Summer smells of salt, golden fields and multiple shades of green, reddish horizons at sunset, relaxation… friends and food. Vacation!

It’s freedom, but often due to accumulated fatigue, freedom in an “ethereal state.” No schedules, no time for eating, no time for sleeping. No diet, it’s not a time to suffer, but a time to enjoy. Loungers, sunbathing, sea foam baths… you have to get a tan, vitamin D is important…

I have a friend who, when his children were little, used to say,  “Summer is four weekends,”  which could erase what they’ve learned or develop their photo.

But… it’s not just green grass or sand.

Another friend said,  “summer is the bad time for good kids,”  not because of summer itself, but because of the abandonment of rules, limits…

I want to talk to you about something different

A different style of rest!

Rest of the family of God!

“I do not ask you to take them out of the world, but to keep them from the evil one” John 17,

The luggage depends on the DESTINATION, and we have our eyes fixed on our goal.

What do we pack in our suitcase?

The “just in case” items don’t fit, pack light!

Never has so much been available and so readily available.

A pathology of “desire” has developed, which, if not immediately satisfied, generates frustration, which, if it becomes an imperative need, can turn into an addiction.

Freedom is at stake: we no longer have,

We are held  (Aristotle defines it as slavery)

True freedom is revealed in lordship —master of myself—which expresses self-control and self-governance—  which do not come in the original package—and require training in virtue  (sobriety and temperance).

Lordship to serve  (that is why).

To have oneself, to give oneself.

Only those who have can give.

Only those who have themselves can give themselves (not let themselves be robbed)

It is necessary not to confuse training with training.

Training enhances the development of personal freedom. For the whole person (head, heart, and action).

But it’s not a gym workout. Nor is it a detox program, a tailor-made “detox” for achieving a successful life.

Would you buy a car without brakes?

The Voracity of Summer

Being voracious is the lack of restraint, in food, in drink, in schedules… typical of the greed for a “false rest”

We are not talking about denial – I can’t –  but rather about self-control  – I can, but I don’t want to – or self-government: moderating, attenuating, postponing…

Denial, when it does not stem from assumed freedom, is dependence.

The decision to live a sober lifestyle is for the “greater good,” and that greater good seeks to break free from all chains.

This is the fight for our greatness…

“I flew so high, so high

That I caught up with the hunt”

You can’t fly with your wings tied.

“To serve, to serve”

Taking control of your own life can be achieved through a small but consistent training plan:

Adjust your sleep to your need for rest, and avoid getting lost in TV series or frivolous communications from reality shows, social media, etc.

It is about intentionally delimiting spaces of silence to MEET OURSELVES during these days of rest.

WE TALK ABOUT DISTANCE WITH STIMULI,

Of TEMPERING THE URGENCY of immediate satisfaction.

VORACY AND GLUTTONY are related.

(gluttony is the mother of all passions)

Voracity is the visible face of gluttony.

And that voracity manifests itself at all levels of a person: food, shopping, affection, technology, perfection… and it’s endless.

Summer is an optimal time to teach the virtue of detachment.

Gluttony can be fought not as a restriction, but as a lever. It is the first step, the most costly, but with excellent results in the construction of our inner edifice.

When we achieve a goal, we expect a reward. At this moment, personal freedom comes into play: I can say yes or no, I can postpone…

It’s a millimeter, a second to think and decide. Do I need it now?

In the realm of perfection, someone once told me,  “A work of art is not finished, it is abandoned.”

Today’s generation

The fridge is always available!

Of the brands!

Of the night!

Of indiscriminate sex!

A generation of “goodism” that promotes a lifestyle—being and doing—that is “extensive, soft, and sweet” and softens the heart with superficial relationships, obscures the greatness to which we have been called.

 How to teach our children to drive their own car?

Your child will be happy if he is capable of loving, and a voracious person cannot be “someone for someone.”

It only seeks to feed on things, people…

CAN’T FEED. He’s insatiable.

Take advantage of the summer with your children to deal with that voracity, and they won’t trade their lives for  “a plate of lentils” or “for junk food.”

A useful example taken from Homer’s Odyssey

(you remember it, you studied it)

Ulysses and the Sirens

Ulysses was clear about his goal. His goal was to return home, and to achieve it, he had to tie himself to the mast to resist the seductive call of the sirens.

We, too, need a purpose. Because those who don’t know where they’re going end up where they don’t want to.

And even more, we need a strategy:

A limit that preserves us

A mast to anchor us

Some friends who share the same desire to arrive

A common destiny

                                                    License to Live

                                                    A flight close to the sun

#freedom

#lordship

#self-government

#self-control