“The highest love lies in sharing sorrow. This enables one to intuit God’s slightest desires and make them a reality in spite of all obstacles.”1
Love, if we are courageous and willing enough to follow it, will lead us far away from our comfort zone to accomplish what is seemingly impossible.
I think we intuit this probability in moments of decision involving charitable sacrifice and we turn it off before it compels us to act. We deny the reality because it is inconvenient. We say it is madness to sacrifice so severely – but it is really madness not to.
We play tricks on ourselves with mind games because our fear increases and we smell danger. The danger we sense is usually sacrifice of time, comfort, sleep or the dreaded factor X.
We must sort out in advance what we stand for and will sacrifice for. Not like some sad-sack martyr. But really thinking through it hard. And in the moment of trial, we must let strong love be our guide.
1 (Maria Valtorta, The Notebooks 1943, Volume 1, pg. 164; used by permission of the publisher Centro Editoriale Valtortiano srl, Viale Piscicelli 89-91, 03036 Isola del Liri FR, Italy)