On our own, we are guided or driven by our self-interests – what pleases us, makes life easier, indulges our senses.
If we are to really help ourselves and love our neighbor, we have to have something of substance to feed on and give. We won’t have much if we aren’t constantly seeking communion with the Source of all creation.
Going to God every day is to drink from the fount of all that is good and life sustaining. It is to strengthen and properly tune the gifts God has already provided and to receive new gifts we will need for the next phase of our lives.
Without the strength I gain from prayer, meditation, worship and the sacraments, I am prone to moral compromises, to being dishonest to cover for my lapses and to taking the easy way out with the potential of forming a habit of sin and separation from God. We must always go back to the true source of strength – every day. We must go back to the original source of all life and vitality, if we are to be at peace and be effective in manifesting the Kingdom on earth.
So, God was a most wise Teacher when he gave us the Ten Commandments, which clearly put God first, followed by neighbor. He knew we’d never make it through the last seven commandments without accomplishing the first three. It doesn’t necessarily mean we act these out in linear fashion in everyday life. But we cannot love neighbor if we do not have the love of God.
We know what life is like when we are left to our own devices. We’ve seen it collectively and personally. Following only our own agendas leaves us feeling empty, depressed, directionless and restless. We throw everything out of balance.
If we could just focus long enough – without everyday distractions, disappointments and urges pulling us this way and that – we could draw close to God and drink deeply of his wholesome, perfect, living Spirit. Our souls would be radiated by his cleansing, healing, beneficial Light, which restores all things to their proper, healthy and perfect state.