Day 17. Where Are My Foundations
The man who searches deeply for the truth, and wishes to avoid being deceived by false leads, must turn the light of his inner vision upon himself. He must guide his soaring thoughts back again and teach his spirit that it possesses hidden among its own treasures whatever it seeks outside itself.
Philosophy, Boethius
If we could journey down to the base of the pillars on which your life rests, we might do a kind of “soil sampling” to find out what supports your life. That’s what you’ve been attempting to do by analyzing your negative emotional reactions to people and events in your life. These reactions have given you some clues as to what grounds your Sense of Self, your Source of Love and your Hope of Happiness.
What is the uninviting landscape down below? Almost constantly a sandstorm is howling over a vast desert. It is a world shrouded in darkness and mystery. I call it the Ground of Reality. While everything on your Level of Awareness presents itself to you from your own point of view, those same things exist on the Ground of Reality as they truly are (insofar as they are capable of supporting the enormous weight of your life). So a new relationship with a boyfriend or girlfriend may appear at the Level of Awareness as something unshakable, sure, able to stand the test of time. Down below on the Ground of Reality, however, that very same relationship may be no more than sand.
The wind that blows so relentlessly is time and the earthquakes that shake the ground so often are personal trials and tragedy. Because of these, everything below is continually subjected to intense pressure and constant hardship. It endures only to the extent that it is Solid, Steadfast and Lasting.
As we have already begun to see, there are many things in life on which you can choose to ground your pillars. All of them may appear on your Level of Awareness as reliable, stable, strong -- in short, as rock. However, experience indicates that they are mostly sand, clay and stones. They are not solid rock, bedrock.
In the Ground of Reality, sand represents things that pass away with time. Physical beauty is a good example of this. Many people ground their Sense of Self on the sand of their own attractiveness. Time wears this away continually, though the beautiful person may try to “reinforce” his or her foundations with more sand in the form of diets, make-up, and in the most extreme cases, cosmetic surgery. We all know people like this. By the time they reach old age, they must maintain an illusion of beauty since any real physical attractiveness has long since abandoned them.
Clay is more resistant to the winds of time, but it is fragile. When much weight is placed on clay, it crumbles. Clay represents things in our life that are unreliable. A particular business venture is a good example of clay. If you ground your Hope of Happiness on a new business that you’re starting, you will be greatly upset when it doesn’t succeed. Many people put much weight on such ambitious dreams. When the clay gives way in failure, they may take years (even a lifetime) to recover from the disappointment.
Stones are more reliable, and they are less likely to crumble, but they cannot endure the intensity of the worst earthquakes that shake the ground. Stones represent that which is most dependable within the world. Our parents may be an example of this. A newborn infant is completely dependent on its parents -- especially on its mother. A mother is her baby’s Sense of Self, Source of Love and Hope of Happiness all in one. For the infant, this is as God intends it to be.
Throughout our lives, the love of our parents is one of the most solid rocks on which we rest everything. Those who are deprived of the love of one or both parents can bear witness to the hardship and stability it causes. Still the love of our parents is not immune to the trials of life. One of the most severe ordeals we must all undergo is the death of our parents. For most, it is a time of intense shaking and instability. As earthquakes go, it doesn’t get much worse than the passing of our closest loved ones.
Sand, clay and stone. The one thing they have in common is that they will all be reduced to dust sooner or later. Time and trials and, finally, death will remove them all. Every form of matter will be reduced, in the end, to nothing. “... all crumbled at once, fine as the chaff on the threshing floor in summer, and the wind blew them away without leaving a trace.” Daniel 2:35 It’s a shame we don’t believe this.
Novena Prayer
Jesus says: “Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
Pier Giorgio responds: The faith given to me in Baptism surely suggests to me that of yourself you will do nothing; but if you have God as the center of all your actions, then you will reach the goal.
Let us Pray: Blessed Pier Giorgio, teach me true poverty of spirit. Help me understand that God cares for me; and that He asks me, in return, to care for others, especially those in need. Guide me to make choices in my life which will show a preference for service of God and neighbor, rather than accumulating financial wealth and social advantage for myself. Give me a special love for the poor and the sick.
Blessed Pier Giorgio, I ask for your intercession in obtaining from God, Who is the Lover of the poor, all the grace necessary for my spiritual and temporal welfare. I confidently turn to you for help in my present need: (in your own words, ask for the Lord to grant peace, clarity and loving guidance in your discernment journey)
A Book of Prayers in honor of Blessed Pier Giorgio Frassati by Rev. Timothy E. Deeter
Make it My Own
Daily Discernment Workbook
BRAIN STORM
1. Examining the Ground of Reality
Below is a list of things on which people rest their Sense of Self, Source of Love and Hope of Happiness. Try to classify them as sand, clay or stones. Some can fall under more than one category, so use your best judgment. Remember…
Sand… is that which passes away with time.
Clay… is that which is more lasting, but is too fragile to support the full weight of our lives.
Stones… are those things that support our lives, but can crumble in severe adversity.
a. Musical talent
b. Being a parent/raising children
c. Being wealthy
d. Being popular
e. Having an attractive spouse
f. Rising to upper management in a company
g. Getting the best grades
h. Athletic ability
i. Making some great discovery or scientific breakthrough
j. Having a good husband/wife
k. Having a lot of computer/technical know-how
l. Having a steady job with good pay
m. Staying in good health
n. Being an expert in some field of study
o. Having a fun and fulfilling career
p. Helping the needy
q. Having a close and loving family
EXAMINE MY HEART
2. My Own Foundations
Going back in my journal to the pages entitled “Sense of Self”, “Source of Love” and “Hope of Happiness,” I take some time to try classifying the items I wrote under those headings as sand, clay or stones. Some may not fall easily into any category. When in doubt, I leave them blank.
Once I’ve completed this exercise, what are at least two insights I’ve gained about what grounds my pillars?
BREAK OPEN YOUR BIBLE
3. Building on the Rock
“Everyone who listens to these words of mine and acts on them will be like a wise man who built his house on rock. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. But it did not collapse; it had been set solidly on rock. And everyone who listens to these words of mine but does not act on them will be like a fool who built his house on sand. The rain fell, the floods came, and the winds blew and buffeted the house. And it collapsed and was completely ruined.”
Matthew 7:24-27, NAB
a. When Jesus tells the parable of a house built on sand, what is the “sand” of which he speaks?
b. In order to build our lives on rock we must do two things, according to this teaching. What are they?
c. Many people, it seems, are caught by surprise when trials come. Adversity tests our foundations, as this passage makes clear. How has this happened in my own experience? What’s an example of a trial that shook something that grounds my life?
Conclude with
“Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit.
As it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be.
World without end, Amen.”
[0] The Consolation of Philosophy, Boethius, Book 3, Poem 11, tr. by Richard Green, Macmillan Library of Liberal Arts, New York, 1962, p. 71