Preparation & Path-making
Saint John the Baptist Preaching by Mattia Preti, ca. 1650
Mt 3:1-3 - John the Baptist Prepares the Way
The research is in…ten out of ten people die. It’s one of life’s few guarantees. So why don’t we think about it more often?
It’s unsettling, but as our earthly finish line, it warrants more thought and prayer.
That old phrase, “Memento mori” (Remember, you must die), is a good reminder that contemplating death can help us to live a better life.
Years ago a spiritual mentor encouraged me to pray often for the grace of final perseverance (Mt 24:13) and a happy and holy death.
As our temporal end, we need to have a plan of action for how we get there. As they say, “prior proper planning prevents poor performance.”
What does this have to do with John the Baptist?
Preparation.
How do we prepare the way of the Lord? His way needs to be paved in us. To make ready the economy of grace in one’s life in order to replace the economy of sin requires A TON of work in the heart.
Making paths straight - let alone making paths at all - is extremely labor intensive. Consider the sheer quantity & depth of labor required to make new roads or improve existing ones.
Think about any time you’ve driven down a road that’s in terrible condition, how bumpy it is. My visceral response is usually something like: Geez, this is awful! Why haven’t they done anything to this yet?
Or that highway development project - always at an interstate near you - that never seems to end.
The roads in the human heart are paved by the behaviors that we manifest through our daily habits, the rhythms and routines that make for a good (or not-so-good) life. Indeed, “a habit is ten natures” (Charlotte Mason).
What are the rhythms and routines that form the pathways by which we live?
It’s easy to pay lip-service to the life of the Spirit - to say out loud the life we say we want, but it’s profoundly more difficult to be it & do it.
Our behavior is the demonstrative, more believable “speech” that we speak to the world. Is it characterized by the humility, love, and light of Jesus Christ?
Onward and upward,
Ted
Here’s What I’m Reading This Week
“There is one skill that lies at the heart of any healthy person, family, school, community organization, or society: the ability to see someone else deeply and make them feel seen.”
Driven by his trademark sense of curiosity and determination to grow as a person, David Brooks draws from the fields of psychology and neuroscience and the worlds of theater, philosophy, history, and education to present a welcoming, hopeful, integrated approach to human connection.
And check out my latest piece on Substack: Human or Dancer?…The Killers, Authenticity, and the Algorithm
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