ASPIRE HIGHER

ASPIRE HIGHER

For the world it is a normal day. For your family it is a day of joy. Today you were born. You don’t know what will happen next but you trust there is someone to care for you, to feed you, to bathe you, to love you. You are a life, a new miraculous little life. Your father and your mother behold you, their precious infant for the first time. Their eyes well up with tears of joy to see you and to realize you are their child. They had been dreaming about you when first they realized a baby was on the way. Now, you are here. Their joy is complete for now. They watch your infancy. They listen to your voice and delight in it. They love to see you smile. Their joy increases. They see you change almost daily. Your little arms and legs move as if to a symphony only you can hear; perhaps you hear a choir of angels singing heavenly sounds. A toothless grin soon gives way to a rickrack smile. You begin to sit up and squeal with delight. You clap your hands, you crawl, you stand, you walk. You teeter-totter, fall and get up again. This sequence is repeated until you gain agility and then your mom and dad chase you all over the place. They do not want you to get hurt. They shield you from harm. When you do fall, they pick you up and kiss it better. You are loved.

OUR FATHER was overjoyed the day you were born. He had been dreaming of you from the beginning of time. He gazes upon you with true joy. You are His Aspiration. He sees you change daily and is continually bidding you to “ASPIRE HIGHER.”

True God and True Man came so you may have Eternal Life. Thoughts rush into my mind of Our Lord’s Glorious Resurrection which followed His Sorrowful Passion and Death upon the Cross. After suffering and death there is VICTORY in Jesus. HE ASPIRED HIGHER.

On the other hand, satan saw your birth and bided his time until he could nudge and prod you into falling into his plans for your ill. He passes himself off as something good, making what is evil appear pleasing and enticing. He works on you from the age of reason until you enter eternal life with him or without him. He hovers near trying to slice you to pieces, to break your spirit, to keep you off your knees. He plots to depress you, harrass you, harness you, and ride you hard with his full weight on your back. Make no mistake, he is all negativity and deceit. He plunders, dehumanizes, kills. His will is to have you descend to the depths of hell.

Each one of us faced a new world the day we were born. So it will be also a new world when we leave this earthly one for an eternal home, be it in heaven with the Lord or in hell with satan. We are faced with choices. We must ASPIRE HIGHER.

How many times in our lives have we thought there was death in the trial, whether brief or long? The long night of the soul must at times travel this travail. A soul may experience a blank void. Where did joy go? Where did love go? Where did hope go? Where did faith go? When did satan enter? How did we slide down the slippery slope? How did we become out of control? Where God is not…..you’ll find satan. We need to PRAY to ASPIRE HIGHER.

We may not find God until we reach the rock-bottom of whatEVer ungodly thing we may be caught UP in. Many times it takes a near-death experience for the Light to shine through, the Light of Christ. Many are saved by the prayers of faithful, faith-filled Christians. Considering one soul saved, that soul experiences a resurRECtion from the downward dregs. There is limitless power in prayer. PRAYER is the KEY to ASPIRING HIGHER.

When a “light-bulb” goes off in our minds, is that not like a mini resurrection? A resurrected thought or experience serves to encourage and uplift. We must ASPIRE to INSPIRE before we RETIRE and/or EXPIRE.

This is our Mission. This is our Goal, a challenging one, but an attainable on-going one, with and through the Grace of God. Do we accept the challenge, this challenge that comes from the Holy Spirit? The Holy Spirit is always inspiring us and if we listen and heed, we ASPIRE HIGHER.

We are not a universe in ourselves to see only unto our own souls. We are not to be selfish. If we are to emulate Christ, we need to reach out in prayer and in care to our fellow men, women and children, our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus. No man or woman is an island. We are part of the bigger picture. We are PART of God’s Universe. We need to love as Jesus loves. We need to act as Jesus does. If we have much, it is much for which we shall be held accountable. If we have much and our brother or sister does not have enough, we ought to share as much as possible. We need to ASPIRE HIGHER.

The Holy Spirit is the master of prayer. The Holy Spirit is the master of the interior life. Prayer transforms us and those for whom we pray. The more our interior life is in tune with God’s Holy Will, the more we will want to commune with the Lord. The more we want to commune with the Lord, the more satan will try to block that communion. The choice we have is to rebuke satan and persevere in prayer or give in and remorsefully try all over again God willing. Dabbling in mortally sinful acts , affords no one any guarantee there will be time enough to repent. Getting caught off guard when the Bridegroom calls, could be deadly for the hell-bound individual. That might be reason enough to keep one from sin, but for the soul who truly LOVES God, it is JOY to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this life. The praying, Holy Spirit inspired soul ASPIRES HIGHER."

Now, as she long aspired,Into the garden comes the bride, a guest:And in its shade retiredHas leant her neck to restAgainst the gentle heart of the Desired."~~

Spiritual Canticle of St John Of The Cross~~

St. John of the Cross was a Holy Spirit inspired soul who prayed mystically waiting and hoping for the Bridegroom’s Coming. His was a prayer of aspiration. He ASPIRED HIGHER.

From the moment of our conception, the Lord Our God looked upon us with true Love. He provided every means for us to attain Salvation and to gain Heaven. He sent His own Son, His only Son, to take on our sins, to suffer and die for us. What other person would do that for us? No one except for Jesus Christ, only Son of The Father through Power of The Holy Spirit. Our Triune God’s Plan was for us to ASPIRE HIGHER.

Peaks, summits, mountain tops, plateaus, valleys, glens, glades, hills can be used to describe the cycles of our earthly journeys. At times our souls soar so high we almost touch the sky. We level off and step into the valley then rise up again because we ASPIRE HIGHER.

Let us continue the climb steadily, in prayer for one another and ourselves, until we reach the summit of the mountain top, walk through the gates of heaven and see Our God Face-to-face. Let us together ASPIRE HIGHER.

Mel Patterson © June 2005