I'm a Rouser

Is 50:4-7 “The Lord God has given me a well-trained tongue,

that I might know how to speak to the weary a word that will rouse them.

Morning after morning he opens my ear that I may hear; and I have not rebelled, have not turned back.

I gave my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who plucked my beard; my face I did not shield from buffets and spitting.

The Lord God is my help, therefore I am not disgraced; I have set my face like flint, knowing that I shall not be put to shame.”

I thought of myself and the relationship my tongue and I have with Jesus when I read this.

He has certainly given me a ton of opportunities to train my tongue. I learned how to communicate through the hundreds of conversations I’ve had with clients as a hairstylist and the thousands of blog posts and YouTube videos I’ve created. I've also learned that my communication style does not appeal to everyone and needs continual fine-tuning.

My words have always been directed at those who need rousing. I need regular rousing and appreciate being allowed to do so for others. The world has been unroused for many years in many regards. Recently, a rousing of sorts has occurred, but the rousing has not been to reality, but a distortion. A rousing to being dazed instead of fully asleep is good but not the ultimate good. So the rousing of my alternative perspective seems more critical.

I am not only a rouser for those fully asleep to the reality of Christ and the truth of His Church but also for those who are awake to Christ but get discouraged by the dazed they live among inside and outside the Church. My strong words and expression of those words reinforce the Truth they strive to live each day.

Morning after morning, He opens my ears through Scripture so that I might hear His rousing message for me. Through the Liturgy of the Hours, He speaks to my heart and mind, forming me for my benefit and that of others. He lovingly corrects me so that I may be better able to lovingly correct others.

Unfortunately, I do often rebel and turn back. I rebel against His love by turning back to pleasure seeking and away from Christ seeking. These can not coexist for we can not serve God and Mammon. Thankfully the turns away have become less frequent and last for shorter periods—hours rather than days. But the falls and leaps into sin are still there.  To my surprise, He does not rebel and turn away from me. He continues to draw closer despite my sinfulness thanks to the grace and absolution of Reconciliation.

My ability to have my beard plucked and my back beaten has also grown. I am far less reactionary than I used to be, though I still intermittently deal with the spirit of revenge. I know suffering is part of the Catholic life and so I grow in my ability to cooperate with the grace given me to suffer as Christ did.

And so I set my face like flint. I speak whenever I feel invited to do so. I talk about the truth as the Church teaches it even when our teachers grow timid and confused. I accept the difficulty of rousing others and my willing participation in His work to save souls, especially those that don’t want saving. Only by His grace do I persevere. Thanks be to God.

Human-written, AI spell-checked 3/28/21 AD

Image from asianefficiency.com