with rocks in front of his class. He asked, “Is it full?” The students said, “Yes!”
Then he took small pebbles and shook them into the jar. “Is it full now?” Many
still said, “Yes.” Then he took sand and worked it into the jar. “Is it full now?”
Finally, the students got the point and said, “Not yet.”
Lastly, he topped off the jar with water and told them, “In life you have
to make sure you make room for the big important things first, and then the
medium size things, and lastly make room for the smaller, less important
things. If you fill your life with the small things first, you will find you have no
room left for the big things.”
This in essence is the same lesson the Lord is trying to convey to us: “Seek
first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be
added to you.” If we concentrate on the big important spiritual things that
really matter, then all the other smaller details will eventually fall into place.
Even focusing on spiritual matters will not bring a continual state of peace
on this earth. And believe it or not, that is a very good thing! We are all born
with hereditary tendencies to do evil; this is why the Lord said we must be
born again. During this process of being born again our tendency to delight
in doing evil comes into conflict with our conscience, based on what we know
to be good and true.
This is spiritual temptation, and it brings anxiety and despair. And this, we
are told, is a good thing because if we did not have any anxiety about our secret
tendencies toward evil, it would mean that we did not have a conscience and
could not be reformed. (See Arcana Coelestia 2689; 5470)
Now, after battling through temptations and emerging victorious, we
gradually come to a point where we realize that the Lord is always present as a
perpetual shield for us, and that He is always there to lift us up when the going
gets rough. (Ibid. 1787)
This is just like the man in the story of the “Footprints in the Sand”
who eventually came to the realization that when there was only one set of
footprints in the sand the Lord had not abandoned him but picked him up and
carried him.
This is the state of perpetual comfort and peace that the angels are in. For
they, through a life of experience, have come to acknowledge fully that indeed
the Lord’s words are true and that His promise made in Isaiah is sure: “I will
guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your
bones. You shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose
waters do not fail.” (Isaiah 58:11)
So what stands in our way from obtaining this stress-free life of peace?
One thing is that there is a certain group of nasty evil spirits called “conscience
mongers.” (Arcana Coelestia 5386) Their sole goal is to make you miserable!
They do this by trying to overburden your conscience with trivial matters that
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