Does everything happen for a reason?
Writing prisoners is a deep learning experience for me. Each unique with their own struggles and of course some doing better than others. I have been writing some for quite a while and am starting to trust them more than in the beginning. I am truly amazed at some of their growth in the faith. As well as their ability to take responsibility for their past and what they have done.
There are two especially that seem to taking deep root in their desire to change their lives and to break away from their past, whose hold can be very powerful and at times very destructive.
One prisoner who I responded to recently is really worried about his family as well as events that have happened and or happening in his life and the lives of his family. He asked me if the saying: “Everything happens for a reason”, is something that I agree with. I am going to share a small part of the letter I sent him deals with this subject. I will call him John.
Quote: (Hi John…..Does everything happen for a reason you asked. Good question. Life does seem chaotic, but many of our problems come from our choices we make in life. We have a certain level of freedom in how our journey goes, though not completely. We struggle to become freer in our lives, to try to let go of our past which can have a strong hold on us. Family situations are passed on from one generation to another…..until some or all in the family break the cycles of destruction and chaos. I think you are trying to do that my good friend. We weave a tapestry with our lives. There are many threads; some chosen by us, others thrown at us from our family backgrounds, which are part of our tapestry that we weave just by living day by day.
No matter what path we choose it will demand everything eventually. So for Christ Jesus to demand everything is in reality for our benefit. He gives life, more life and healing the more we give ourselves over to him. In reality his cross is lighter than the crosses we create for ourselves, through free choice or through compulsion that comes from past conditioning. Christ tells us to love ourselves for only in that can we be changed and allow ourselves to trust in his mercy and love.
So does everything happen for a reason? What I can say is that for all who love Christ Jesus all things work out for the good, no matter what. For then God takes the threads of our lives and through grace weaves a beautiful tapestry filled with light beauty and grace. His gift to us, his mercy and grace allows our humanity to blossom, giving us a loving heart and not one self centered and filled with fear.
Jesus being the’ Word’ has always been at work in the world, his incarnation is the revelation that shows us that. He is at work in your life, in the lives of your family and in all of humankind. That is why it is important to join your self with Christ and pray for all, for in prayer we are in God’s time, where all time, moments and years are before him as one moment.
Yet all we have is today, so that is what is important. To be faithful, to strive to be more open to God’s grace, and when old habits or cycles reassert themselves, to again turn back to the road Christ wants us to walk. Life can be so hard that we can easily forget that our choices under duress are the most important. When we suffer, or are in chaos, it is hard to see or to believe in a larger reality that we are all part of. I believe that those who follow the twelve step program show that truth.) End of quote
He is also worried because he will be released and is having trouble finding a halfway house in Georgia. I believe they are overwhelmed and are not responding to his letters. There are those who want to change and will and hopefully contribute to society. I hope that John is one of those. He knows that when he is released that he will have to face his tendency to seek the easiest way to solve dilemmas, which only make things worse. That is why he is trying to develop more discipline in his life and to line up is priorities. For those who pray please pray for him. For love hopes for all things.
Br. Mark Dohle, OCSO
Holy Spirit Monastery
