August 30, 2007

Dr. Mary C. McDonald

Secretary of Education, Superintendent of Catholic Schools

There is a world beyond our comprehension where reason steps back and the heart takes over. It is a world where wonder and wisdom meet. It is a world of faith.

Annie and Jack are twins. They are my grandchildren, born five years ago, five weeks earlier than expected. Each weighed a little more than four pounds. Annie was fine but Jack had some problems. Jack was taken to the intensive care unit, Annie to her mother's arms. Annie went home. Jack stayed in the hospital. Annie didn't sleep well and Jack didn't eat. He lost weight. When I visited him he seemed restless and I always asked him, "Do you miss Annie?" He would sleep with his arm wrapped around the tiny splint holding his feeding tube.

Several days passed and all Jack's other vital signs were now normal, but he still wasn't eating well or gaining weight. The doctors decided to send him home. They thought that perhaps being reunited with Annie would help. So Jack came home. My son laid him in the infant seat next to Annie. They seemed to sense each other's presence immediately. Annie stopped crying and nestled her head on Jack's shoulder. Jack leaned his head next to her head as if to say, "I missed you." They slept, peacefully. It was as if what they needed most was each other. There had been a piece missing from each of their hearts, shaped in the likeness of the other. Now, they were complete. Jack began eating, and Annie slept. They began thriving.

Jack and Annie's experience is really no different than our own when we sense that something is missing in our lives. There are times when we feel empty or alone and we are not sure why. Perhaps we feel that something is missing in our life, in our work, in our relationships, or in our marriage. We feel that there is something more that we need, but we don't know what it is. We look for every possibility to fill the void. Sometimes, we fill that emptiness with what we think are solutions, such as a different job, a vacation, an affair, a bigger house, medication, more stuff, more money, and on and on. We sometimes even try to fill the void by blaming others for not meeting our need for fulfillment. We are so busy eliminating the possibilities of what it could be that is missing, that we often fail to see the simplicity of the truth. Our adult posturing prevents us from assuming a child-like faith. It is a faith that helps us recognize that there is indeed something more, and that "more" is God. What may be missing in the life we lead is really what is missing in us.

What ultimately completes us, makes us whole, is God. There is a place in our hearts that only His presence can fill. And, when it does, there is no longer room for the restlessness, the need for more, the need for something else, that we sometimes feel. We have all we need to bring our whole self to whoever we are, and whatever we do. We can be a complete presence for others.

We are content, we thrive, and we are at peace. Like Jack and Annie, we will still have our struggles. But now, we can rest peacefully, and assured, knowing that we are not alone. We are always with God, who completes us, and we sense His presence at our side.