It’s pretty much like wall climbing, Ted,” the priest explained.
“Like how, Father Jim?”
“You’re the expert in climbing walls, you should know!” the priest replied.
“I’m not called the Gecko for nothing, but how exactly can climbing walls be compared to growing in one’s spiritual life.”
“Both go up! But let’s take it step by step.” Farther Jim laughed.
“I’m all ears, Father,” Ted straightened himself from his chair.
“I’ve observed that when wall climbers go up, they don’t only use ropes, but also pegs.”
“…right.”
“Well, I would like to focus on the pegs,” Father Jim said.
“The pegs…,” Ted repeated softly.
“Now, these pegs are only mini-ladders that allow you to conquer dangerous walls, but in case you slip, they are also like lifelines.”
“Correct. But how do all this relate to my spiritual life?”
“This is somehow related to what you shared about having problems with being constant in some of your spiritual goals like prayer, going to Mass, saying the Rosary, etc.”
“So the pegs are…,” Ted suddenly caught the idea and was thrilled.
“Right, we’re trying to scale the mountain of life towards the peak which is Heaven. The prayers, sacraments and other spiritual practices are the pegs that slowly help us up.”
“….but these are precisely what I can’t get on with,” Ted said.
“Get on with what?”
“I can’t even get a peg firmly on the wall. One day I manage to stick a peg, another day I don’t. Some even fall off!”
“Well, everyone has to begin somewhere. But like any wall-climber, the idea is not to give up,” Father Jim reminded him.
“Right! I’ll remember that, Father.”
“And we have to remember that unlike wall-climbing, what is important is putting at least one peg each day, no matter how small. Every bit of sincere effort, with the help of God’s grace, helps us to go up no matter what.”
“That’s nice to know,” Ted was consoled.
“But that’s not all. One cannot remain content. In other words, we try our best to put the peg a little higher, or at least within the same level, but with some detail of refinement and love.”
“But what if I never manage to hammer in a peg all the way?” Ted asked.
“Let’s take the example of reciting the Rosary daily. Maybe one may start off not finishing it at all or may have spent the entire prayer distracted.”
“That’s me, Father!”
“I didn’t mean to refer to you,” Father Jim laughed.
“So how exactly should I go about it?”
“I once heard that the worse way of saying the Rosary is not saying it. So even though we may only end up saying half of it, we must at least resolve to somehow say it better the next day and so on.”
“Isn’t that making the spiritual life sound uninteresting because you don’t get to accomplish anything?”
“That’s precisely what many souls, including myself, often misunderstand. We tend to focus on the results of what we can do, but we forget how God wants us to grow despite what to us appears as a failed attempt. What He wants to see is that whatever happens, we never lose our faith and hope in Him.”
“That’s not easy to understand and practice,” Ted confessed.
“Yup, especially when it’s so human to want to see and get results,” Father Jim said.
“So what else can you tell me about the pegs?”
“Oh, I almost forgot. There are also pegs that somehow keep you propped as you climb.”
“Other pegs?”
“Maybe they don’t exist in real wall-climbing, but in the spiritual life these ‘smaller pegs’ help us to gradually climb and reach the top.”
“What are they?”
“They are small pious acts or prayers that one strives to offer up to God and others constantly. For example, frequent acts of thanksgiving, reparation, penance, etc.”
“They sound like sheer random acts,” Ted observed.
“True, but one can set targets for how many acts of thanksgiving one makes during the day. Or how many times you will glance at a Crucifix in your room or an image of Mary, or reminding yourself to have some positive complement for your colleagues and so on.”
“But where do I work on these?”
“At least, like every wall-climber who prepares his equipment the night before, we also have the examination of conscience to prepare for the next day. It’s here where we set specific goals we wish, with God’s help, to achieve the next day.”
“Maybe I should start there,” Ted concluded.
“If you wish. And that is where you will precisely learn the meaning of P.E.G.,” Father Jim said.
“P.E.G.?”
“Yes, Personally Engaging God!”
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