What’s Tomorrow

Jul 2

For the first time in my life, I received a postcard in the mail inviting me to serve on a jury. You already know the drill, you call the information number after 5 PM each evening to know if you are to report to the courthouse the following day.

As this week approached, I found myself sharing this information every time I would make an appointment: “I’ll see you at 10 am on Monday if I don’t have jury duty.” If…If…If… I’ve never been so conditional with my schedule before.

On the other hand, I wondered how I should approach the moment of calling the information number. Should I pray to be called? Should I pray not to be called? Should I be indifferent? Should…Should…Should…

Ifs…Shoulds…What Thens…Maybes…Don’t Knows…What Ifs…

To all this uncertainty, St. Francis de Sales suggests a practice to be done each morning. In the Introduction to the Devout Life, he begs the reader to never omit this exercise. It appears in his personal rule developed when he was a young man, The Rule of Padua, his spiritual classic, Introduction to the Devout Life, and our Oblate Spiritual Directory. It is called the Preparation of the Day or Morning Exercise. Francis suggests completing this exercise briefly and fervently before leaving your room. From our Spiritual Directory, there are 5 steps:

Invocation - Begin by asking God for help during the day.
Foresight - Imagine the activities, obligations, and schedule of your day.
Plan - Come up with a planned action or response to those activities and people, especially the ones you are anxious about. If you have a meeting that requires patience, ask yourself, “What does patience look like here?”
Resolution - The one thing you will obey for the day. Our prayer makes the resolution to obey the will of God. For Francis, he was resolved to never do anything that offended God.
Recommendation - Place the day back into the hands of God. In the Introduction, Francis writes, “acknowledge that by yourself you can do none of the things you have decided on.”

I love this exercise because it begins by asking God for help, makes a plan, and finishes by acknowledging our powerlessness by returning the day to God.

Well, it’s time to call and see if I have jury duty tomorrow.

May God be Praised!