photo by PuyoDead

Last spring we bulldozed a walking path around part of our property.  The idea behind this quarter-mile bulldozing project was to give us a clear path – a place where we could take family walks together. I wanted to find an evening activity we could do as a family, but because the weeds, scrub oaks and trees were so dense, I usually lumbered through our property alone, if at all.

A bulldozer was our only option to make this area accessible to everyone.  The bulldozer easily cleared away the brush and the weeds, but uprooting the trees took a lot more work.  The powerful machinery backed up and lurched forward many times, hitting the trees at different angles, slowly uprooting the massive, well established towers blocking the path.  It was a rather unsettling scene actually, but the end result was marvelous.

As I walk this path, I am reminded of others throughout history that have cleared their own paths. The prophets and Saints, each show us how to remove the roots, weeds and brush that may cause us to stumble, and the trees that block our view of where we are headed.

The one foremost in my mind is St. John the Baptist, whose martyrdom we have just celebrated (August 29). His whole purpose was to prepare the way for the coming of Jesus Christ.  He did this by living a life of extreme mortification, disciplining his will and making room for God’s will to be done through him.

A weaker man, still cultivating his own desires, would not have chosen to suffer in the desert nor endured persecution at the hands of the king and queen.  But John was able to hold strong and keep his will at bay and continue proclaiming the word of God right up to the moment of his execution.  By weeding his heart of his own will, he cleared that pathway between God and himself and was able to serve God completely.

We cannot serve both God and man. And we cannot fulfill God’s will if we are still devoted to cultivating our own desires and cluttering up our path.  Just as the bulldozer cleared the trees and the brush, we must remove anything that blocks our way to our Lord, no matter how small it seems.

I have noticed that if we do not walk our path every day, the weeds start to grow back and the remaining tree roots start to send up new shoots. Our wills are hearty and insistent, which is why we must be diligent to keep them under control.  We are fallen creatures, prone to preserve our wills and even nurture them instead of rooting them up before they grow too big.  This indulgent tendency is so strong that it often takes an entire lifetime of effort and God’s great grace to get our wills under control.

And if that wasn’t hard enough, we parents have the additional duty to set our children on the right pathway and teach them how to weed out their own wills as well. Trees grow quickly.  Teach them to recognize their wills taking root, and show them how to weed it out while they are still young.

For starters, let them see you control your own will.  You do not have to live on honey and locusts, but do try to resist that second helping at dinnertime.  Do not turn on the TV.  Play with your child instead of chatting on the phone.  Greet your family cheerfully in the morning, even if you were up all night taking care of a sick child.

Praying and works of mercy are also forms of mortification and easy acts your entire family can participate in.  Show them how each simple act of mortification shows our Lord our love for Him, and helps to tame our wills as well.

This spirit of mortification, so taboo in today’s society, will enable your children to adjust to any adversity and will prepare them to do God’s will, no matter what the calling may be.  Once your pathway is cleared, your household will be more peaceful, your family’s hearts more open to God and your walk with Christ will become a joyful one.

Now, as we stroll along our pathway, my children place wildflowers at the small shrines they built along the way, and eagerly seek out perfect niches to build new grottos and shrines, inviting Mary and their favorite Saints to accompany them as they travel along their path.  I am reminded continuously that with St. John the Baptist and all the other saints who fearlessly trail blazed before us, what was once a lonely and arduous obstacle course is now a breezy walkway lined with a host of heavenly friends cheering us on to the finish line.

Cassandra Poppe homeschools her 5 children on Thunder Duck Ranch in Oklahoma.  When she is not weeding her personal pathway to Heaven, she writes, holds Catholic retreats and seminars, and runs Intercessories Family Ministry – a ministry dedicated to helping families embrace the richness of their Catholic faith.  She also attempts to blog in all her spare time.

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