Contemplation as Divine Therapy Part 2

In the first part of this therapy, God presents us with a simple question. Who or what is God in your life? If we are honest with ourselves, we probably have many gods that we worship; our reputations, physical appearance, money, food, sports, career, the clothes we buy, TV, our cell phones, etc. To spare us the disappointment that placing our faith and hope in these things will bring, God begins this therapy by enabling us to experience the inability that these other gods have in bringing us fulfillment and joy.




How does God the divine therapist do this? He creates in us an insatiable hunger that continually grows and gets worse the more we worship these other gods. The more faith and hope we place in the things of this world, the more frustrated and anxious we become. The longer this search continues in this way, the more likely we are led towards addictive, compulsive, destructive behaviors and towards feelings of despair. Hence, our attempts at finding peace and happiness in this world produce the opposite effect; confusion, anxiety, and sadness.

It is because God loves us so intensely that He does not allow us to find rest in this world. God does not want to bring us to despair, nor does He want us to spend our lives chasing after idols and false gods. We are made for the truth, and He alone is the fullness of truth that our hearts are desperately in need of. Until God becomes the only God in our life, we will be filled with this insatiable hunger that will oftentimes leave us feeling like we are dying of starvation. The reality is that we are not dying; because if God is not the center of our life, we are not even alive yet!

God, the divine therapist, who desires that we “may have life, and have it abundantly” (Jn 10:10), leaves us with this important question; who or what is God in your life? The wrong answer will lead to more pain, frustration, darkness, and anger, while the correct answer leads to healing, life, light, and love.

+ Fr. Jeremiah Myriam Shryock, CFR