The grass

“There are no galley-slaves in the royal vessel of divine love–every man works his oar voluntarily! ”  St. Francis de Sales

    One of the disadvantages of being the youngest is getting the household chores when your older siblings go off to college.  I was given the task of cutting the grass in 7th grade and continued straight through High School.  In the beginning, I tried to avoid this chore and kept myself intentionally “busy” caddying, golfing or playing with my friends to postpone this task as long as possible.  Then my mom pulled me aside and said, “Michael, you know how important it is to your dad to have the grass cut every week, and you know when it needs to be cut.  Is it too much to ask that you do this on your own, without being constantly told?  It would make your dad very happy!”  I soon began to “oar voluntarily”, and even offered it up for souls, and it really wasn’t so bad!