Prayer, Detachment and Free-Will
DREAM: Someone I understood to be my son asked me to reserve a residence for a friend of his. I offered to provide a down payment on the residence. The office manager asked if I had the owner’s identification and insurance. As I was trying to get this information from my son, the friend, herself, showed up to provide the needed information. The voice said, “that’s the way it’s supposed to be.”
REFLECTION: I am a mother of five, so I understand there are steps to take in raising our children, sometimes difficult steps that require strong measures. And I understand that there are times when legal steps may need to be taken. This reflection is not about that. This reflection is about ordinary circumstances with ordinary adults who have the God-given right of free will.
Sometimes people we care about and love end up in bad situations, and it is natural to want to help them. The best thing we can do is pray (give the down payment). This is not a throw-away phrase, prayer is absolutely the most powerful weapon we possess, especially in times of distress.
The fact is, though, we need to detach ourselves from the emotion of the relationship, the emotion of the circumstance, the emotion of the distress, that makes us want to “lay down the law.” We are not meant to take ownership of someone else’s free-will. (The person showed up to provide the needed documents and the voice saying, “that’s the way it’s supposed to be.”
This is another time that our reliance on our own intellect, our reliance on our own opinions, can do us harm and lead us away from the direction of our Lord.
This is a very important lesson to learn, for our Lord brings it up time and again.