We had, for a little while, a very fine friar (ask for definition and I will provide). A Polack, a plow-horse of a man, and a very good thinker. He and I taught together a little and talked together a lot. And I told him about my efforts here.
He said, "Ah! Bottom line Christianity."(You have to imagine the Dracula accent.)
Here's what I think he meant. It's related to what I struggled to express in my post about not being tacky.
When I pray, when I think of Jesus, I just don't think about what WILL happen.
Fr. Jacek would always say, "Eet is AWL about the Pairsonal Encounter weeth Christ!"
(I love this guy. I wrote a talk to give to my brothers and sister lay Dominicans and he said, "Eess a piece of crap," when I showed it to him. So I rewrote the whole thing, and I thanked him for holding my feet to the fire. He bowed to me!)
But what he said describes my "piety" (no, NOT ees a piece of crap!,though that may be true too.)
Look. How can I say this and convey the idea? In our 'ritual' there comes a time when the priest breaks the bread and we all say the "Agnus Dei"(again, ask if you need details.) My personal prayer at that time is this:
Lord Jesus, break my heart, for I trust that if you break it, you will mend it, and fill it with yourself, than whom I desire no one and nothing more.Your side is right in this. The lover wants a commitment and wants to make a commitment. So we want to hear our beloved pledge herself to us forever.
But in the throes of love, we MAKE commitments. We do not ask for them (though we are happy to hear them). I am, so to speak, too busy loving my Lord right here and now to think about tomorrow. I want him to know that I am his and my trust and hope is in him.
WHATEVER my fate, right now I love Him. This moment fills my mind.
And this plays into our not talking, our being almost embarrassed to talk about "blessed assurance". "I am my beloved's, and he is mine." Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
I think that is right. You hit the nail on the head. I do think we can add to that the promise of God that no one can be snatched from Him. You know in your heart what you feel and you know your desires. If those are truly wanting to know the Lord you can know as the text in my last post showed that you have eternal life. If you then add to that the promise that we can not be snatched away I believe that means “blessed assurance”.
I honestly don’t think you have to say “whatever my fate”. I believe you can know.