. There will be some I do not pray for simply because I am still too weak to make good use of the opportunities God will grant me to grow.
Zippy cautioned against praying anything other than the "Our Father" on a regular basis because God would simply throw everything He could at you. And yet, isn't that what is needed. If He throws, isn't He also there to catch it all and to help in the establishment and cultivation of the virtue? Aren't these things He wants us to have?
Anyway, I did choose these for this week in Lent, and maybe for many weeks to come. And I pray that my prayer continues to come at night and not during the "exercises" He sets me. Let His grace shine through and let me get out of the way. That's really all I have to do--get out of His way and let His grace live and breathe within me.
Of course that's what's needed! Loving Him is dangerous and painful, but that's part of what makes it so very worth it, no?
Either way, we must aquire these virtues if we are to succeed in loving Him, and, as they say: it's better to suffer these things here, than in the fires of purgatory.
Best regards,
Veronica
I got in here to comment and see that Veronica already mentioned Purgatory. There's a scent of "pay me now or pay me later" about it all, isn't there?
Or maybe, "improve now or improve later in a less opportune setting"?