Fidelity & Sincerity towards God

Have you ever witnessed the tedious training of marine animals in preparation for a live show? Perhaps, it is not that tedious if you had with you a pouch of treats to reward the seal, for instance, when it does the correct stunt to satisfy your expectations and those of the prospective audiences. I cannot help but wonder if without those treats, would a trained seal still perform the stunts solely on the account of the trainer? If a seal only responds to the trainer because it is the treat that he is looking forward to, knowing that he will get what he wants by giving what is wanted of him, then the relationship between the trainer and the seal will always remain as plainly, the trainer and the trainee. It is only when the seal obeys the commands of the trainer even in the absence of treats, that clearly indicates that the trainee has progressed on to take a personal interest in the trainer. The trainer, instead of the treats, has then become the motivation and reason for the trainee's response.

We can use this analogy of the relationship between the trainer and the seal to understand better our relationship with God. How many people have since lost their faith in God because their prayers were not answered? How many faithful have experienced their faith being shaken because they could not feel God's presence in the form of spiritual consolations perhaps? How many have given up following in God's ways and doing God's Will because they stopped feeling the desire and longing that they once felt towards God? When we are tested in our faith, deprived of spiritual consolations, deprived of that deep longing for God that makes it so easy to love Him and do what He wants, when we are deprived of the "good feelings" and graces that make it so easy to carry our crosses, how do we react and what do we do? Do we stop doing good, following in His ways of love, compassion, kindness and the like? Do we give up searching for Him in prayer because the feelings are no longer there and there is no more "motivation"?

How often marriages stagnate and fail because the "lovey dovey feeling" has long faded away along with the honeymoon phase, and fidelity becomes a commitment so challenging to upkeep; the void of feelings that once made those vows seem so natural puts us in the true light of our sincerity and reveals how much value we attach to the words we say.

A personal relationship with God is quite like a marriage, which demands that we take God seriously in a genuine interest in seeking Him wholeheartedly, in sickness and in health, in good and bad, in riches and poverty. When He does not "feed" us with the "treats", can we still, like Bl. Mother Teresa did for 50 long years in her dark night of the soul, continue doing what we know will please Him? Can we continue to reflect, as best as we can, the goodness of God in the way we are and in the things we think, say and do? What are we really interested in? Is it the things that we want from God, the things that we know He can give or are we truly and genuinely interested in Him as a Person, Friend, Confidant, Saviour, Master? When we decide to do something good, what is our intention and drive? Is it because we want something in return or is it done freely and lovingly for the One who alone sees what is in our hearts?

May our loving Jesus purify our hearts day after day so that we may seek Him with greater sincerity and love Him with true fidelity. Amen.

29 August 2011, Monday
10.28pm