8th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Three days from today Lent 2019 begins. Last week St Luke presented us with some challenges to consider as we endeavor to live Christian (Christ like) lives. I call them the Iron Christian Challenge. In today’s Gospel (Luke 6:39-45) St Luke continues the challenge with more rules for Christ like living.

In three parables, Jesus describes people who are blind, disciples in training, people who are critical without considering their own faults and good trees and rotten trees. The bottom line of the three parables is: “A good person out of the store of goodness in his heart produces good, but an evil person out of a store of evil produces evil; for from the fullness of the heart the mouth speaks."

The question is, where are we in these parables? Are we like blind people trying to guide other blind people? Do we believe that we know more than the people who strive to guide us? Do we criticize others for splinters when we are carrying around heavy beams? And finally, what is in our hearts: good or evil?

As part of our Iron Christian Challenge we must reflect on these questions. Because unless we do reflect, and unless we strive to “clean up our act,” there is no way we can compete. We cannot “love [our] enemies; do good to those who hate [us]; bless those who curse [us]; pray for those who mistreat [us]” without attempting to put on “the mind of Christ” (1 Cor 2: 16). Putting on the mind of Christ is not impossible. The Old Testament writer of The Book of Wisdom says that, “…but things in heaven, who can search them out? Or who can know your counsel, unless you give Wisdom and send your holy spirit from on high? Thus, were the paths of those on earth made straight, and people learned what pleases you, and were saved by Wisdom” (Wisdom 9:16-18). We have the Holy Spirit. It was Jesus’ gift to us at Pentecost. So, as we prepare for Lent 2019, lets give ourselves time to reflect and, calling on the gift of the Holy Spirit, attempt to view the world through the mind of Christ. Who knows what will happen?

O God, our teacher and judge, 

 hear our prayer as we gather at the table of your word. 

 Enrich our hears with the goodness of your wisdom

 and renew us from within, that all our actions, all our words, 

 may bear the fruit of your transforming grace. 

 We make our prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, 

 who lives and reigns with you 

in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever.

Amen.

Healing Prayer

Beethoven's Piano

On a visit to the Beethoven museum in Bonn, a young student became fascinated by the piano on which Beethoven had composed some of his greatest works. She asked the museum guard if she could play a few bars on it; she accompanied the request with a lavish tip, and the guard agreed. The girl went to the piano and tinkled out the opening of the Moonlight Sonata. As she was leaving she said to the guard, "I suppose all the great pianist who come here want to play on that piano."

The guard shook his head. "Padarewski [the famed Polish pianist] was here a few years ago and he said he wasn't worthy to touch it."

Week Without God

Make Your Plans

The story is told of Morris, a Russian man, who saved his rubles for twenty years to buy a new car. After choosing the model and options he wants, he's not the least bit surprised or even concerned to learn that it will take two years for the new car to be delivered. He thanks the salesman and starts to leave, but as he reaches the door he pauses and turns back to the salesman. "Do you know which week two years from now the new car will arrive?"

The salesman checks his notes and tells the man that it will be two years to the exact week. The man thanks the salesman and starts out again, but upon reaching the door, he turns back again.

"Could you possibly tell me what day of the week two years from now the car will arrive?"

The salesman, mildly annoyed, checks his notes again and says that it will be exactly two years from this week, on Thursday.

Morris thanks the salesman and once again starts to leave. Halfway through the door, he hesitates, turns back, and walks up to the salesman.

"I'm sorry to be so much trouble, but do you know if that will be two years from now on Thursday in the morning, or in the afternoon?"

Visibly irritated, the salesman flips through his papers yet another time and says sharply that it will be in the afternoon, two years from now on Thursday.

"That's a relief!" says Morris. "The plumber is coming that morning!"

We often have to make plans far in advance so as to avoid any conflicts. Before making any commitments -- you know the routine -- we have to pull out the date book (or the iPhone). "The kids have got a soccer game that night at 7:00, but the next night is free." Planning ahead isn't wrong; in fact, it's a scriptural principle. What makes it wrong, though, is planning ahead without any thought of God.

"Come now, you who say, 'Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit'; whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away. Instead you ought to say, 'If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.' " (James 4:13-15)

Go ahead! Make your plans! Fill in that date book!

Just make sure that God hasn't been left out.

There’s an old story of the boy who stood on a sidewalk, waiting on a bus. A man walking by spotted the boy, and gave him some gentle instruction. “Son,” he said, “if you’re waiting on the bus, you need to move to the street corner. That’s where the bus stops for passengers.” “It’s OK,” said the boy. “I’ll just wait right here, and the bus will stop for me.” The man repeated his argument, but the boy never moved. Just then, the bus appeared. Amazingly, the bus pulled over to where the boy stood, and the child hopped on. The man on the sidewalk stood speechless. The boy turned around in the doorway and said, “Mister, I knew the bus would stop here, because the bus driver is my dad!”

When you’ve got a family relationship with the bus driver, you don’t need a bus stop. If your mother is a US Senator, you won’t need an appointment to slip into her office. If you’ve given your heart to the King of Kings, you’re in a royal family of unspeakable proportions​.

If I Went Back

An Augustinian, a Franciscan, and a Jesuit all die and get to heaven. Jesus asks each one, "If you could go back, what would you change?"

The Augustinian ponders a while and says, "There's so much sin in the world. If I went back, I'd try and stop people from sinning so much." 

The Franciscan thinks a bit and says, "There's so much poverty in the world. If I went back, I'd try and get people to share more of their wealth with the poor." 

The Jesuit looks at Jesus and quickly replies, "If I went back, I'd change my doctor."

7th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Ten days from now, March 5, 2025, we observe Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent. It is not too early for us to begin considering what we will take on or give up during Lent. Most of us give things up – eating meat on Fridays, sugar and sweets, alcohol and tobacco, television, movies, computer games and other forms of entertainment. Others of us take on something - attending daily mass, spending an hour before the Blessed Sacrament, participating in the Stations of the Cross, or praying an extra Rosary. These are all laudable endeavors. In today’s gospel, Luke 6:27–38, Jesus gives us some challenges to consider in these days before Lent.

I call these the iron challenges (like Iron Man competitions). For us it can be the Iron Christian Challenge:

1. If you are angry with someone or about something – give it up.
2. If you hate someone or something – give it up.
3. If you are judgmental or condemning – give it up.
4. If you are hurt because someone has wronged you – give it up.
5. If there is someone you need to forgive – forgive them.
6. If someone hates you – forgive them.
7. If someone is angry with you – apologize.
8. If someone is your enemy – pray for them. 
9. Be generous with everything you have and expect nothing in return.
10. Love everyone the way God loves you. 

If we can accomplish these challenges, Jesus promises us that “your reward will be great and you will be children of the Most High, for he himself is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked” (Luke 6: 35). And he reminds us that “the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you” (Luke 6: 38). 

Compassionate God and Father,

you are kind to the ungrateful, merciful even to the wicked. 

 Pour out your love upon us, 

 that with good and generous hearts 

 we may keep from judging others and learn your way of compassion. 

 We make our prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, 

 who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, 

 God for ever and ever.

AMEN.

Two Roads

There are two ways,

and both are hard to travel.

There is the way of the river,

but there is also the way of the bridge

that I have built to cross that river.

How strange it is

that so many

still prefer to walk through the water,

even though I have built a bridge for them,

a bridge that offers delight,

where all that is bitter becomes sweet,

and every burden light.

Those who cross the waters of life

by taking the way of the bridge

see light

even though

they are still in the darkness of their body.

Though mortal,

they taste immortality,

though weary,

they receive the refreshment they need

when they need it, in my name.

There are no words adequate

to describe

the delight experienced by those

who choose the way of the bridge.

While still in this life

they taste and participate

in that good

which has been prepared for them

in the next.

You would be a fool,

indeed, to reject such a great good

and choose instead

to walk by the lower road

with its great toil,

and without refreshment or advantage.

All through the day

There are always two roads.

From: Set Aside Every Fear
love and trust in the Spirituality of Catherine of Siena.
By John Kirvan

Quiet Time

Well, here I am Lord
Waiting to hear your voice
Thank you for this quiet time
And helping me make this choice

There are so many things that need to be done
They cry out to be done, today!
Help me to realize the first thing to be done
Is to stop, and listen, and pray

What good is it all without your call?
Where does the activity end?
Calm me right now, calm my feverish brow
Your Holy spirit send

Thank you that you're always speaking out
So our quiet hearts may hear
Your healing word as you call us by name
May we hear it loud and clear​

-Rosalind Renshaw in "Conversations"

Miracles

One of the mistakes people make is expecting God only in miracles, in flashes, and in instant gratification.

The church looks for miracles in order to declare a saint. But life is full of miracles! For an alcoholic or addict to live one day sober is a miracle. To love a person after they make a big mistake is a miracle. To be able to love yourself after you make a big mistake is a miracle. To follow God’s call day after day is a miracle. To take up your cross daily is a miracle.

God is often found in the whisper of the wind, the beauty of a flower, snow covering the tiny branches of a tree, the voice of a friend.

To be looking and listening for God is enough! To find God in your sister or brother is a miracle.

Bridges of Faith

In 1847, a boy named Homan Walsh went out to fly a kite. Homan was taking part in a kite-flying contest, so he brought his best kite, and plenty of string.

He stood on the Canadian bank of the Niagara River, letting more and more of that string go out, and his little-boy's kite kept going higher, and higher, and higher until it stretched nearly 1,000 feet. When a stranger on the American side of the Niagara Gorge grabbed Homan's string, the crowd that had gathered let up a mighty roar. For the first time in history, people on opposite sides of this great gorge were holding onto the same string. And Homan won $5, the top prize in the contest.

There was much more than $5 at stake, however. In short order, the string was tied to a tree on the American shoreline, and a light cord tied to the Canadian end of the string. The cord was then pulled across the 800-foot span. A rope was tied to the cord, and pulled safely across. To the rope was attached a wire cable, and to the cable, a thicker cable attached. It was the beginning of an engineering victory over one of the greatest natural barriers that had separated Americans and Canadians.

Fifty-foot towers were built on each side of the river, and more cables became a part of the picture. In time, people rode across the river in buckets, for $1 each, and then they walked on a foot bridge for a quarter. But less than a year after Homan's kite first flew across the river, people were safely riding their horse-drawn carriages across the Niagara, on a marvelous suspension bridge that hung 220 feet over the rushing water.

Eventually, there were 15 bridges that spanned the Niagara, six of which are in use today. The thousands of passengers that travel across the multi-lane, high-speed bridges today think nothing of the bridge, some of them so familiar with the path, they barely glance at the scenic view. More than likely, it has never occurred to most of those on the great bridges today that somewhere in the past, just to get this modern-day miracle under way, somebody had to fly a kite.

If great bridges can get their start with a boy's kite and string, then I'll tell you that great spiritual experiences can get their start with amazingly simple decisions.

The Lord's Supper is one of the world's simplest meals. From one vantage point, it might not seem much more significant than a boy flying a kite. It might seem little more than a string of a connection between you and God. Our offer to you today is make that connection. From the smallest beginnings can come great bridges of faith.

Best Sermons Never Preached

These obviously are quotes from different people but they present a wise commentary on what is important in life. 

Hope you enjoy them as much as I have.

The Best Sermons are Lived Not Preached

1. Today, I interviewed my grandmother for part of a research paper I'm working on for my Psychology class. When I asked her to define success in her own words, she said, "Success is when you look back at your life and the memories make you smile." 

2. Today, I asked my mentor - a very successful business man in his 70s- what his top 3 tips are for success. He smiled and said, "Read something no one else is reading, think something no one else is thinking, and do something no one else is doing." 

3. Today, after a 72 hour shift at the fire station, a woman ran up to me at the grocery store and gave me a hug. When I tensed up, she realized I didn't recognize her. She let go with tears of joy in her eyes and the most sincere smile and said, "On 9-11-2001, you carried me out of the World Trade Center." 

4. Today, after I watched my dog get run over by a car, I sat on the side of the road holding him and crying. And just before he died, he licked the tears off my face. 

5. Today at 7am, I woke up feeling ill, but decided I needed the money, so I went into work. At 3pm I got laid off. On my drive home I got a flat tire. When I went into the trunk for the spare, it was flat too. A man in a BMW pulled over, gave me a ride, we chatted, and then he offered me a job. I start tomorrow. 

6. Today, as my father, three brothers, and two sisters stood around my mother's hospital bed, my mother uttered her last coherent words before she died. She simply said, "I feel so loved right now. We  should have gotten together like this more often." 

7. Today, I kissed my dad on the forehead as he passed away in a small hospital bed. About 5 seconds after he passed, I realized it was the first time I had given him a kiss since I was a little boy. 

8. Today, in the cutest voice, my 8-year-old daughter asked me to start recycling. I chuckled and  asked, "Why?" She replied, "So you can help me save the planet." I chuckled again and asked, "And why do you want to save the planet?" Because that's where I keep all my stuff," she said. 

9. Today, when I witnessed a 27-year-old breast cancer patient laughing hysterically at her 2-year-old daughter's antics, I suddenly realized that I need to stop complaining about my life and start celebrating it again. 

10. Today, a boy in a wheelchair saw me desperately struggling on crutches with my broken leg and offered to carry my backpack and books for me. He helped me all the way across campus to my class and as he was leaving he said, "I hope you feel better soon." 

11. Today, I was feeling down because the results of a biopsy came back malignant. When I got home, I opened an e-mail that said, "Thinking of you today. If you need me, I'm a phone call away." It was from a high school friend I hadn't seen in 10 years. 

12. Today, I was traveling in Kenya and I met a refugee from Zimbabwe. He said he hadn't eaten anything in over 3 days and looked extremely skinny and unhealthy. Then my friend offered him the rest of the sandwich he was eating. The first thing the man said was, "We can share it. 

13. Today, I had the opportunity of sharing these with you. Did you get anything out of reading these. I learned that the best sermons are lived, not preached. 

 I am glad I have you to send these to​.

Ancestors

Spirit of my ancestors,

this day I join in acknowledging the blessedness of the many
who inspired me and shaped my faith.

I turn in memory and appreciation
toward those ancestors in my family of origin
who influenced and encouraged me to live as my best self.

I bring to mind others who enriched my life
and led me further on my journey of personal transformation.

I honor all those who sacrificed and suffered
in order for peace and justice to be furthered on our planet.

I give thanks and rejoice for the countless, unnamed persons
those goodness left a lasting mark of kindness and compassion.

May the remembrance of each of these blessed ones
deepen my personal commitment
to leave a trace of goodness wherever I go.

When I depart this sphere of life may I do so
having contributed to individual and world peace
and may this world be a better place because of me and my ancestors​.

St. Valentine

Under the rule of Emperor Claudius II (268-270 AD), Rome was involved in many bloody and unpopular military campaigns. Claudius was having a difficult time getting soldiers to go to the army. He believed the reason was that Roman men did not want to leave their loves or their families. As a result, Claudius cancelled all marriages and engagements in Rome. But Valentine was a priest who would secretly marry any couples who came to him. For this he was taken captive and brought before the Prefect of Rome, who condemned him to be beaten to death with clubs and to have his head cut off. He suffered martyrdom on the 14th of February, in either 269 or 270.

6th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Although many of us tend to think of the beatitudes as a New Testament phenomenon, beatitudes are more prevalent in the Old Testament than in the New Testament. There are 57 beatitudes in the Old Testament and we have examples in our first reading from Jeremiah 17:5-8 and responsorial psalm, Psalm 1. A beatitude is a form of writing that declares “blessedness on the ground of some virtue or good fortune.”

When the people heard Jesus preach his Sermon on the Plain, today’s Gospel from Luke 6:17-26, they probably were familiar with the form his sermon took but the words he spoke were radical. Jesus took all the secular standards of his day and turned them upside down. The people who are well to do, well fed, well thought of and happy Jesus calls miserable. And the people most of us consider to be miserable, people who are poor, hungry, grieving and hated Jesus calls blessed.

These Beatitudes are the core of Jesus’ teaching and they are diametrically opposed to the worldly values of success and money and material possessions that are all around us. They are just as challenging to us today as they were thousands of years ago when Jesus first spoke them. Blessedness does not come from anything our world offers or values. Blessedness comes from our recognition that God is the center of our universe. Fame and fortune can be gone in an instant but God’s love for us is constant and abiding. As Jeremiah reminds us “Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose hope is the LORD.”

God our Father,

you appeal to us today through your Son

to choose freely and responsibly

the kind of happiness that endures.

Let the gospel of your Son shock us

into recognizing the emptiness and poverty

of material riches and human power

and fill our poverty

with the riches and freedom

of your truth, your love and justice,

which you offer us through Jesus,

your risen Son and our Lord forever.

Amen.

When You are Old

Cow

The 98-year-old Mother Superior from Ireland was dying. The nuns gathered around her bed trying to make her last journey comfortable. They gave her some warm milk to drink but she refused.

Then one of the nuns took the glass back to the kitchen. Remembering a bottle of Irish whiskey received as a gift the previous Christmas, she opened and poured a generous amount into the warm milk. Back at Mother Superior`s bed, she held the glass to her lips. Mother drank a little, then a little more, and before they knew it, she had drunk the whole glass down to the last drop.

"Mother," the nuns asked with earnest, "please give us some wisdom before you die."

She raised herself up in bed and with a pious look on her face said, "Don`t sell that cow​!"

Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes

Today we celebrate the fact of the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary to Bernadette Soubrious at Lourdes, France, on the northern slopes of the Pyrenees Mountains. Between February 11 and July 16, 1858, Mary appeared to fourteen year old Bernadette at the grotto of Massabielle, eighteen times. The young girl was instructed by the apparition to bathe and drink from a spring that began to flow the following day. Since then the bath at Lourdes has been associated with miraculous healings. The site of the apparitions attracts over three million pilgrims a year. Of some five thousand reported cures at least fifty-eight have been declared miraculous by church officials. In 1907 Pope Pius X made the feast of Our Lady of Lourdes a feast of the universal Church.

And God Said

Be

 

Brand New Day

Good Morning God,

You’re ushering in a brand day,

bright and shiny new,

and here I come again to ask

if you’ll renew me too.

Please forgive the many errors

I made just yesterday

and let me try again, dear God

to walk closer in your way.

But Father, I am well aware

that I can’t do this on my own,

so please take my hand and hold it tight

so I won’t walk alone.

Amen​

5th Sunday in Ordinary Time - World Marriage Day

Every year The Church celebrates World Marriage Day, on the Sunday closest to Valentine's Day. So, today we celebrate World Marriage Day. Friday, February 14th also marks the end of National Marriage Week, an international movement striving "to strengthen marriage in communities and convey what the social sciences clearly tell us: marriage leads to greater wealth, health, longevity and happiness."

Worldwide Marriage Encounter sponsors World Marriage Day to honor "husband and wife as head of the family, the basic unit of society" and to salute "the beauty of their faithfulness, sacrifice and joy in daily married life." The U S Conference of Catholic Bishop’s theme for this year’s celebration of National Marriage Week is “Marriage: Source of Hope, Spring of Renewal, Pursue a Lasting Love!”

Pope Francis wrote extensively about the different dimensions of love in his 2016 Encyclical Letter, Amoris Laetitia, The Joy of Love. In regards to marriage, the Holy Father said: “The sacrament of marriage is not a social tradition, an empty ritual or merely the outward sign of a commitment. The sacrament is a gift given for the sanctification and salvation of the spouses, since ‘their mutual belonging is a real representation through the sacramental sign, of the same relationship between Christ and the Church’.” (72) The Holy Father continued saying that: “Christian marriage is a sign of how much Christ loved his Church in the covenant sealed on the cross, yet it also makes that love present in the communion of the spouses.” (73)

St Valentine’s Day is a special day to celebrate love. Marriage is the lifelong commitment of two people to grow in mutual love, spirituality, gratitude, sacrifice and faithfulness. And so, this week we celebrate love and commitment.

The USCCB has provided this beautiful prayer for World Marriage Day:

Almighty and eternal God,

You blessed the union of married couples

so that they might reflect the union of Christ with his Church:

look with kindness on them.

Renew their marriage covenant,

increase your love in them,

and strengthen their bond of peace

so that, with their children,

they may always rejoice in the gift of your blessing.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen

Come Sit with Me

In the evening when I am tired God says, “Come sit with me.”

I speak about the little things that have happened to me during the day and I know I am heard. I share my fears, angers, doubts, and sorrows, and I feel like I am being held. I smile with what energy I have left and I am gently teased.

Then when all the conversation is over and the day has been opened up and emptied out, I am ready to rest. Nothing is solved. Nothing is under control. But also nothing pressing remains. 

But as I go to sleep a fleeting thought breaks the smooth surface of my peace: What would I do each night if God didn't say, “Come sit with me.”?

Look to this Day

Ancient Sanskrit poem

From the Bible to casinos, seven is often considered to be a magical, perfect, and lucky number.

Jesus told us to forgive those who hurt us seventy times seven times. Clearly he meant that to mean infinity.

Genesis speaks of the seven days of creation. Scripture speaks of seven archangels, and the Book of Revelation speaks of the seven seals of Revelation. The Bible is saturated with the number seven.

Roman Catholics have seven Sacraments: Baptism, Confirmation, Eucharist, Reconciliation, Healing of the Sick, Holy Orders, and Matrimony.

There are seven Corporal Works of Mercy: Feed the hungry, give drink to the thirsty, clothe the naked, shelter the homeless, visit the sick, visit the imprisoned, and bury the dead.

And then seven spiritual Works of Mercy: Instruct the ignorant, counsel the doubtful, admonish sinners, bear wrongs patiently, forgive offenses willingly, comfort the afflicted, and pray for the living and the dead.

We also have the famous seven Wonders of the World, though now there are arguments as to what precisely constitutes that list: Some argue for the original list, the seven Wonders of the Ancient World, others propose the seven Wonders of the Modern World, some speak of the seven Wonders of the Contemporary World, and still others affirm that the real wonders of this world are constructed by nature and they list instead the seven Natural Wonders of this World.

So what’s the true list? What, in fact, constitutes the seven Wonders of the World?

Recently this story appeared on the internet: A teacher asked her students to name the seven Wonders of the World. A number of students, with the help no doubt of electronic gadgets, quickly produced the various lists.

One young girl, however, without any electronic research, produced her own list. The seven Wonders of the World, she submitted, are: seeing, feeling, tasting, smelling, touching, breathing, and loving.

That list, I believe, reminds us all that the greatest wonder is the gift of life from conception until we meet our Lord face to face. Oh, the wonder of it all.

Will You be Ready?

Abraham Lincoln once said, "I will prepare, and some day my chance will come." When his chance came, he was ready.

During his seminary years, one priest-in-training sported a T-shirt that never failed to bring chuckles. Across the front was emblazoned: "Expectant Father." His chance came and he, too, was ready!

When your chance comes, will you be ready?

Hockey superstar Wayne Gretzky was always ready. He broke almost every record imaginable and is known as the greatest hockey player of all time.

Gretzky is not particularly big for his sport -- he stands at 5 feet 11 inches tall and weighs in at 170 pounds. He never skated particularly fast, his shot was not high-powered, and he often placed dead last on regular strength tests administered to his team. So what made "The Great One" so great? He was ready.

Gretzky attributes his stardom to practice and preparation. He practiced stick handling in the off-season with a tennis ball, as the ball was harder to control than a puck. In practice he innovated. He practiced bouncing the puck off the sideboards to his teammates until that technique became a regular part of his play. Then he worked on bouncing the puck off the net! He became so accomplished at these maneuvers that he sometimes said, "People say there's only six men on the ice, but really, if you use the angle of deflection of the board, there's seven. If you count the net, that's eight. From the opening face-off, I always figure we have 'em eight-on-six."

What made "The Great One" so great? Gretzky was always the best prepared member of his team. He was ready.

It's been said, "If you want your ship to come in, you must build a dock." When your chance comes, will you be ready.

Parable of the Pencil

The Pencil Maker took the pencil aside, just before putting him into the box. There are 5 things you need to know, he told the pencil, before I send you out into the world. Always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best pencil you can be.

One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in someone's hand.

Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, but you'll need it to become a better pencil.

Three: You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make.

Four: The most important part of you will always be what's inside.

And Five: On every surface you are used on, you must leave your mark. No matter what the condition, you must continue to write.

The pencil understood and promised to remember, and went into the box with purpose in its heart.

Now replacing the place of the pencil with you; always remember them and never forget, and you will become the best person you can be.

One: You will be able to do many great things, but only if you allow yourself to be held in God's hand. And allow other human beings to access you for the many gifts you possess.

Two: You will experience a painful sharpening from time to time, by going through various problems, but you'll need it to become a stronger person.

Three: You will be able to correct any mistakes you might make.

Four: The most important part of you will always be what's on the inside.

And Five: On every surface you walk through, you must leave your mark. No matter what the situation, you must continue to do your duties.

By understanding and remembering, let us proceed with our life on this earth having a meaningful purpose in our heart.

- Author Unknown -Taken from The Inspiration List

Houses

I walk in and out of many worlds. - Joy Harjo, Creek/Cherokee

In my mind are many dwellings. Each of the dwellings we create ourselves:

the house of anger,
the house of despair,
the house of self-pity,
the house of indifference,
the house of negative,
the house of positive,
the house of hope,
the house of joy,
the house of peace,
the house of enthusiasm,
the house of cooperation,
the house of giving.

Each of these houses we visit each day. We can stay in any house for as long as we want. We can leave these mental houses any time we wish. We create the dwelling, we stay in the dwelling, and we leave the dwelling whenever we wish. We can create new rooms, new houses. Whenever we enter these dwellings, this becomes our world until we leave for another. What world will we live in today?

Creator, no one can determine which dwelling I choose to enter. No one has the power to do so, only me. Let me choose wisely today.

Elder's Meditation of the Day