Feb 12, Wednesday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time.
We read at today’s Mass, “The LORD God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it” (Gen 2:15).
This fall, Israel McGrew wrote an amazing piece arguing that we can find the cure for our restlessness in Genesis. (If you missed the article, read the entire piece here.)
“God is infinitely present to everything, and we are tempted to be present to many things at once,” McGrew writes. “But we thrive and imitate the creator’s attention as creatures when we are wholly present to one thing at a time.”
Think of how gardeners tend their plants — systematically moving from one plant to another. A gardener can’t focus on the entire garden at once. He can survey it of course, but if one plant needs trimming, the attentive caretaker will spend time with just the one plant in need.
All of reality is present to God
Part of the lie of the modern world is that we can always be attentive to everything all at once. It’s simply not possible. All of reality is present to God, and only God is only present to all of reality.
So much stress comes into our lives from being worried about things beyond our control. Genesis, on the other hand, takes us back to who God made us to be. And in order to thrive, we need to live according to God’s vision for our lives.
We don’t have to be God and we shouldn’t try to be. We can only be present to one thing at a time. And living that truth is supremely liberating.
Let us pray,
Keep your family safe, O Lord, with unfailing care, that, relying solely on the hope of heavenly grace, they may be defended always by your protection. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever. Amen.
