People are hungry for power! In our age heavily dependent on gadgets and gizmos, battery life is an important consideration before buying any gadget. This is more evident now when we see more and more people purchase power banks that allow them to conveniently charge their device anytime, anywhere.
Practically anyone who lives in civilization has enough and easy access to electrical sources to charge their devices. But city-dwellers are still insecure that they might get caught running low on power and not be able to call, chat, surf, text or miss an eventful selfie! [SIGH!]
Perhaps, this will become more intense if our country enters again into another phase of major serial power failures that we had once horribly experienced in the not-so-distant past. Sales for power banks will surely soar, and people buying gadgets will always consider how much talk & net hours the gadget can provide.
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If this is how important maintaining battery power is to us, I wonder what we are doing to also store up enough grace power: The only one that can charge us properly to reach heaven. Grace power, in the form of God’s charity dwelling in our hearts, is the only condition that allows the person to connect with God. When we are discharged of this power, we are incapable of reaching God. Only God can give us grace, only He can make us holy. But how can we spiritually charge ourselves?
The three common levels of battery monitoring and charging utilities may be a helpful analogy. These are Fast Charge – the use of constant current to perform a fast charge; Full Charge – the current is reduced when the battery is almost charged; Trickle Charge – keep the electrons flowing inside the lithium battery, making up for self-discharge and allows longer life.
Fast charge usually occurs when our battery levels are low. This is what happens when we may unfortunately lose grace by falling into a grave and mortal sin. This discharges us by filling us with self-love. Charity is short-circuited and we are powerless to connect with God.
We get a fast charge of grace when, for example, we go to confession immediately. But we shouldn’t only wait for such precarious occasions. It would be like frantically charging our phones or tablets only when they get as low as 10%. Moreover, one need not limit fast charges to sinful moments. One can get a fast charge when going to Mass, offering some corporal or spiritual works of mercy and other pious devotions.
A full charge complements the fast charge. It stresses more the element of constancy in our spiritual engagements. This stage isn’t the result of sporadic spiritual need for healing. It is more like a stable phase that is maintained by a committed desire to love God and others. Thus, one has a set of spiritual norms, sacrifices and even the sacraments. Here, one is charging not only for himself, but also for others.
The trickle charge, my favorite, is a stage that completes the two previous stages. This consists of a trickling but constant flow of love that penetrates even the most insignificant realities of daily life. For example, one exerts the effort –as St, Josemaría used to teach– to not only open or close a door gently, but couple it with a short, simple prayerful invocation.
This also applies when turning on or off a light switch, being cheerful in a traffic jam, remaining calm when we cannot connect to the Internet and so on with many other thousand small details.
These little but love-filled actions keep the electrons of grace vibrant in our hearts and souls. As a result, we are able to live more in the same vibes as God. We become vital channels of His grace to the world and others. Our trickle-charged souls are more capable of enduring the trials of this world, of exuding a constant love and sacrifice here on earth.
One day, if we are faithfully charged, we shall receive God’s reward in Heaven: ‘Good and faithful servant, because you have been faithful in the small things, enter into the joy of your master!’ There we shall be eternally linked to Grace itself, that will fill us with everlasting joy and peace.
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