I wrote some thoughts in my journal a few days ago that I believe will be useful to others, especially those faced with challenges that make them shudder. Here’s what I wrote:

“God, if He truly loves us, must push us to our limit and then a step beyond: the unknown. This is when the full trust begins. Paradoxically but nonetheless precisely: this point of freefall is when we receive the Embrace. We ultimately choose between hope and despair. Because God wants to bring out the godliness within us, He escorts out onto the plane where the greatest challenges go down. He may use health problems, poverty, family problems, or other tragedies of great variety to bring us there. Then, while in the throes of that struggle we are in a position to choose between despair and hope. Our gesture of will at this point writes the truest story. This is when our legacy becomes everlasting.”

My experience has taught me that the words I just wrote are precisely true. It has taken pain, time, and many hours of reflection to understand what these things mean, their value, and how to express them.

Let me know if these words help. Tell me your story.