Sunday Special: The Sacrament of Living

I'm introducing a new series to this blog, namely Sunday Special. I'm openly Catholic and my faith is an important part to my life It is not for convincing anyone of anything that I'm starting Sunday Special- there are people out there much better suited and prepared for this kind of work than me. I just want to write about something that is important for me and share this with you- about the way I understand certain aspects of religion and spirituality, about what I take from it, what I love and what irritates me.

"One of the greatest hindrances to internal peace which the Christian encounters is the common habit of dividing our lives into two areas - the sacred and the secular. As these areas are conceived to exist apart from each other and to be morally and spiritually incompatible, and as we are compelled by the necessities of living to be always crossing back and forth from the one to the other, our inner lives tend to break up so that we live a divided instead of a unified life"
A.W.Tozer 'The Pursuit of God' Chapter 10

The above quote encapsulates what I think is one of the most pressing problems of Christianity. In the Gospel according to John, Jesus says "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, of you love one another" (13:35). You should be able to tell whether a person is a Christian by looking at her way of living. By a charitable and loving attitude towards everyone, by optimism in awaiting what would happen next, by inner peace and reflective way of living. Instead, we so often leave our Christian lives behind the church door. We gossip, hate other people, become grumpy and dissatisfied with whatever we have, even if this is more than we deserve, we are distressed, gloomy and pessimistic. And by we I mean Christians in general (though not all of them, obviously), including myself. I am fully aware that my Christian life is far from ideal. I do not go about my life asking myself 'What would Jesus do?' all the time. I should, but I don't, because it is much easier to be a good Christian in church during a service, in the Chaplaincy, within my group of Christian friends, or in the quietness of my room when I pray.This is all so easy. It is only when I go out to the world when my faith is put to the test.

I'm trying to be aware that what people see through me is what they will make of Jesus, especially if they do not know Him. And I actually think that this is the most effective way of evangelising. People who draw me nearer to God are not these who talk a lot, who are very clever in their arguments for His divine existence. I'm drawn by people who are authentic. Who do not live in two different compartments, but who believe within the entirety of their lives, unified lives.