The Call to Holiness is a Call to Take a Journey. The journey we are called to is a spiritual journey – a journey in search of the true meaning and purpose of life.

There are two very different attitudes we can choose about this spiritual journey. Our decision will affect how we see God and how we act. One possibility is to think of the spiritual life as a call to be perfect. Seeking perfection, if by perfection we mean a finished product or a life without any mistakes or problems, is not a very helpful attitude because it implies a goal that is static and closed. When we think of perfection in this way, we too easily see life as a question of black and white. We tend to think of ourselves and of others as either good or bad, in the state of grace or in the state of sin. In this view, if there is any movement in our lives, it is like jumping in and out of the pool of grace or bouncing on or off the trampoline of sin. We tend to see God as a judge and a scorekeeper, and judge ourselves by how perfectly we keep the rules. If we do keep them, we think of ourselves as having arrived, as being among the saved. It betrays an attitude that says: God loves me if I keep all the rules and punishes me if I don’t. It surly doesn’t recognize God’s revelation through Jesus that we are the Temples of God’s own Spirit.

The other possibility is to think of the spiritual life as a process, a pilgrimage or journey that is never finished as long as we are breathing. With this attitude, we see both good and bad in ourselves. We realize that we are neither good nor bad, but someplace in-between. We are conscious that both grace and sin are working in us, that we are far from finished products. That we always have the potential for more growth. We recognize that sin is part and parcel of our journey, but we do not see sin as a sign of total failure. Rather, we see sin as a part of a larger reality, of a greater redemptive story. We realize that the only fatal mistake is stopping on our journey, because stopping leads to stagnation, even to spiritual death.

To begin thinking in this fashion takes change. We must realize that life is given to us, with all of its challenges and successes, to help us grow. There is no real limit to the growth that we can make. There will never be a time when we will no longer need to grow or change.

For some reason, lots of people think of death as bringing a life that never is challenged and is static. It would be horrible, in my estimation, to think that eternal life means that I will never have to change. How boring! Change, although it is hard at time, is the ultimate sign of life. It is exciting and wonderful.             Think about this!