Paralyed at times by the faith

[pwlj_christ87]

hey brothers and sisters,

i love the faith and being catholic but sometimes , maybe im at a stage, where im paralyzed by the faith…

i overthink, or underthink… i often times dont know what to do or not sure how to do gods will so ill sleep, pray, adn time goes by … i am bad at judging about temporal goods. whether or not i should go to a hockey game which costs a little bit, or play video games…

im bad at discerning at times, so it leaves me paralyzed… and i know christ and a life in his is more bountiful than a life without,

so what can i do , and i know i must speak to a spirutal director

 

[henpecked]

I try to take a practical approach to things. Put things into perspective and priority. Not sure your current life situation - married, not married, a student, an adult, kids no kids…

but generally:

are you meeting your core responsibilities? work, home, family etc.

do you have a family budget? prioritize your budget for spending and stick to it. Budget certainly can include fun money if you have any left over after the higher priority expenditures. Nothing wrong with a hockey game.

Are you replacing some higher priority thing to do the fun thing?

Is your spiritual house in order? or is that being compromised by fun things?

I don’t know… just things I try to think through. don’t know if it’s helpful or not.

 

[Michael19682]

hey brothers and sisters,

i love the faith and being catholic but sometimes , maybe im at a stage, where im paralyzed by the faith…

i overthink, or underthink… i often times dont know what to do or not sure how to do gods will so ill sleep, pray, adn time goes by … i am bad at judging about temporal goods. whether or not i should go to a hockey game which costs a little bit, or play video games…

im bad at discerning at times, so it leaves me paralyzed… and i know christ and a life in his is more bountiful than a life without,

so what can i do , and i know i must speak to a spirutal director

Dear pwlj_Christ87,
I’ve read some of your concerns on other threads. You have assigned yourself a certain role in the Church which, though like all life in Christ, is personally challenging, must also not allow any decision to frustrate God’s plan for your happiness and wholeness. So in the parable below, both sides of the dialogue belong to us when we judge ourselves. Nobody likes to cut down a tree that has taken time to grow. Some of our past-times show pay, others are not so worthy of spending more time on them. The person with the fig tree looks like he is advocating for the soil, with its limited resources in mind; the gardener, advocating for patience and prudent experimentation with the tree’s true yield capacity, along with what he probably hopes is his skill at cultivation.
Either way, a lot can happen in a year. What to prune from your life schedule and what to keep are good questions for anyone, not just a spiritual discerner.

Luke 13:6-9
And he told them this parable: “There once was a person who had a fig tree planted in his
orchard, and when he came in search of fruit on it but found none, 7 he said to the gardener, ‘For three years now I have come in search of fruit on this fig tree but have found none. [So] cut it down. Why should it exhaust the soil?’ 8 He said to him in reply, ‘Sir, leave it for this year also, and I shall cultivate the ground around it and fertilize it; 9 it may bear fruit in the future. If not you can cut it down.’”

 

[ClearWater]

I try to take a practical approach to things. Put things into perspective and priority. Not sure your current life situation - married, not married, a student, an adult, kids no kids…

but generally:

are you meeting your core responsibilities? work, home, family etc.

do you have a family budget? prioritize your budget for spending and stick to it. Budget certainly can include fun money if you have any left over after the higher priority expenditures. Nothing wrong with a hockey game.

Are you replacing some higher priority thing to do the fun thing?

Is your spiritual house in order? or is that being compromised by fun things?

I don’t know… just things I try to think through. don’t know if it’s helpful or not.

And at some point in life, savings would also be good.