Fear & Faith

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

Friends of Silence

From my other brother Don:

"We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness.  God is a friend of silence.  See how nature - trees, flowers, grass - grows in silence; see the stars, the moon, and the sun, how they move in silence.  Is not our mission to give God to the poor in the slums?  Not a dead God, but a living, loving God.  The more we receive in silent prayer, the more we can give in our active life.

We need silence to be able to touch souls.  The essential thing is not what we say, but what God says to us and through us.  All our words will be useless unless they come from within; words that do not give the light of Christ increase the darkness."

Mother Teresa of Calcutta, A Gift for God: Prayers and Meditations
[New York: Harper, Row Publishers, Inc., 1975 - pages 68-69]

The Peaceable Kingdom

All of creation belongs together in the arms of its Creator.

The final vision is that not only will all men and women recognize that they are brothers and sisters called to live in unity but all members of God's creation will come together in complete harmony.

Jesus the Christ came to realize that vision.

Long before he was born, the prophet Isaiah saw it:

The wolf will live with the lamb,

the panther lie down with the kid,

calf, lion and fat-stock beast together,

with a little boy to lead them.

The cow and the bear will graze,

their young will lie down together.

The lion will eat hay like the ox.

The infant will play over the den of the adder;

the baby will put his hand into the viper's lair.

No hurt, no harm will be done

on all my holy mountain,

for the country will be full of knowledge of Yahweh

as the waters cover the sea.

(Isaiah 11:6-9)

We must keep this vision alive.

Henri Nouwen

Accepting Change

The winds of change blow through my life, sometimes gently, sometimes like a tropical storm.

Yes, I have resting places - time to adjust to another level of living, time to get my balance, time to enjoy the rewards.

I have time to catch our breath.

But change is inevitable, and desirable.

Sometimes, when the winds of change begin to rustle, I am not certain the change is for the better.

I may call it stress or a temporary condition, certain I'll be restored to normal.

Sometimes, I resist.

I tuck my head down and buck the wind, hoping that things will quickly calm down, get back to the way things were.

Is it possible I am being prepared for a new "normal"?

Change will sweep through my life, as needed, to take me where I am going.  I can trust that my Higher Power has a plan in mind, even when I don't know where the changes are leading.

I can trust that the change-taking place is good. The wind will take me where I need to go.

Today, help me, God, to let go of my resistance to change.

Help me be open to the process.

Help me believe that the place I'll be dropped off will be better than the place where I was picked up.

Help me surrender, trust, and accept, even if I don't understand.

 

Accepting Change

The winds of change blow through my life, sometimes gently, sometimes like a tropical storm.

Yes, I have resting places - time to adjust to another level of living, time to get my balance, time to enjoy the rewards.

I have time to catch our breath.

But change is inevitable, and desirable.

Sometimes, when the winds of change begin to rustle, I am not certain the change is for the better.

I may call it stress or a temporary condition, certain I'll be restored to normal.

Sometimes, I resist.

I tuck my head down and buck the wind, hoping that things will quickly calm down, get back to the way things were.

Is it possible I am being prepared for a new "normal"?

Change will sweep through my life, as needed, to take me where I am going.  I can trust that my Higher Power has a plan in mind, even when I don't know where the changes are leading.

I can trust that the change-taking place is good. The wind will take me where I need to go.

Today, help me, God, to let go of my resistance to change.

Help me be open to the process.

Help me believe that the place I'll be dropped off will be better than the place where I was picked up.

Help me surrender, trust, and accept, even if I don't understand.

 

'Twas the Night Before Christmas: 2008 White House Press Basement Version

'Twas the night before Christmas and in the White House,

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

Stockings were hung in the West Wing with care,

In hopes that January 20th soon would be there.

The president was asleep, all snug in his bed,

While visions of Texas danced in his head.

Can't wait to leave D.C., so cold and callous,

For the comfy confines of a new home in Dallas.

Barney was napping next to the nightstand,

Eager to bite another journalist's hand.

Both Bushes settled down for long winter naps,

Hoping to avert the automakers' collapse.

What a year it had been, with its twists and its turns,

From Jenna's summer wedding to meltdown concerns.

From the pope's springtime visit and his "awesome" speech,

To the shoe-throwing incident — a security breach.

There were stimulus checks to boost buyin' and sellin',

Then came the book from disgruntled McClellan.

In the campaign, Republicans were bailin',

Bush was kept far from McCain and Ms. Palin.

Suddenly, there arose on the lawn such a clatter,

Dubya jumped up to see what was the matter.

When, what to his wondering eyes did he see?

But a limo coming — from Treasury.

Out stepped Hank Paulson in a red Santa suit,

Complete with white beard and shiny black boots.

He was armed with a checkbook to fix the recession,

Handing out billions for every subprime transgression.

"Now Fannie! Now Freddie! And now A-I-G!

"On Bankers! On Wall Street! And Detroit's Big Three!

"We're pumping in cash for liquidity,

"And boosting long-term viability."

The phone rang inside and Bush answered in time,

A call from Chicago — Obama on the line.

"Sorry it's late. What an imposition."

"No problem," said Bush. "Just part of the transition."

Barack bemoaned Blagojevich; boy, what a creep —

The audacity, the hair, the (bleep, bleep, bleep).

Facing last-minute jitters, Obama needed advice,

The war, the economy, anything would suffice.

And I heard Bush exclaim, without blowing his fuse:

"Merry Christmas to all! Watch out for the shoes!"

Peace On Earth

Peace is a daily, a weekly, a monthly process, gradually changing opinions, slowly eroding old barriers, and quietly building new structures.  --John F. Kennedy

At times, I can remind myself I am the only one I can change.

I can use what I have learned in recovery to help me.

The more I do this, the easier it gets, and the more peaceful our lives my life become.

Today let me do one thing to eliminate a conflict.