Changing myself requires a commitment...

     Last night, I had the privilege of attending an evening of reflection, where the guest speaker was a priest named Father Dan. A good friend of mine who knows him characterized him as a "go-getter of souls." He is that. Unhesitatingly.
     Father Dan said many thought-provoking things that I am sure touched everyone in attendance, but this post is about one in particular.
     He told us that a great philosopher was once asked, "What is wrong with the world?"
     The philosopher replied, "I am."
     It is I who needs to change.
     Father Dan went on to tell us that if we ask God to help us with the area we most struggle with... if we sincerely commit to cutting out, with the help of God's grace, the one area that is the cancer in our lives... by the end of the year, it will be gone.
     But we have to mean it. And commit to ridding our lives of whatever vice afflicts us by praying for the opposite virtue. At the end of the year, where the cancer once was, there, the Lord will be.
     Father Dan went on to assure us that God will speak to us about the very thing we are struggling with, through conversations, homilies, chance encounters... God will use everything... if we only will listen... and see.
     I heard Glenn Beck on the radio this morning, and he told this story:
     "There was a man who decided to change the world. He was unsuccessful. So he decided to change his country. But again, he was unsuccessful. So he decided to change his city. But he was unsuccessful. So he decided to change his community. But he failed. So he decided to change his neighborhood. But he did not. So he decided to change his street. Again, he did not. So he decided to change his family. But he could not. So he decided to change himself.
     "At this, he succeeded. And by changing himself, his family changed, too. And when his family changed, so did his street. And then his neighborhood. And then his community. And then his city. And then his country. And soon, he had changed the world."
     It's the same story.
     What's the problem with the world? I am. The change will begin with me.
     God is speaking to me already.
     This year I will commit to changing myself. I will change my life. To be what God intended me to be.
     Father Dan said if you put a hot coal into a pile of cold coals, no matter what the other coals think, or what their attitudes are, they can not help but be ignited too.
     Change yourself, and see what happens. Commit to it.