Be Obsessed with Profit
A few weeks ago, my family traveled to San Diego for my sister-in-laws wedding. Upon hearing that my wife is expecting (and suffering), that we took our two children (ages 4 and 2), and that they were asked to sit through three dinners that each lasted over three hours, people asked the same question in the same way, “Yikes! How did it go?”
Since I was first asked the question, I’ve been trying to conjure up an answer that best describes the trip itself.
On the one hand, it was incredible. There’s nothing like traveling and seeing the world through your child’s eyes. The delight in my daughters voice at the sight of her first pelican or the laughter from my son the Pacific Ocean splashed his face for the first time made the trip unquestionably worth it. And that’s to say nothing of the excitement and joy experienced by all throughout the actual wedding.
On the other, it was really hard. Keeping the kiddos entertained, well-behaved and well-rested was seemingly impossible. Inevitably the time change or the demands of sitting still for long periods or the cold they were suffering from got the best of them and a bit of chaos would ensue.
So, how do I describe all of that in one sentence? Do I just talk about the good? Do I say that it was really hard but really good and try and explain why?
None of that seemed particularly accurate or indicative of the full experience.
Well, the morning after the trip, I was sitting alone in the prayer space we have in our house and I came across this idea from the great saint and spiritual master St. Francis DeSales on cultivating virtue:
“The greatest happiness of anyone is to ‘gain his life’; and the more perfect our patience, the more fully we do so possess our souls. [To do that,] call often to mind that our Savior redeemed us by bearing and suffering, and in like manner we must seek our own salvation amid sufferings and afflictions; bearing insults, contradictions and troubles with all the gentleness we can possibly command.”
In other words, to gain your life, to be happy in this world and the next, requires us to look at the circumstances of our daily lives a universal profit centers. The profit being spiritual, emotional, and mental intimacy with God.
Maybe I’m the only one, but when I view the circumstances of my day, I look at it from the lens of questions like: “Is this going as I planned it to go?”, “Is this how I would do it?”, “How does this make me feel?”, and “what does this moment mean for my life or relationships?”
But the saints didn’t look at the events of their day like this, or at least they tried not to. Instead, the saints became obsessed with profit. They asked questions like, “What is God trying to do in this moment?”, or “where is God in this experience,” or “what is God calling me to do here?”
St. Francis DeSales used to write that learning to recognize God's presence in the present moment was an essential part of spiritual growth because it was only in that context where one can profit from all things.
When he says all things, Francis DeSales meant ALL THINGS. Every moment of every day, the highs and the lows, the suffering and the joy, and everything in between, contained the potential for personal profit. Through a commitment of trust that God is the author of all things, and that all things work for the good of those who love him, all things become profitable.
That annoying co-worker is a profit center. So is traffic, the diet you need to go on to get healthy, the car breakdown, the missed flight, the job loss, the graduation, the needy sibling, the crying baby, the illness, the promotion, the mortgage, the messy house, your snoring spouse...everything.
Or in my case, the crying children, sandy clothes, shallow small talk, sleep deprivation, airplane wrestling matches, and side-eyes from weary travelers, they were just as much gifts from God as the laughter, the giggles, the dancing, and the joy of discovery. If not more so.
So, how was our trip to San Diego? It was profitable. Truly and deeply profitable in the best way possible.
Cheers,
Jack
P.S.In June, I'm leading a group of people on a daily, virtual pilgrimage through the Litany of Humility. It's literally the master playbook for maximizing spiritual, emotional and mental profit in your daily life. BTW, the pilgrimage is free. The only profit from this thing will be what God does in your life and mine. You can sign up here.
