A Christian Spelling Lesson
Posted On November 8, 2008
Ever notice how sometimes the way a word is spelled doesn’t seem to make a lot of sense? A few years ago, listening to a talk by Babsie Bleasdell, I realized that the spelling of a particular word had actually kept me from understanding what it really ought to mean in my life.
The word is “responsibility,” not a bad word to think about in this first month of a new year, though I must confess I’ve never liked the word much. It always conjured up images of things I ought to do, or ways in which I ought to behave. It seemed like such a serious and sometimes even negative word.
To me, the tradition of making new year’s resolutions was all about responsibility. And sometimes it got pretty depressing. I’d dutifully examine the previous year and try to figure out what changes I should try to make in my life. What should I try to do differently so that I could become more “responsible” in thought, word, and deed?
But all the time, there was that nagging feeling that it wasn’t going to work anyway. I’d do ok for the first few days or weeks, but then I’d slack off again.
If you want a clue about what my problem with responsibility was, just look back over what I’ve written so far, and count the number of times I said “I.”
It all revolved around me. Responsibility meant that I had to do something. I had to make changes, I had to become a better person. I was completely depending upon myself. Sometimes I’d feel pretty confident that I could keep my resolutions; other times I didn’t feel capable at all.
It reminds me of a story Fr. George Kosicki likes to tell about a young priest who went to his spiritual director in complete depression and told him, “Father, I just feel so inadequate.” His spiritual director laughed and said, “Well of course you’re inadequate!”
What’s all this got to do with a spelling? I’m getting to it.
Babsie pulled me out of my “inadequacy syndrome” by respelling and redefining responsibility.
“Response-ability,” she said, “is my response to God’s ability.”
Of course we’re inadequate! But God’s not. A response is an answer, a reply. I’m not initiating anything. God is! He’s calling me. Response-ability is my reply to him, my yes to His call. It’s when I respond, not depending upon myself, but trusting that if He’s calling me to do something, He’ll give me the strength to do it.
As Babsie put it, “My weakness is no deterent to His grace. All He needs is my yes. When God calls you, He enables you, And the grace that enables you is there before He calls you.”
What you and I need to do is make sure that we involve God in the process from the very beginning. Resolutions should be made on our knees.
I shouldn’t be deciding what I ought to do and then depending on myself to do it. In the quiet hush of daily prayer, I should be giving God the opportunity to call me, to let me know what He wants me to do. And then I should respond with a full yes, trusting in His ability to make all things new.