So often times it happens that we live our lives in chains
and we never knew we have the keys.
When first viewed this clip I thought how wonderful to be young and insane.
But the more I thought about it, I came to realize it is more about facing the fears – the fears that paralyze me.
When I was young I thought it took great courage to climb the ladder to the roof of our house to help my Dad with a project – I still think that every time I have to get on the roof.
With each step of the ladder my fear disappeared.
In my Navy days, it was when I held a camera to shoot a picture, whether on a ship at sea, sitting in the doorway of a helo or hanging over the edge of the
My fears again disappeared as I stepped through them.
Today I fine courage to face life on life’s term. I still feel the grip of fear on me but like the young man in the video I go for it – one step at a time.
I have also learned to let go of the fear and to forgive others as I have been forgive, even when I don’t want to.
I cannot change the direction of the wind but I can adjust my sails.
O Lord, support us all the day long of this troublous life until the shadows lengthen and evening comes, and the busy would is hushed, and the fever of life is over, and our work is done. Then, in your mercy, grant us a safe lodging and a holy rest and peace at last. Amen.
-- Venerable John Henry Newman
Fear imprisons, faith liberates;
fear paralyzes, faith empowers;
fear disheartens, faith encourage;
fear sickens, faith heals;
fear makes useless, faith makes serviceable.
Harry Emerson Fosdick
The life of a Christian is nothing but a perpetual struggle against self; there is no flowering of the soul to the beauty of its perfection except at the price of pain."
St. Pio of Pietrelcina (1887-1968)
The most beautiful people are those who have
known defeat,
known suffering,
known struggle,
known loss, and
have found their way out of the depths.
These persons have
an appreciation,
a sensitivity, and
an understanding of life
that fills them with
compassion,
gentleness, and
a deep loving concern.
Beautiful people do not just happen.
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross
Don't judge each day by the harvest you reap,
but by the seeds you plant.
Robert Louis Stevenson
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Through the Virgin Mary, let me sing praise to my God!
Hear me, O Lord!
When I have lost a sense of your presence, let me find you once again through Mary, your Royal Chamber.
When I walk in darkness down dead-end roads, let me see the way through Mary, Gate of Light.
When I feel trapped by the night of sin and destruction, give me new hope through Mary, the Morning Star.
Hear me, O Lord!
God of all goodness, join my prayer to the great song of praise sung by the Blessed Virgin Mary in the halls of heaven, that I may grow in your love for you through her intercession and example.
I ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God for ever and ever. Amen.
From HenriNouwen.org
On the Journey to Becoming a Healthy (God)Parent
written by RITA O'CONNOR
I'm not actually a parent. I'm an aunt, a teacher and, most important, godmother to a sweet child. I spend days at a time with her and her siblings. Here's my advice for parents of all kinds.
To be a healthy parent -
*Go out. Go out with your spouse or friends or by yourself. Talk to adults.
*Talk to other parents. Tell the truth, they'll understand.
*Know that your children will cause to rise within you what it was like for you to be a child, for you to have parents. Know this and work to heal it.
*Don't take things personally. When you set the lovingly prepared dinner before them and they say "Yuck," it is not a comment on your culinary skills. They may tell you that you are a bad mommy or daddy, don't take it personally.
*Don't be perfect. Your children need to see that you can be angry, sad, frustrated or discouraged and that you can deal with your feelings. Revealing your imperfection also teaches them an important lesson when you ask their forgiveness. It teaches them to ask yours.
*Pray. We speak of God as a parent, I'm sure God understands.
Like all worthwhile endeavors, what you are doing as a parent is hard and important. Immeasurably important. Remember what King Solomon used to say: "This too will pass."
- RITA O'CONNOR is a single, middle-aged teacher living in
She is a staunch Roman Catholic and attends a United church. She has been an assistant at L'Arche Daybreak and remains a friend of the community.
If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it.
If He had a wallet, your photo would be in it.
He sends you flowers every spring.
He sends you a sunrise every morning.
Face it, friend - He is crazy about you!
If God brings you to it,
He will bring you through it.
Even today, human beings have no control over storms at sea, and sometimes very little control over storms in the heart.
Only God has the power to still the tempest without and tempests within.
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The basic and most fundamental problem in the spiritual life is this acceptance of our hidden and dark self, with which we tend to identify all the evil that is in us.
We must learn by discernment to separate the evil growth of our actions from the good ground of the soul.
And we must prepare that ground so that a new life can grow up from it within us, beyond our knowledge and beyond our conscious control.
The sacred attitude is then one of reverence, awe and silence before the mystery that begins to take place within us when we become aware of our inmost self.
In silence, hope, expectation, and unknowing, the man of faith abandons himself to the divine will: not as to an arbitrary and magic power whose decrees must be spelled out from cryptic ciphers, but as to the stream of reality and of life itself.
Thomas Merton.
The Inner Experience: Notes on Contemplation.
~~ @@ ~~
The world is changing constantly, and I am no longer afraid of this change.
I want to be a part of it and its new developments.
I have been shown, and fully believe today, that faith can move mountains.
I once encountered many blind alleys, but today, as long as I have faith, my path is clear. . .
Whatever problems confront me, large or small, they can be solved wisely.
Or they can be solved my way.
The choice is mine.
Came To Believe . . ., p. 60
When I change what I believe,
I change what I do.
When our own lives go spinning out of control,
when illness and bereavement and
financial hardship strike,
all we can do is cling to the belief that:
God watches over us always.
शिप्व्रेच्केद इन साउथ कैरोलाइना
