I was visiting family in Virginia recently, and we stopped at a war memorial — one that features sculptures of letters soldiers wrote home across 250 years of our country’s history. One of them really hit me. A soldier writing to his wife, closing with this:
“When we meet again, I can promise you that there will be no wasted moments. Every minute spent with you will be nothing less than a gift to be cherished. I have found that it isn’t necessary to be always doing: talking, eating, walking, dancing, swimming. There are many times I want only to know your presence, to hear you moving around, to see you next to me. There are many ways of loving. Perhaps the simplest are the most satisfying.”
There’s something here for our relationships — marriages, friendships, family. But there’s also something here for our relationship with God.
We can feel like prayer has to be productive. That we need to be doing something — reading, reciting, interceding. And none of that is bad. But sometimes, loving God looks like simply sitting with Him. Acknowledging His presence. Letting that be enough.
There are many ways of loving. Perhaps the simplest are the most satisfying.
Let us pray. Lord, help us to simply be with You today — not just to do, but to rest in Your presence. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
Keep fighting the good fight. Our Lady of Victory, pray for us.
