By Fr. Glenn Jones:

Bummer. Winter cometh. Wind and cold. Snow. Long nights, short days. Little sun, bleak landscape. Bleah.

Even we who live in apartments and houses can feel this way; think of those without adequate housing or sleeping on the streets as they go through the winter. Who knows the circumstances which brought them to such a point—mental illness, misfortune, bad choices in life. One cannot help but think they must feel like they’ve hit rock bottom—the lowest point of their lives. Sadly, many may end up even lower if they don’t either change their ways or find help from another quarter; thus the importance of either helping them on one’s own or in some sort of group, organization or charity, which is preferred since many use handouts to continue their addictive spiral. We need remember: “But for the grace of God…”

Yet we need not be impoverished in the streets before we may feel that we’ve hit the low point of our lives—that colloquial “rock bottom”. One of the best pieces of advice is that, when you find yourself digging your hole deeper…stop digging! Easier said than done, of course. But “rock bottom” can for one coming awake provide a firm foundation upon which to begin building anew.

This brings to mind one of Jesus’ best-known instructions (if I may quote at some length): “Every one then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house upon the rock; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat upon that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock. And every one who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house upon the sand; and the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell; and great was the fall of it.” (Matthew 7:24-27) We likely all have witnessed, or at least know of, many who have built their houses on the ephemeral things of the world—the “sand” which the world tends to elevate almost to idolatry: money, notoriety, popularity, excessive pleasures, sexuality etc.—only to have their hope in finding fulfillment in such things collapse in the end, and ironically find that such sand can, in the end, bury us—loss of family, friends, etc. This may be a reason for the rising suicide rate: people placing their hopes and faith in things which cannot but fail in the end. Mere sand washed away in the tides of life.

But, “rock” is that upon which we can build lives in such a way as to provide the firmest of foundations. We Christians, of course, believe that the teachings of Jesus and of scriptures are the firm foundation upon which to build. Yet even for the non-believer the principles found therein are what truly fulfill. What is that teaching? None other than kindness, charity, graciousness, respect, mutual concern, and all of those beneficial things that people can show to one another which elicit mutual love between individuals and peoples. Selfishness is love of self; selflessness is loving others, and also cultivating mutual love. It should be obvious to any reasonable person which of the foregoing is better, more beneficial, more satisfying.

So, at rock bottom we have a choice: keep clawing at the stone to continue self-destructive descent … or grab onto handholds and begin the laborious but ultimately rewarding climb and escape from the hole which is often our own excavation.

One of the Biblical characters who despaired of life in his misfortune … who had hit rock bottom .. was Elijah, whose story can be found in 1 Kings. Elijah was a prophet of God in a time of abjuring and persecution of the Jewish faith, even hunted down by those who sought to end his life; So, “…he was afraid, and he arose and went for his life … But he himself went … into the wilderness … and he asked that he might die, saying, ‘It is enough; now, O Lord, take away my life …” (1 Kings 19:3-4) As  then: “…the angel of the Lord came … and touched him, and said, ‘Arise and eat, else the journey will be too great for you.’ And he arose, and ate and drank, and went in the strength of that food forty days and forty nights to Horeb, the mount of God.“ (vv. 7-8).

For we Christians the obvious analogy is, whenever struggling, to turn to God and His Word for strength to continue life’s journey. We Catholics and many other Christians interpret the passage to refer additionally to the sacraments, particularly the Eucharist—the bread of life. But even more widely, for anyone at rock bottom—even the non-believer—he can find solace and strength in the principles the scriptures and Jesus expound—those virtues of kindness, charity and love of neighbor. For it is love that we long for most of all, but selfishness may bring momentary pleasure but cannot but diminish love. Love seeks the good of the other, and receiving love naturally begets love in the other. Is this not what has driven converts to faith: the knowledge of the total love of God for him/her, visualized by Jesus’ total sacrifice of self on the cross for the other’s salvation? The ultimate conquest of love of self for the other? For each and every?

A bridge builder drives piles through sand and sets them on bedrock—firm foundation to provide sures support. Let us likewise build our lives upon the words of Jesus and His apostles, and on the principles of charity and love they embody and advance. We then will have firm footing, and life’s inevitable winds and seas crashing upon will be wholly unable to overwhelm us—we who have built upon solid rock.

Editor’s note: Rev. Glenn Jones is the Vicar General of the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and former pastor of Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic Church in Los Alamos.