Editor’s note: Throughout July, we’re hosting 31 Days with St. Ignatius, a month-long celebration of Ignatian spirituality. In addition to the calendar of Ignatian articles found here, posts on dotMagis this month will explore the theme of “Finding God in the Unexpected.”
I was in Bosnia and Herzegovina with a delegation from Catholic Relief Services (CRS). We were there to see firsthand the life-saving work that CRS was doing in that country.
One of the communities we visited had recently been devastated by flooding. I remember sitting in a bare room—cement floors and empty walls—across from one of the survivors. There were seven of us gathered, seated on folding chairs, listening to this man share his story.
The floods came quickly; there was little time to save many personal effects. But this man had found among the wreckage of his home a bottle of home-brewed rakia, a particularly potent alcohol. He wanted us to have it as a small token of gratitude to CRS for helping the community rebuild.
“But we’re not the ones doing the rebuilding,” we said. “Please, keep your bottle.” It was one of the remaining artifacts of his old life. And to be honest, none of us there particularly wanted to drink it!
The man insisted; his gift would not be refused. And so, we accepted, begrudging yet grateful. And while none of us really liked the drink, we did our best to finish it. It felt like the right and respectful thing to do in light of the great gift that had been given us.
I think of that man often. The image is fuzzy in my mind, but the resolute determination with which he gave us that bottle—that sole surviving piece of his home—is sharp. Was God there, in that moment? Of course. God was present in the community being formed, in the resilience of that man and his family, in the good work of CRS, and in the lives that were being put back together.
God was there in a more intangible way too: in the insistence of a gift given; in the abundant desire to share even from a place of hardship; in the gift received even when unwanted. Most of all, God was there in our wrestling with the gift in community thereafter, in the desire to reverence the gift-giver by not wasting what was freely given.
How often does God desire to give us good gifts? Always and forever, God desires to shower us with graces. We are the ones who refuse, ignore, or insist we are unworthy. But God remains, seated in the chair across the room, arm outstretched, offering us everything and hoping that we reach back and receive.
What keeps us from accepting God’s good gifts?
Our ways are not God’s ways; we assume that all gifts must be earned or repaid. We’ll get the next round, increase our offering at the next charitable event, or match our relative’s birthday-gift generosity during Christmas. We meet an insistent gift-giver with a suspicious eye.
But in the giver, we glimpse the Great Giver, God, who gives without counting the cost, expects nothing in return, and cannot do anything other than love us.
How are we called to respond?
Today in 31 Days with St. Ignatius, read How Ignatian Spirituality Gives Us a Way to Discern God’s Will by David L. Fleming, SJ. Share the link to this or any article from our site with the hashtag #31DayswithIgnatius on your favorite social media channels.
Thank you for this, Eric.
We are, I think, reluctant to receive gifts. We resist receiving love and loving care. We do not fully accept that we are worthy. The problem is that if we don’t believe we are worthy, if we don’t believe we are lovable, we never fully receive the gifts that we are given, we never receive the love that is given. We are, then, never fully in relationship – with God and with others who Hod had given us to be in loving relationship with.