Holy time

This morning I was thinking -- still the laughter folks, I really was -- about that old hymn, Take Time To Be Holy.

What, exactly, do we think that means?

Is there a way we put on our busy schedules, uh, HOLY TIME, 3:30-3:45 p.m.? I think, well, we don't do that do we? We don't take enough "holy time" in our days or nights.

As I'm sitting here typing away, it reminds me of another song, "Wasted Days and Wasted Nights."

Think of it this way... I read a little card my wife, Mary, had in her possession a few minutes ago.

On it were these words: I am going to reveal to you the secret of sanity and happiness. Everyday for five minutes control your imagination and close your eyes to the things of sense and your ears to all the noises of the world, in order to enter into yourself. Then, in the sanctity of your baptized soul (which is the temple of the Holy Spirit, speak to the Divine Spirit, saying to Him: O, Holy Spirit, beloved of my soul. I adore you. Enlighten me, guide me, strengthen me, console me. Tell me what I should do .. give me your orders. I promise to submit myself to all You desire of me and to accept all You permit to happen to me. Let me only know Your will.

Wow, and uh, wow.

Do that, friends, immediately following the reading of this missive.

The card finishes by telling me that if we do this, our lives will flow along serenely and full of consolation, even in the midst of trials. Grace will be proportioned to the trial, giving us the strength to carry it and we will arrive at the gate of paradise laden with merit. This submission to the Holy Spirit is the secret to sanctity.

I guess that means it is also the secret to being holy.

Seems to me, apart from that merit part, our prayers to the Holy Spirit are vital to our understanding of scripture, understanding of Jesus, understanding of a creator God who is so far removed from us there is little we could understand of Him without his walking (or running) toward us first.

So, this morning, I've prayed to the Holy Spirit for his will. And lo and behold, the sun came out -- pouring its warmth on a cool morning through the window next to the Mac in our home office.

Become holy, friend, treating each second as treasured, as an opportunity to heal, as an opportunity to submit, as an opportunity to help our neighbor. How? Why? Through the work and power of the Holy Spirit, who lives and breathes in us for specific reasons.

Sanctify me, O, Lord.

Enough said.