NOTHING—NEITHER DEATH NOR LIFE—can "separate us from the love of God," the Apostle Paul wrote in his Epistle to the Romans (8:39). Despite the hardships Paul experienced, he remained convinced of this.
How could life ever separate us from God? Isn't the purpose of life to learn about God, and to find our way close to Him? I think the spiritually inclined would answer, yes. But mortal existence, by nature, can seem incredibly enticing, and includes whatever would distract us from advancing spiritually—an obsession with success, exercise, appearance, social or political causes, time itself, or getting swept up in an endless rush of family activities and commitments.
There was no lack of distractions for me, with a house full of children. I had the expected commitments to my young family, a very demanding career, and roles to fulfill at church. Often, I felt I just didn't have any time for myself to think and to grow spiritually, or simply to express more fully the love I felt for humanity. I recall one Saturday when I had lined soccer fields at dawn for our community, coached two games and refereed another. That afternoon I needed to drive over an hour to attend a statewide church meeting I was to chair. As I was pressing my way along the wooded road from our house to the highway, I remember exclaiming, "Why am I doing this? I can't stand it." I felt this meeting was taking me away from my family, with whom I had little time to spend during the week. A sense of injustice welled up. I had allowed myself to lose sight of God's presence, the atmosphere of Love that embraced me always, even in that moment of exasperation. I knew then that I needed to stop focusing on me—a mortal separated from divine Love's direction—as if the duties I had were on my shoulders alone. There could be no loss from acts of unselfed love prompted by a desire to do good for my community and my church. Neither my family nor I would suffer.
