I
t's extremely difficult to keep true Hope alive in your heart, every moment of the day. I'm not even a particularly worry-prone person, and I still fret about the future on a daily basis. How will I deal with this? What if that happens? What if I lose the respect of the people I love? What if I'm not able to carry the burdens asked of me?
How do I put it in God's hands? How do I teach myself to see that whatever happens to me is the material of my sanctification? And thus, how do I use that material well? Maybe this is the kind of constant prayer that I need -- prayer to discern how a lump like myself gets turned into a saint. I have not been asked to bear very many crosses in my life, and I've earned one or two by now. Lord, help me carry them well.