July 7, 2019

Dear St. Martin of Tours Family,

Dash likes to climb on top of tables. Two weeks ago I placed the Ottoman that accompanies a rather nice recliner chair in my office next to my desk. Dash likes to sit on the Ottoman so he can be near me while I do my work. However, being the curious canine that he is – in emulation of his inquisitorial and disquisitive master no doubt – he makes the additional ascendant jump atop the small credenza abaxial to my desk, which provides a poochy perch so he can monitor all the comings and goings of squirrels and people who pass through and near his yard.

Dash loves to see what he can see! The higher, the better! Sometimes I wonder if he is part cat.

No, he isn’t part cat. Dash is simply trying to get a better perspective on his reality. Better perspective = height. It’s always been this way, for dogs, humans, and drones.

In prayer, the soul in a non-physical yet no less real way, begins its desire to ascend upward, so that it, too, can see what it can see. The words of St. Therese of Lisieux come to mind here: “Prayer is, for me, an outburst from the heart; it is a simple glance darted upwards to Heaven.” The eyes of the soul begin to look up.

And now begins the task, the prayer, the confusion, the story, the worry, the effort, the act of trust, the question of faith: “Dear Jesus, will you lift me on high into the arms of the Trinity, so that I might see?” “I am sad and hurting. God, lift me up and save me!” (Psalm 69:29).

The answer is …

“He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along” (Psalm 40:2).

… yes …

“He raises up the poor from the dust, yes he lifts up the needy who wallow in manure, and he seats them with princes, with the princes of his people” (113:7-8).

… on the condition that …

“He has cast down the mighty from their thrones, yet has lifted up the lowly” (Luke 1:52).

… you are humble!

“Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and he shall lift you up” (James 4:10).

Listen: Stop thinking you are something special (for crying out loud, there are over 7 billion people on this planet) and pray for humility.

In Christ,