This past weekend I began reading He Leadeth Me. It is the story of Fr. Walter Ciszek, who spent 23 years as a prisoner in the Soviet Union. While the story of Fr. Ciszek’s life and ministry to his fellow prisoners in Russia is captivating simply for understanding this dark time in the history of the Soviet Union, the thing that stands out and undergirds his writing throughout the book is his continual reflection upon discerning God’s will. His story presents a genuine human person through whom holiness shines through, revealing a God who never abandons those who have eyes to see Him.
Here is a portion of Fr. Ciszek’s thoughts on coming to know the will of God:
Our dilemma at Teplaya-Gora came from our frustration at not being able to do what we thought the will of God ought to be in this situation, at our inability to work as we thought God would surely want us to work, instead of accepting the situation itself as his will. It is a mistake easily made by every man, saint or scholar, Church leader or day laborer. Ultimately, we come to expect God to accept our understanding of what his will ought to be and to help us fulfill that, instead of learning to see and accept his will in the real situations in which he places us daily. The simple soul who each day makes a morning offering of “all the prayers, works, joys and sufferings of this day”—and who then acts upon it by accepting unquestioningly and responding lovingly to all the situations of the day as truly sent by God—has perceived with an almost childlike faith the profound truth about the will of God. To predict what God’s will is going to be, to rationalize about what his will must be, is at once a work of human folly and yet the subtlest of all temptations. The plain and simple truth is that his will is what he actually wills to send us each day, in the way of circumstances, places, people, and problems. The trick is to learn to see that—not just in theory, or not just occasionally in a flash of insight granted by God’s grace, but every day. Each of us has no need to wonder about what God’s will must be for us; his will for us is clearly revealed in every situation of every day, if only we could learn to view all things as he sees them and send them to us.
Throughout the telling of his story, Fr. Ciszek displays the peacefulness of a person who clearly understands his vocation. Like any person would, he had many questions as to why God would allow the evil that he experienced and witnessed, but always with an attitude of seeking to understand how his situation could lead him and those around him closer to God.
This is a book I can easily recommend to anyone who is genuinely seeking God’s will for their life. And for those of you who are interested in this story but don’t enjoy reading (God forbid!), you are in luck. Lighthouse Catholic Media has an audio presentation, entitled With God In Russia, that also tells the story.
