The Great Reality Deep Down Within Us

Deep down in every man, woman, and child is the fundamental idea of God.
It may be obscured by calamity, by pomp, by worship of other things, but in some form or other it is there.
For faith in a Power greater than ourselves, and miraculous demonstrations of that of that power in human lives, are facts as old as man himself. . .
We found the Great Reality deep down with us.
-- Alcoholics Anonymous, p. 55

The power within me is far greater than any fear before me.

The Laws of Life

The laws of nature cannot be changed and must be obeyed if you are to stay healthy.

No exceptions will be made in your case.

Submit to the laws of nature or they will finally break you.

And in the realm of the spirit, in all human relationships, submit to the moral laws and to the will of God.

If you continue to break the laws of honesty, purity, unselfishness, and love, you will be broken to some extent yourself.

The moral and spiritual laws of God, like the laws of nature, are unbreakable without some disaster.

If you are dishonest, impure, selfish, and unloving, you will not be living according to the laws of the spirit and you will suffer the consequences.

I pray that I may submit to the laws of nature and to the laws of God.

I pray that I may live in harmony with all the laws of life.

God Has A Positive Answer

 

You Say	God Says	Bible Verses
You say: 'It's impossible.'	God says:   All things are possible.	Luke 18:27
You say: 'I'm too tired.'	God says:   I will give you rest.	Matthew 11:28-30
You say:   'Nobody really loves me.'	God says:   I love you.	John 3:1   6 & John 3:34
You say: 'I can't go on.'	God says: My grace is sufficient.	II Corinthians 12:9 & Psalm 91:15
You say: 'I can't figure things out’.'	God says:   I will direct your steps.	Proverbs 3:5-   6
You say: 'I can't do it.'	God says:   You can do all things.	Philippians 4:13
You say:   'I'm not able.'	God says:   I am able.	II Corinthians 9:8
You say: 'It's not worth it.'	God says:   It will be worth it.	Roman 8:28
You say:  'I can't forgive myself'.'	God says:  I Forgive you.	I John 1:9 & Romans 8:1
You say:   'I can't manage.'	God says:   I will supply all your needs.	Philippians 4:19
You say:   'I'm afraid.'	God says:  I have not given you a spirit of fear.	II Timothy 1:7
You say:  'I'm always worried and frustrated.'	God says:   Cast all your cares on ME.	I Peter 5:7
You say:   'I'm not smart enough.'	God says:   I give you wisdom.	I Corinthians 1:30
You say:   'I feel all alone.'	God says:   I will never leave you or forsake you.	Hebrews 13:5

 

God determines who walks into your life . . . . it's up to you to decide who you let walk away, who you let stay, and who you refuse to let go.'

Father, God, bless all my friends in whatever it is that you know they may need this day!

And may their lives be full of your peace, prosperity and power as they seek to have a closer relationship with you.  Amen.

 

Seek Reality, Seek God

Spiritual Reading puts us in contact not just with words, with ideas, but with reality-with God.

To seek God is to seek reality.
And this must be something more than a flight from images to ideas.
The interior life is not merely what is not exterior.

Thomas Merton

A Search for Solitude

#@#@#@#

Trusting the Catcher

Trust is the basis of life.
Without trust, no human being can live.
Trapeze artists offer a beautiful image of this.
Flyers have to trust their catchers.
They can do the most spectacular doubles, triples, or quadruples, but what finally makes their performance spectacular are the catchers who are there for them at the right time in the right place.

Much of our lives is flying.
It is wonderful to fly in the air free as a bird, but when God isn't there to catch us, all our flying comes to nothing.
Let's trust in the Great Catcher.

#@#@#@#

Henri Nowen

Not A Cosmic Bellboy

God is not a cosmic bellboy.
--Harry Emerson Fosdick

I have to laugh when I look back at the times I treated God like our servant.
Who did I think I was, ordering God to do something for me?
But I got away with it.
God even did some of the things I asked.
Now I know that my God is not a servant.
I don't expect God to work miracles every time I'd like one.
I am asking my God to lead me.
My God has many wonderful gifts for me.
The God of my understanding will show me goals, help me live in love and joy, and give me strength.

Deck Of Cards

It was quiet that day, the guns and the mortars, and land mines for some reason hadn't been heard.
The young soldier knew it was Sunday, the holiest day of the week.
As he was sitting there, he got out an old deck of cards and laid them out across his bunk.
Just then an army sergeant came in and said, 'Why aren't you with the rest of the platoon?'
The soldier replied, 'I thought I would stay behind and spend some time with the Lord.'
The sergeant said, 'Looks to me like you're going to play cards.'
The soldier said, 'No, sir. You see, since we are not allowed to have Bibles or other spiritual books in this country, I've decided to talk to the Lord by studying this deck of cards.'
The sergeant asked in disbelief, 'How will you do that?'
'You see the Ace, Sergeant? It reminds me that there is only one God.

The Two represents the two parts of the Bible, Old and New Testaments.

The Three represents the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost.

The Four stands for the Four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

The Five is for the five virgins there were ten but only five of them were glorified.

The Six is for the six days it took God to create the Heavens and Earth.

The Seven is for the day God rested after making His Creation.

The Eight is for the family of Noah and his wife, their three sons and their wives -- the eight people God spared from the flood that destroyed the Earth.

The Nine is for the lepers that Jesus cleansed of leprosy. He cleansed ten, but nine never thanked Him.

The Ten represents the Ten Commandments that God handed down to Moses on tablets made of stone.

The Jack is a reminder of Satan, one of God's first angels, but he got kicked out of heaven for his sly and wicked ways and is now the joker of eternal hell.

The Queen stands for the Virgin Mary.

The King stands for Je sus, for he is the King of all kings.

When I count the dots on all the cards, I come up with 365 total, one for every day of the year.

There are a total of 52 cards in a deck; each is a week - 52 weeks in a year.

The four suits represent the four seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter.

Each suit has thirteen cards -- there are exactly thirteen weeks in a quarter.

So when I want to talk to God and thank Him, I just pull out this old deck of cards and they remind me of all that I have to be thankful for.'

The sergeant just stood there.
After a minute, with tears in his eyes and pain in his heart, he said, 'Soldier, can I borrow that deck of cards?'

Heaven And Hell

Is everybody finally going to be all right?
Are all people ultimately going to be free from misery and all their needs fulfilled?
Yes and no!
Yes, because God wants to bring us home into God's Kingdom.
No, because nothing happens without our choosing it.
The realisation of the Kingdom of God is God's work, but for God to make God's love fully visible in us, we must respond to God's love with our love.
There are two kinds of death: a death leading us into God's Kingdom, and a death leading us into hell.
John in his vision saw not only heaven, but also hell.
He says: "The legacy for cowards, for those who break their word, or worship obscenities, for murderers and the sexually immoral, and for sorcerers, worshippers of false gods or any other sort of liars, is the second death in the burning lake of sulphur" (Revelation 21:8).
We must choose for God if we want to be with God.

-- Henri Nowean

Restored to Eternal Life

One thing we know for sure about our God:
Our God is a God of the living, not of the dead.
God is life.
God is love.
God is beauty.
God is goodness.
God is truth.
God doesn't want us to die.
God wants us to live.
Our God, who loves us from eternity to eternity, wants to give us life for eternity.

When that life was interrupted by our unwillingness to give our full yes to God's love, God sent Jesus to be with us and to say that great yes in our name and thus restore us to eternal life.
So let's not be afraid of death.
There is no cruel boss, vengeful enemy, or cruel tyrant waiting to destroy us - only a loving, always forgiving God, eager to welcome us home.

-- Henri Nouwen

Everlasting Riches

Sometimes in the midst of the busy satisfaction of everyday life, I might be tempted to wonder whether or not I really want God to come and transform the world as I know it.
Then I remember the harsh realities of sickness, hunger, suffering, and death.
Who does not long then for the everlasting riches of God's house.

Finding Ourself

Those who look for the fulfilllment of God's promises out of a sense that they are entitled to them because of their intelligence, their virture, their achievements, often discover to their cost that they were looking only for themselves -- and it is themselves they find.
Those who look for God in their proverty and need find themselves seeing what many long to see but did not and many long to hear but did not.

Discoverying Our True Identity

What is so new about the promised "mountain of the Lord" is not that the wolf and the lamb are both there, but that the wolf remains a wolf and the lamb a lamb, and yet they dwell together without harm or hurt in God's kingdom.
Under God's rule, conversion and obedience do not mean the loss of identity but the discovery of our true identity as one in Christ.

Returing To My Spiritual Home

Having wandered from any true sense of a spiritual home and any real sense of direction, many are lost, and I hungered hopelessly for I knew not what.
God, however, is a tireless seeker.

By Experience

The grateful person knows that God is good,

not by hearsay but by experience.

And that is what makes all the difference.

Thomas Merton

The Mystery of God's Touch

The mystery of God touches us

-- or does not -- in the smallest details:

giving a strawberry, with love;

receiving a touch, with love;

sharing the snapdragon red of an autumn sunset, with love.

Marion Woodman

Coming Home to Myself

Speaking Fron The Mountaintops

In the land of the Cheyennes, there is a mountain higher than all the mountains around him. All the Cheyennes know that mountain; even our forefathers knew him.
When children, we ran around wheresoever we wanted. We were never afraid to lose our way so long as we could see the mountain, which show us home again.
When grown up, we followed the buffalo and the elk; we cared not where we pursued teh running deer, so long as the mountain was in sight; for we knew he was ever a safe guide, and never failed in his duty.
When men, we fought the Sioux, the Crows, the white men. We ent after the enemy, though the way ran high up, and low down. Our hearts trembled not on account of the road; for as long as we could see the mountain, we felt sure of finding our home again.
When far away, our hearts leaped for joy on seeing him, because he told us that our home came nearer.
During the winter, the snow covered all the earth with a mantle of white; we could no longer distinguish him from other mountains except by his height, which told us he was the mountain. Sometimes dark clouds gathered above. They hid his head from our view, and out of them flew fiery darts, boring holes in his sides. The thunder shook him from head to foot, but the storm passed away and the mountain stood forever.
The mountain is the Black-robe.
(A Native American expression for a Roman Catholic priest.)
His heart is firm as a rock.
He changes not.
He speaks to us the words of truth.
We are always sure of our path, when we look to him for guidance.
He is the mountain that leads us up to God.

-- A story told by Old Wolf,
a Cheyenne chief from Montana,
in the 1880s.

Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha

Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha
(1656-1680)

The blood of martyrs is the seed of saints. Nine years after the Jesuits Isaac Jogues and John de Brébeuf were tortured to death by Huron and Iroquois Indians, a baby girl was born near the place of their martyrdom, Auriesville, New York. She was to be the first person born in North America to be beatified.

Her mother was a Christian Algonquin, taken captive by the Iroquois and given as wife to the chief of the Mohawk clan, the boldest and fiercest of the Five Nations. When she was four, Kateri lost her parents and little brother in a smallpox epidemic that left her disfigured and half blind. She was adopted by an uncle, who succeeded her father as chief. He hated the coming of the Blackrobes (missionaries), but could do nothing to them because a peace treaty with the French required their presence in villages with Christian captives. She was moved by the words of three Blackrobes who lodged with her uncle, but fear of him kept her from seeking instruction. She refused to marry a Mohawk brave and at 19 finally got the courage to take the step of converting. She was baptized with the name Kateri (Catherine) on Easter Sunday.

Now she would be treated as a slave. Because she would not work on Sunday, she received no food that day. Her life in grace grew rapidly. She told a missionary that she often meditated on the great dignity of being baptized. She was powerfully moved by God’s love for human beings and saw the dignity of each of her people.

She was always in danger, for her conversion and holy life created great opposition. On the advice of a priest, she stole away one night and began a 200-mile walking journey to a Christian Indian village at Sault St. Louis, near Montreal.

For three years she grew in holiness under the direction of a priest and an older Iroquois woman, giving herself totally to God in long hours of prayer, in charity and in strenuous penance. At 23 she took a vow of virginity, an unprecedented act for an Indian woman, whose future depended on being married. She found a place in the woods where she could pray an hour a day—and was accused of meeting a man there!

Her dedication to virginity was instinctive: She did not know about religious life for women until she visited Montreal. Inspired by this, she and two friends wanted to start a community, but the local priest dissuaded her. She humbly accepted an “ordinary” life. She practiced extremely severe fasting as penance for the conversion of her nation. She died the afternoon before Holy Thursday. Witnesses said that her emaciated face changed color and became like that of a healthy child. The lines of suffering, even the pockmarks, disappeared and the touch of a smile came upon her lips. She was beatified in 1980.

We like to think that our proposed holiness is thwarted by our situation.
If only we could have more solitude, less opposition, better health.
Kateri repeats the example of the saints: Holiness thrives on the cross, anywhere.
Yet she did have what Christians—all people—need: the support of a community.
She had a good mother, helpful priests, Christian friends.
These were present in what we call primitive conditions, and blossomed in the age-old Christian triad of prayer, fasting and alms: union with God in Jesus and the Spirit, self-discipline and often suffering, and charity for her brothers and sisters.

“I am not my own; I have given myself to Jesus.

He must be my only love.

The state of helpless poverty that may befall me if I do not marry does not frighten me.

All I need is a little food and a few pieces of clothing.

With the work of my hands I shall always earn what is necessary and what is left over I’ll give to my relatives and to the poor.

If I should become sick and unable to work, then I shall be like the Lord on the cross.

He will have mercy on me and help me, I am sure.”

-- Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha

-- From American Catholic Saint of the Day

Hooaahhh!!!

You stay up for 16 hours.
He stays up for days on end.

You take a warm shower to help you wake up.
He goes days or weeks without running water.

You complain of a "headache", and call in sick.
He gets shot at as others are hit, and keeps moving forward.

You put on your anti war/don't support the troops shirt, and go meet up with your friends.
He still fights for your right to wear that shirt.

You make sure you're cell phone is in your pocket.
He clutches the cross hanging on his chain next to his dog tags.

You talk trash about your "buddies" that aren't with you.
He knows he may not see some of his buddies again.

You walk down the beach, staring at all the pretty girls.
He patrols the streets, searching for insurgents and terrorists.

You complain about how hot it is.
He wears his heavy gear, not daring to take off his helmet to wipe his brow.

You go out to lunch, and complain because the restaurant got your order wrong.
He doesn't get to eat today.

Your maid makes your bed and washes your clothes.
He wears the same things for weeks, but makes sure his weapons are clean.

You go to the mall and get your hair redone.
He doesn't have time to brush his teeth today.

You're angry because your class ran 5 minutes over.
He's told he will be held over an extra 2 months.

You call your girlfriend and set a date for tonight.
He waits for the mail to see if there is a letter from home.

You hug and kiss your girlfriend, like you do everyday.
He holds his letter close and smells his love's perfume

You roll your eyes as a baby cries.
He gets a letter with pictures of his new child, and wonders if they'll ever meet.

You criticize your government, and say that war never solves anything.
He sees the innocent tortured and killed by their own people and remembers why he is fighting.

You hear the jokes about the war, and make fun of men like him.
He hears the gunfire, bombs and screams of the wounded.

You see only what the media wants you to see.
He sees the broken bodies lying around him.

You are asked to go to the store by your parents. You don't.
He does exactly what he is told.

You stay at home and watch TV.
He takes whatever time he is given to call, write home, sleep, and eat.

You crawl into your soft bed, with down pillows, and get comfortable.
He tries to sleep but gets woken by mortars and helicopters all night long.

You sit there and judge him, saying the world is probably a worse place because of men like him.
If only there were more men like him

The Source of All Love

Without the love of our parents, sisters, brothers, spouses, lovers, and friends, we cannot live.
Without love we die.
Still, for many people this love comes in a very broken and limited way.
It can be tainted by power plays, jealousy, resentment, vindictiveness, and even abuse.
No human love is the perfect love our hearts desire, and sometimes human love is so imperfect that we can hardly recognise it as love.
In order not to be destroyed by the wounds inflicted by that imperfect human love, we must trust that the source of all love is God's unlimited, unconditional, perfect love, and that this love is not far away from us but is the gift of God's Spirit dwelling within us.
-- Henri Nouwen

For You Alone

Give me the strength that waits upon You in silence and peace.
Give me humility in which alone is rest,
and deliver me from pride which is the heaviest of burdens.
And possess my whole heart and soul with the simplicity of love.
Occupy my whole life with the one thought and the one desire of love,
that I may love not for the sake of merit,
not for the sake of perfection,
not for the sake of virtue,
not for the sake of sanctity,
but for You alone.
For there is only one thing that can satisfy love and reward it, and that is You alone.
-- Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation

Let my eyes see nothing in the world but Your glory,
and let my hands touch nothing that is not for Your service.
-- Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation