Wisdom from St. Francis of Assisi when life seems out of order

My house is a mess. That's what happens when the mom is sick for about a week. I'm running out of everything in the refrigerator. Most meals are freezer-fast-food. Turn on the oven. Pop food in. Dinner's ready in fifteen minutes.

Usually, this kind of disorder makes me crazy. I'm still feeling just sick enough that I don't care about what I can't do. I'm just doing what I can.

I need to take this as a spiritual lesson. The world is completely out of order. If I think about it too much, it makes me a little crazy. I simply cannot fix it. I am limited by my own weakness and humanity and sin.

I need to focus on what I can do. I can write a blog posting. I can send an email. I can say a prayer. I can offer up this rotten-relentless-illness for someone else. I can renew my determination to be constant in my faithfulness to this journey toward sanctification.

I can do only those things God gives me grace to do.

Two Bits of Wisdom by St. Francis of Assisi:

Start by doing what's necessary; then do what's possible; and suddenly you are doing the impossible.

Lord grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.

Wisdom from St. Francis of Assisi when life seems out of order