Made in the Image of God

"Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God? You are not your own"—Paul said this to the Corinthians (1 Cor 6:19)  Sin against the body is also "profanation of the temple", the apostle also said.

Okay.  Gotcha.  We are all made in the Image of God, (we know that), and the Holy Spirit dwells within us.  Well, I don't know about y'all, but I've been "trashin'" the "Temple" for most of my life.   At the risk of sounding completely whiny, I have done too much damage, for far too long.  And now, I am paying the price.  Too late, I am trying to throw gears in reverse, and back up.   Some things I know I can reverse.  Some things, are  unfortunately (I am adamantly certain), gone forever.  This is one of those days where I am physically "not my best", and I'm mad at myself because it's my own fault.  Healing takes time.  And just because I'm not getting instantaneous results from my efforts, I know I have to keep doing what I'm doing, and things can't help but improve, at least to a degree.  (hoping for a high number on that "degree"!) 

It's sort of like when "Old Smut Face" (the devil) won't leave you alone, (does he ever?!), and you're being too hard-headed to get thine-self to Confession.  And then you WONDER why everything is wrong!   Gotta get that sin out.  Penance, pray, and give yourself a good spiritual "shower" to wash all that "bad" away.   

Why do we hide from God sometimes?  Human nature I guess.  We as humans hide ourselves when we are embarrassed, ashamed, or afraid.  Sometimes we hide to avoid a threat, or  things that are inconvenient.  Or hide when someone comes by that we'd rather avoid.. (which isn't nice, but I think a lot of us do that.)  I have done it, and I'm not proud of it.    Hiding.  Ha.  When I was a teenager, I'd run to the bathroom after dinner to try and get out of doing dishes.  If I made a bad grade, you'd better believe I did my very best to avoid my parents.  Even though I deserved punishment, I did not want to face them.  At. All.

Thus, we do the same thing with God.  Adam and Eve "hid" themselves because they were ashamed.  The cool thing though, is that Jesus still finds ways to reveal Himself and His Mercy to us, even when we are "hiding"!  The Blessed Mother tends to get your attention a lot too... she wants you to come to her Son!  And think about it.. He never hides from us... even when we are hiding from our own need of repentance.    Time to come out of hiding.  From ourselves, and from God.  And hey.. only a week of Lent is left!  Now more than ever, it's a great time to STOP hiding ourselves from the healing love of His Mercy.

We are wonderfully made in His Image.  We need to receive His Divine Mercy and let it flow through us to others.