Sharpening The Ax

“Give me six hours to chop down a tree, 
and I will spend the first four sharpening the ax.” 

- Abraham Lincoln (1809-1865); 16th U.S. President

Or, in the words of John Wooden, "Failing to prepare is preparing to fail."

Any way you slice it (or say it), the message rings loud and clear - without proper preparation of time, energy, and resources, you're practically guaranteeing you won't achieve your full potential. In addition, what I believe wise old Abe was trying to say is that preparation is just as important as the actual act we are doing.

Trust me, there have been plenty of times when I thought I could "fake it" - in the classroom, at my piano lesson...you name it. But the results just never were the same (and never of really high quality) unless I devoted those hours to planning, practice, and preparation. In my case, practice never made perfect...but it sure helped me out a lot!

And the same goes for our faith, too. I believe one of the priests at my parish in Arizona called it "pre-praying" (and likened it to "pre-gaming") - spending time alone with God in prayer before going to experience the Mass with the parish (or school) community. In making our hearts ready for God over the course of the week - which should, in all, add up to much more than the hour we spend at Mass on Sunday - we are "sharpening our axes" and readying ourselves (mentally, spiritually, and emotionally) for our weekly visit with Christ in the Eucharist.

As we continue on our Lenten journeys, it's important to ask ourselves, "How's my ax-sharpening going?"