Letting Go of Taking Life Too Seriously

Editor’s Note: Development Associate Sarah Sokora shares how the precarious walk to work after a recent snowstorm led to some deeper realizations and a reminder not to take herself so seriously.

The Lord often shows Himself to me in little ways: an unexpected breeze, a warm sign of peace from the little old lady at mass or a chipmunk scampering across my path on the walk to work. Happy little bits of my day that turn my thoughts towards Him and my gaze to the sky. However, sometimes His little self-revelations are of a less benign, though equally amusing, sort.

One such glimpse of God took place just a few weeks ago, after snowstorm Jonas bestowed two feet of the sparkly white stuff on DC. After an extended weekend of frolicking and freezing, it was deemed safe to head back to work, so the other associates and I began the usual walk to work. We hopped over small drifts, skirted icy patches, and were generally making a good show of it.

I was a bit grumpy because I was worried that my boots would get damp and that I would have to spend all day in the office with wet feet. Being wet indoors for hours on end is one of my particular pet peeves. Commence the grumbling. Being a fast walker, I had taken the lead and was making good time, when all of a sudden, I found myself past ankle-deep in a puddle of slushy, murky snowmelt. I looked up to my housemates, back down, and back up. And I laughed. Hard.

That rush of icy snowmelt was, for me, a gentle touch from Our Loving Father, an invitation to let my perfectionism and anxiety be washed away. So what if I looked ridiculous? So what if my boots were wet all day? Life is so much more than being dry and looking like I have it all together. I basically skipped to work after that, giggling randomly the whole way and looking positively ridiculous.

This was such a small thing, an incident that could have easily been added to a long list of little occurrences that add up to a “bad day,” but a little openness to the promptings of the Holy Spirit let me see it for what it was: a little beckoning to not take myself so seriously and to follow Him Whom my heart loves along the road to Calvary with a little more trust, even in wet boots.

Reflection Questions: Do you notice the little ways that God reveals Himself in daily life? What causes you to stop and say a prayer of gratitude?