What does your portrait look like?

So there’s a lot of mudslinging going on right now.  There are those who believe they know who is going to hell and who is not.  There are those that believe the only tolerant opinion is their own and if you do not believe what they believe then you are wrong (thus rendering themselves “intolerant”).  There is the media who presents only one side of controversial issues whether it is the side of the majority of viewers or not.  We can note with regards to the persecution of Christians, they won’t even present those stories for public consumption.

In outward appearances, people puff themselves up to look perfect, tolerant, good, holy, pious…you can add your own adjectives.

But the naked reality is that while we may attempt to show ourselves as being clean on the exterior we are all in need of cleaning out our interior lives.  

“…whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed on the housetops.”  (Luke: 12:3)  

Those interior thoughts and emotions, are they negative or positive?  Do you think critically of others?  Do you put yourself first, before others?  What do you REALLY wish for others?  Goodwill?  Or do you wish for “reality” to bite them in the backside? 

God sees your “interior castle” as St. Teresa of Avila refers to your inner-most being.  So when we face Him at the final judgment, you can’t run and hide.  It’s you and Him.  No one is going to be cheering you on with pom-poms, no one is going to be voting for you, no one is going to be cancelling your television show, no one is going to be recommending you for a raise or firing you from your job.  It’s just you and God: the God of mercy and the God of justice.

Pretty scary isn’t it?  So the good, the bad, the ugly will all come to light.  You can’t run from it.  Those “little” white lies you told in high school, those times you cheated on your taxes or on your spouse, those spiteful words you spread about another person, the negative way you made that overweight girl feel, that co-worker you scoffed at when they shared their faith, the movies you watched with immoral behaviors and attitudes being splashed on the screens and you thought it was perfectly fine because it was “only entertainment”.

The list goes on.

We allow darkness and sin to creep into our thoughts and emotions.  It takes control, if we allow it.  One sinful proclivity is all it takes to invite a host of illness into our souls: lust, gluttony, greed, sloth, wrath, envy and pride; the seven deadly sins.  There are many dark and mysterious images on earth.  They come in the form of movies, songs, words, art, the atmosphere of our environment.  They creep into our interior castle and take hold like moss, clinging to the walls unless they are scrubbed clean.

While you are here on earth, you will draw many conclusions.  You will draw many assumptions.  How about drawing the portrait of you?  What will you look like?  The pencil is the medium which you will draw your life experiences.  You are seated in the ultimate art studio: God’s created world.  By virtue of baptism you are drawing with the interactive and visual language of love.  Love is filled with Light.  The Light of Christ’s love: Lumen Gentium.  Are you drawn to the Light or the darkness?

As with any authentic artistic creations, we sketch, we erase, we start over.  The paper becomes worn, battered, sometimes tattered and torn.  We work on the final image but it will never become a masterpiece here on earth.  Living our authentic lives, our mission on earth is serving others in love.  It means standing up for what is right, truthful, good.  It means you will be persecuted for your beliefs.  It means not being “politically correct” but being “faith-filled”.  It means not compromising on your beliefs when your beliefs are firmly rooted in Christ.  So the drawing of your portrait is imprinted on your soul.  It will forever be a work-in-progress while we reside on earth.

It wasn’t meant to be easy.  It wasn’t meant to put you on the wide path.  You were meant to travel down the right path, the narrow path.  By nature of your free will you were given the choice to pick which path you were going to travel down.

Are you on the right path?  When we are on the right path, we are doing God’s will.  We are cleansing out the interior castle.  We are purifying our inner sanctuary.  When we do so, we invite angels to guide our travels.  When we serve others and put others needs before our own, we further purify our souls.  Think of the things you love most.  Those things that you wish you could do every day.  Those things that we truly love, that please God the most, that feeling of being right at home.  God has a plan for each and every one of us.  Are you following His plan?  Maybe you work well with young people, maybe you are great at organizing things, or perhaps it’s focusing on the family and home.  These choices are forming your portrait. 

You will find the ultimate happiness when you hand it over to God and place your entire life in His hands.  You will be guided (as you always have been, you just may not have been listening intently) in finding what your life’s mission truly is.  This is what will bring you happiness and inner joy.  Yes, you will continue to experience life’s sufferings, challenges and ills, but it is HOW you handle them that will come from God’s guidance.  Suffering cleanses our souls.  Christ suffered greatly on the cross for our sins.  What makes us think we are not supposed to suffer?  But what is greater is that it was because of His love for us, that He suffered on the cross.  So pick up that pencil.

The lines, the shading and values of the pencil marks, it creates a portrait.

What does your portrait look like?