Things broken must be mended; things running away with us must be curbed; things awry in us must be set straight.
- How do we impose discipline on ourselves?
- How do we lead ourselves by rewards?
- How do we encourage & nurture ourselves to lead moral and productive lives?
- How do we set and maintain a path of growth?
We must surrender. In His hands we will prevail.
Follow the Christ within you...
The Navahos wrote, "We felt like talking to the ground, we loved it so." Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, "The earth laughs in flowers." Benedict of Nursia wrote, say "Alleluia" always, no matter the time of day, no matter the season of life.
Alleluia ~ Praise the Lord!
At the break of dawn, every day of the week, Benedict, through his organization of the morning psalms, reminds the monastic of two unfailing realities. The first is that life is not perfect, that struggle is to be expected, that the human being lives on the brink of danger and defeat at all times.
St Joan Chittister
You declare Your loving kindness in the morning. There is a peculiar freshness and charm about early morning praises, the day is loveliest when it first opens its eyelids, and God Himself seems then to make distribution of the day's manna, which tastes most sweetly if gathered before the sun is hot. It seems most appropriate that if our hearts and harps have been silent through the shades of night, we should be eager again to take our place among the chosen choir who ceaselessly hymn the Eternal One.And Your faithfulness every night. No hour is too late for praise, and the end of the day must not be the end of gratitude. When nature seems in silent contemplation to adore its Maker, it ill becomes the children of God to restrain their thanksgiving. Evening is the time for retrospect: memory is busy with the experience of the day, hence the appropriate theme for song is the divine faithfulness of which another day has furnished fresh evidences.When darkness has settled down over all things, then there comes over wise people a congenial, meditative spirit, and it is most fitting that they should take an expanded view of the truth and goodness of Jehovah.
Tread tenderly upon life around you. There is room for all of us in life. We are each an ember of the mind of god and we are each sent to illumine the other through the dark places of life to sanctuaries of truth and peace where God can be God for us because we have relieved ourselves of the ordeal of being god ourselves. We are called to be kind, gentle, and calm--never smothering the other.
There is a great paradox of being kind and gentle to those with whom we do not agree--they will find we are easy to be around, and in time, they may follow the teaching we live out in our lives.
The humble person cultivates a soul in which everyone is safe. A humble person handles the presence of the other with soft hands, a velvet heart, and an unveiled mind.
We are transparent. We are who we seem to be.
There is room for all of us!
