I didn't fall down once.
Yes, one of my major awesome accomplishments of the evening was not falling down. And for me, a super klutzy woman, this is not a small feat.
Add the fact that I was on ice.
In ice skates.
For the first time.
And it was FANTASTIC!!!!!
So my lovely household had an optional Lord's Day today, since its the crazy time of finals and people leaving and such. And I definitely needed Lord's Day. Oh gosh. As in, I printed off my ridiculous philosophy paper and turned it in right before heading to Lord's Day! So standing there with the few other household women, praising the Lord (we had special permission during the quiet study hours to do our P & W--yes!) was fantastic. And afterwards, I grabbed a quick dinner with some of household, stopped by some of my other dear family to say "hi" and headed out to Pittsburgh. We reached the ice skating rink, and I grew more excited with each minute. It was an outdoor rink, and in the middle of the rink was this ridiculously tall Christmas tree, all lit up! Christmas music was playing, and there were several people skating around the tree. It felt like Christmastime! And it was so peaceful, so relaxing, and I felt like I was straight out of a movie! So after waiting for a while, we got in, got our skates, and headed out to the ice. Within ten or so minutes, I was shakily skating around by myself, occasionally grabbing the wall. Some of my future household sisters were helping me, giving me advice. And one piece of advice really resonated with me:
"Look at where you want to go, and you will go there."
I found this to be very true. If there was a small space in between skaters, and I was going too fast to slow down for them, I would look in that small area, and my feet would follow my gaze. And I would go through the narrow space successfully! Granted, I was not perfect by any means; there were two occasions where I nearly fell, but instead of falling managed to pull a 360 degree rotation and keep going. But the advice that I received at the beginning really helped me. If I didn't look where I was going, and it I was not aware of the presence of others around me, I would start to wobble and find myself going the wrong direction.
I began to think of this lesson in relation to the spiritual life. Our actions flow forth from our desires, and we desire what we longingly look towards. If we immerse ourselves in God, and turn our gaze towards Heaven and the Heart of Christ, then our actions will flow forth from our desire. We will find ourselves turning away from sin, moving towards God. There are times when we will shift our gaze to other things, and are not aware of the dangers around us; times when we are not vigilant. Then we will wobble, and may even fall. But we must not sit there on the ice, where we can be hurt, and where we can cause others to stumble. We must get back on our feet, and keep skating, looking to where we wish to go: Heaven.
(and trust me, if you desire Heaven and strive to get there, you WILL get there. After such a successful and splendid time skating, we went to the Cheesecake factory--a first for me--and procured some edible Heaven--Raspberry Chocolate Truffle Cheesecake...)
So keep skating, and look at where you wish to go--because you will get there!
