I don’t like you very much.
How is it that you can attend daily Mass, recite the Rosary afterward, take your kiddos to school, go shopping, have a perfectly clean house, play outside, take your kids to 5 different activities, serve a 4 course dinner (with all the food groups equally represented) and then sit leisurely with your husband and watch a movie. To top it off you do so without wrinkling your clothes and your hair looks great.
Envy. I think I suffer from envy.
The problem with envy is that it creeps up on you-well, me. It hit me when I went to the mall the other week. I could have spent hundreds of dollars on stuff to make me look put together. But, I didn’t feel put together and THAT was the problem.
The Bible Says:
You shall not covet . . . anything that is your neighbor's. . . . You shall not desire your neighbor's house, his field, or his manservant, or his maidservant, or his ox, or his ass, or anything that is your neighbor's. Ex 20:17; Deut 5:21.
2535: The sensitive appetite leads us to desire pleasant things we do not have, e.g., the desire to eat when we are hungry or to warm ourselves when we are cold. These desires are good in themselves; but often they exceed the limits of reason and drive us to covet unjustly what is not ours and belongs to another or is owed to him. (The Catechism of the Catholic Church)
2540: Envy represents a form of sadness and therefore a refusal of charity; the baptized person should struggle against it by exercising good will. Envy often comes from pride; the baptized person should train himself to live in humility: (The Catechism of the Catholic Church)
So I think the answer is an examination of conscience on a daily basis. I don’t want to be uncharitable or sad as a result of keeping score of what others have. We also have the beautiful Sacrament of Confession-to help us keep our souls clean as a whistle.
The moms who seem to have it together are blessed and maybe God put them in my path for me to work harder in some areas of my life. And no, it isn't that I don't like you, maybe it is just awe. I see qualities of value, providing services to your family in an efficient manner.
The toughest thing right now for me to let go of? It is how these moms don't wrinkle during the day.
Me? I look like a steam roller paid a quick visit to my house by 5:30 PM.
I am still convinced that these ladies have an iron in their car. A cordless maybe?
VERITAS!
1 comment:
Warning, warning...
I have encountered a new point of envy and I hate it. It's been developing for a year or so and I have finally been able to see it for what it is, and so I guess can fight it. It's the kids. It's how my kids compare to yours. It's my 17 year old really. Do I really want to sit down and have coffee with you, my old mom's club friends, and listen to to the activities and achievements of your children, while I have little or none to share. My heart is so often broken. I know things will mature and turn around probably.
Dear Lord please help me, and my son, and my family to walk in your ways.
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