Praying with St. Paul...

We don't have all the answers. We more often then not make spur-or-the-moment decisions that may or may not be correct. Do we shop for what we need or what we want? Does greed rule our lives when charity should be our goal? Do we judge when understanding and compassion should be our goal? Are we angry and frustrated when serenity and faith should be our goal? Do we think we can do everything ourselves or should spiritual direction be our goal? Do we seek the advise of those who will tell us what we want to hear or should be we going to the source of the Truth be our goal? St. Paul says it so well. Let us reflect with this excerpt from Praying with St. Paul.

The Ultimate Self-Help Book
Jack Sacco

"All scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching,
for refutation, for correction, and for training in righteousness,
so that one who belongs to God may be competent, equipped
for every good work."
(2Timothy 3: 16-17)

We live in an age of self-help gurus. Everywhere you look there are self-proclaimed life coaches, mentors, experts and pundits.

all claim they can help us reach our potential while not-t00-subtly implying they will show us the easy road toward wealth and fame. Each has a website. Each has a book. Each has an abundance of tapes and CDs for sale. Each has a seminar that you must attend. And each promises that, for just a few hundred dollars, they can reveal to you the secrets to true happiness and incredible riches.

The trouble is that the information they contain is generally rehashed babble lifted directly from previous self-help books. Most are conglomerations of doublespeak and nonsense with the singular intention of making the guru, not the student, wealthy and happy.

Taking advantage of an emerging spirituality and the marketing thereof, self-help books in recent years have included more and more spiritual overtones. They speak of God, sometimes referring to him as a "higher power" so as not to offend potential buyers. The problem is that they willingly preach a new and unauthorized gospel to people who are too enamored with the potential payout to recognize or even be concerned about the dangers.

This isn't to say that most motivational books don't contain some elements of truth in them. Even a stopped clock is correct twice a day.

But the Sacred Scripture doesn't simply contain "elements of truth. It is TRUTH. And it is the Truth against which all other truths should be measured. We don't need to seek the advise of a plethora of competing self-help gurus when we have the inspired word of God to light our way. That Word, that Truth, will provide each of us with the information we need to become competent and equipped for every good work.

Father, inspire us to read and understand your word, so that we may grow in goodness and be better equipped to do your will. May the Scripture provide us with the inspiration we need to live a life of happiness and contentment.

By Jack Sacco
(a graduate of the University of Notre Dame,
an award winning author, living in Los Angeles
His book Where the Birds Never Sing was
nominated for a Pulitzer Prize)

I am guilty of all the above. I want answers NOW, help NOW, relief NOW, consolation NOW. Scripture has that and more. I just need to slow down and perhaps instead of being so demanding, acquiescence should be my goal.

~~~^j^~~~
Thanks be to God!