Satisfaction without Sacrifice

I was watching the DVR with my husband tonight and ended up seeing a commercial (an increasingly rare occurrence with the ability to skip through commercials provided by DVR technology). Anyway, a commercial came on and the tag line caught my attention. "Satisfaction without Sacrifice." And suddenly it struck me-that's what's wrong with our culture today. Or rather, that's one of the many things wrong with our fallen human nature. Theologians call it Sloth. Some people call it being lazy. But we all have the tendancy to want the reward without the sacrifice - myself included.

How many commercials have you seen for the next magic diet pill or exercise technology that lets you "eat what you want" or just spend "five minutes a day"  and promises to turn you into the next supermodel. We have a culture built around instant gratification in sex - without the sacrifices of children or a relationship, or even a partner in some cases. We have the idolization of the fictitious "Supermom" who has it all (dream career, perfect kids) without any sacrifices and does it effortlessly. There are so many examples.

But the thing is, they aren't confined to the physical or to human relationships. This laziness bleeds over to our spiritual lives too. Perhaps even more so than in the other realm. I know it affects me. I'm spiritually lazy, tending my whole life toward "well God, I give you a couple hours on Sunday and listen to Christian stuff on my radio, That's ok, right?" But its not. And when I try the same stunt with my husband (for legitimate reasons when I'm working crazy resident hours) our relationship naturally suffers. So why would I think that it would be different with God? Heck, would the 10 minutes I sometimes scrounge up for prayers while eating breakfast suffice to keep my relationship with my husband healthy? I doubt it,

Relationships, whether with another human or with God take time- and sacrifice. Sometimes I write my failings off as "well I'll do better when I'm less busy'' but then I have a "less busy" month and God doesn't get the extra time. I get a day when I could go to daily mass and sleep in. Or I have sometime in the evening and I spend it on Facebook - or writing a blog post.

I have many reasons I give myself for not starting, not doing. But maybe, just maybe, I'm afraid He'll call me to more sacrifice - and in my concupiscent tendency I just want the satisfaction,