Salt + Light Media Menu
Salt + Light Media Home
Magnifying Glass
coverPhoto
Premium content

Asset title

Asset description

The Beauty in those Frustrating Flecks of White

Matthew Harrison

Friday, March 9, 2007

When I ran out my front door the other day and began my sprint for the streetcar (the way I usually begin my morning commute) I couldn’t help but notice that it was snowing.
“More snow,” I thought, “Does it ever end?”
I am sick of the white stuff, wearied of the cold, irritated by the wind chill warnings that flash on my television, and frustrated by the salt stains that keep reappearing on my shoes.
Three months ago, I couldn’t wait for it to snow. Now I can hardly wait for green grass, blooming flowers and chirping birds.
Soon enough I’ll probably get sick of that. I’ll start complaining about the sun blinding me as I run out my front door and sprint for the streetcar; tearing up the green grass, trampling the blooming flowers, and shaking my fist at the chirping birds that woke me an hour before my alarm was supposed to.
Isn’t it interesting that we often look forward to something, and after attaining it and enjoying it for a while, we grow tired of it? It’s lost its luster, its shine, its appeal.
And we wonder: why did I even want that in the first place?
Maybe that’s something you’re experiencing now. A course at school, a relationship, a job, maybe even a Lenten resolution -- It’s not quite what you expected.
I don’t think our shift in attitude is something that should alarm us. We legitimately try things to see if it suits us. Sometimes things do, at other times they do not. As long as it isn’t sinful, it provides an opportunity to learn about ourselves – whether it be a certain field of schooling or a particular job.
On the other hand, at other times we may be on the right path to something, but we are experiencing a period where we find no satisfaction in it.
Take for example our faith.
Sometimes we have such a fire burning within us we feel we could convert a country.
At other times we can hardly drag ourselves to Mass on Sunday.
It’s not that we have suddenly lost our faith or that God has abandoned us. It may be a period where God is calling us closer to him, and asking us to look harder for him and to search deeper (One thinks of St. John of the Cross’ Dark Night of the Soul).
There is beauty in those snowflakes that fell during my morning commute. Even in those frustrating flecks of white, and even in the things that I find to be a struggle, God is working. He is teaching me something.
What is God showing you today?
Categories:


Related Articles:

Category: General Posts

Pray with the Pope Reflection – July 2025

Friday, July 11, 2025

Fr. Edmund Lo, SJ

The Holy Father invites us to pray that we might again learn how to discern, to know how to choose paths of life and reject everything that leads us away from Christ and the Gospel.

Pray with the Pope Reflection – June 2025

Friday, June 13, 2025

Fr. Edmund Lo, SJ

In this month of June, the Holy Father invites us to pray that the world might grow in compassion, that each one of us might find consolation in a personal relationship with Jesus, and from his Heart, learn to have compassion on the world.

Chaplaincy: “Divine Coffee” for Students

Tuesday, June 10, 2025

Gianpaolo Capozzi

Gianpaolo gives us a behind the scenes look at his upcoming Behold segment on the York University Catholic Chaplaincy.

Pope Leo XIV’s homily for Pentecost Sunday 2025

Sunday, June 8, 2025

Pope Leo XIV

On Sunday, June 8, 2025, Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass for the Jubilee of Movements, Associations, and New Communities and spoke about how the Holy Spirit helps the apostles overcome "their fear, shatters their inner chains, heals their wounds, anoints them with strength and grants them the courage to go out to all and to proclaim God’s mighty works."

Homily of Pope Leo XIV at the Mass for the Jubilee of Families, Children, Grandparents, and the Elderly

Sunday, June 1, 2025

Pope Leo XIV

Pope Leo XIV celebrated Mass for the Jubilee of Families, Children, Grandparents, and the Elderly and referred to Pope Francis and mentioned spouses who have been beatified and canonized, like the parents of St. Therese of the Child Jesus.

SUPPORT LABEL

Receive our newsletters
Stay Connected
Receive our newsletters
Stay Connected
Copyright © 2025 Salt and Light Catholic Media Foundation
Registered Charity # 88523 6000 RR0001
FR | CH