'God Only'

Giving up soul care for Lent.
Mark Galli
2/26/2009

Excerpt:
That's the difference between healthy and neurotic spirituality: What is our first love? Who is our first love? While we are rightly concerned about losing our devotion to Christ because of some "worldly attraction," usually the temptation lies within. The question is not, "Am I spiritual yet?" and not even, "Do I love God?" (for this question in the end is about our love). The question is not a question but a focus: God.

There is a reason Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God. It's not to care for your soul. It's not to practice spirituality. It's not to transform the world or change culture or evangelize the world. All of these things have their place. But the greatest command is to love God.

The little-known 19th-century French nun Lucie Christine described a moment that crystallizes the point of all soul care and spirituality:

Suddenly, I saw before my inward eyes these words — God only … they were at the same time a Light, an Attraction, and a Power. A Light which showed me how I could belong completely to God alone in this world, and I saw that hitherto I had not well understood this; an Attraction by which my heart was subdued and delighted; a Power which inspired me with a generous resolution and somehow placed in my hands the means of carrying it out.

A light, an attraction, and a power unparalleled — God only. So if you are as tempted as I constantly am to take the measure of your soul, you may want to consider abandoning soul care for 40 days, and give your whole attention to the only One worth our obsessive devotion.
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