In the movie about the life of Ray Charles, Ray, there’s a powerful scene that takes pace right after Ray as a child becomes blind. He enters the house and falls over a chair and cries out to his mom to help him. His mother obviously moved with love and wanting to help him, doesn’t. As a result, Ray begins to become aware of his surroundings by listening to sounds and the more he listens, the more he learns. He hears a cricket and lets the sound guide him so accurately, that he catches it and gives it to his mom, who although he cannot see, knows where she is.
His mom is moved to tears of joy seeing how Ray adapts and overcomes to his new blindness. The look on his mother’s face is pure love.
I believe that God is like Ray’s mother in that It often lets us fall and fail so that we may grow and develop the skills we need to become the person It knows we can be. Letting someone fail and learn what they need to learn is a powerful gift of Love.
So when it seems like God does not respond to our prayers or has deserted us, remember this. God is always with you – sometimes holding your hand but at other times, letting you go so you can learn to walk on your own and navigate the pitfalls along the road that is called life.
Quote of the Week
“God, Who is everywhere, never leaves us. Yet He seems sometimes to be present, sometimes to be absent. If we do not know Him well, we do not realize that He may be more present to us when He is absent than when He is present.”
Thomas Merton
