I’m Shrinking

Oct 23

I am shrinking, in height that is, not in weight... although that would be nice! But I am definitely shrinking. I notice that my pants should probably be raised a bit and if I ever buy a new pair they should be a half to a full inch shorter.

I know this happens to older people, my dad for example, who was a police officer, was a tall strong man but I noticed in the later part of his life that he began to shrink. Of course, he was getting old by then. It’s funny although I am now 81, I don’t think of myself as old, but I am still shrinking.

What I hope is that even as I shrink in height I will not shrink in heart. It can happen you know. I see it from time to time when I lose patience with some of my 7th and 8th-grade Latin students. I see it when I jump too quickly to judge another person even before I have all the facts. These and similar signs indicate that the heart can shrink too! I don’t like that. I don’t want my heart to shrink as my height does, even if so little.

In my spiritual reading the other day I came across a prayer that Fr. Louis Brisson, OSFS, founder of the Oblates, gave to the first Oblates during a retreat he preached for them. I think I ought to begin praying this a bit more often so my heart doesn’t shrink like my height. You may want to do the same if you have started to shrink or maybe put this prayer aside until that day comes. The prayer goes like this:

May Our Lord, who has brought us together, bless us, and may He give us that great heart that He gave to Solomon; that heart which rises above even itself; that embraces the totality of the Divine Will; that embraces every neighbor; every eventuality; everything that God permits. This great profound tremendous heart…as wide as the sea…and I add: “Dear Lord let my heart not shrink - no matter what!”

St. Francis de Sales reminds us: “Our words must come from the heart, not the mouth. The tongue speaks only to the ears. The heart speaks to the heart.”

Let’s make sure our hearts never shrink.