How Can I Write Like a Child of God?

Pixabay (2014), CC0 Public Domain[/caption] The secular world desperately needs to hear the perspective of Catholics on pressing issues, especially on the sanctity of human life. However, most religious authors write in a small niche, read mainly by fellow Catholics and perhaps a few other critics we would secretly love to block. An amusing analogy came to me the other day which clarifies this dilemma. Consider the life of an ant: not a queen ant, a worker ant. Worker ants scurry about, completely oblivious to the world around them, fixated solely on their own tiny society. Often this narrow viewpoint leads to disastrous results, with whole colonies wiped out of existence when the macrocosm surrounding them crashes into their little world. I run around busy with tasks, keeping my nose to the proverbial grindstone, oblivious to the realities of the rest of human society. Never mind the universe or even the God whom I declare as my Lord. Fortunately, God only needs a sliver of an opening in my heart, a quick glance in His direction, or a fleeting thought to make a connection with me. In fact, God became one with all of us, in a sense he became the equivalent of an ant so He could speak, touch, love and become visible to”ants” on earth.

How to Live and Write as a Child of God

Thank God for Christ, because He offers an easy way out of ant prison. As Catholics, we must break out of our microcosm and listen to the rumblings in the world and in wider the Body of Christ. Most of all, we are invited to become in sync with God and what He wants to do through and in us.

The answer to our dilemma is the opposite of what you might think. Relax. Give up striving. Surrender to His love and let it saturate every cell of your body. Then simply let His love flow through you. It ends up being a long journey to such carefree lifestyle because pride and ego get in the way. It is so simple that it seems complicated to our adult, logical minds. No wonder Jesus says,

Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these. -- Matthew 19:14

Listen to this exchange between my young children:

One afternoon, I was making dinner, standing at the counter with my back to our three youngest children. Grace and Daniel were lounging around the kitchen table, with three-year-old Rebecca perched like a little elf on a high stool, happily swinging her legs. Simply making conversation, eight-year-old Grace asked Rebecca,“ Who's your favorite, mum or dad?” Rebecca replied, "Both!” Still facing the counter, I looked over my shoulder and intruded on their conversation, I commented, “Smart answer, Rebecca.” Rebecca was not done, though. “But she’s not my real mum, Mary is.” Grace rolled her eyes, slapped her forehead with the palm of her hand and said incredulously,“Where does she get this stuff?” I tried to explain as simply as I could,“Well, the Holy Spirit is in her heart and she listens to His voice.” Rebecca jumped right back into the discussion and chanted in a sing-song, lilting voice,“That’s right. God the Father in my heart. Baby Jesus in my heart. Holy Spirit in my heart. Mother Mary in my heart but I still like mum and dad the best!” Grace rolled her eyes and plunked her head down on the table with a loud sigh,“Where does she get this stuff?” If adults received this sort of “stuff” in prayer, they would consider it a rare gift of profound revelation. Yet this child of three simply received such infused contemplative insights with ease, right from the source of all truth because she was open and relaxed in the presence of God. If I want to write articles which will touch hearts and move secular mountains, then it is time to stop acting like a worker ant and time to start writing like a child of God who only writes what her Heavenly Father tells her to write.