Dear All
On Sunday our church marks out the day as a Day for Life. Of course issues like abortion and assisted dying are current and maybe will be uppermost in our minds, but we have chosen largely to reflect on life as we live it. We haven’t forgotten those whose impoverished circumstances make life very meagre, and joy in life is seldom if ever experienced – hence we include something on gratitude.
Our blessing this week is from the Fire of Love CD & is simply titled ‘A Blessing’ – let us remember as we listen to it those whose experience of true life is minimal.
Our love and prayer
Be Alive
Think freely; practice patience;
smile often; savour special moments;
Live God’s message; make new
friends; discover old ones; tell those
that you love that you do; feel deeply.
Forget trouble; forgive an enemy.
Pick some daisies; share them, keep
a promise; look for rainbows; gaze at
stars see beauty everywhere; work
hard; be wise; try to understand;
Take time for people; make time for yourself.
Laugh heartily; spread joy; take a
chance; reach out; let someone in;
Try something new; slow down; be
soft sometimes; celebrate life;
believe in yourself; trust others; see
a sunrise; listen to rain; reminisce;
cry when you need to………..BE ALIVE!
It costs so much
to be a full human being
that there are very few who have the
enlightenment or the courage
to pay the price.
One has to abandon altogether
the search for security, and
reach out
to the risk of living
with both arms.
One has to embrace the world
like a lover, and yet demand
no easy return of love.
One has to accept
pain as a condition
of existence.
One has to court doubt
and darkness as the
cost of existence.
One needs a will
stubborn in conflict but
apt always to the
Total Acceptance
of living and dying.
Morris West
From Seven Sacred Pauses – Macrina Wiederkehr
Often, as we come in sight of the end of our day, the things that must yet be done form a circle around us & vie for our attention. We long for the rooms of our hearts to be at rest, but find instead anxious or even petulant hearts. We are, however, in charge of our attitudes. We have the power to transform fretful hearts into grateful hearts. Gratitude is one of the themes of the Vespers hour. If we search out reasons to be grateful, we may be amazed to discover that our gratitude room is overflowing. This honoured guest is a healing companion, always available to us. Gratitude is like incense. It ascends & flows out as a sweet fragrance to everyone. A heart filled with gratitude is a heart filled with the incense of prayer. We leave what is unfinished in Eternal hands.
Life – 3 excerpts from Henri Nouwen’s writings
Poverty of mind as a spiritual attitude is a growing willingness to recognize the incomprehensibility of the mystery of life. The more mature we become the more we will be able to give up our inclination to grasp, catch, and comprehend the fulness of life and the more we will be ready to let life enter into us.
Life Is Precious
The beauty and preciousness of life is intimately linked with its fragility and mortality. We can experience that every day—when we take a flower in our hands, when we see a butterfly dance in the air, when we caress a little baby. Fragility and giftedness are both there, and our joy is connected with both.
Life is Small
Living without judgment is very difficult. It means trusting that new life can emerge even in a world full of distrust, violence, destruction, and war.
Life is always small. It is always vulnerable. It never shouts or screams. It always needs protection and guidance. Saying “yes” to it means being willing to look at the small life that seeks to be born in your heart, in your body, in your mind, among people…. Because life is very small, you can never see it happening. Have you ever seen a tree actually grow? Can you see a child grow? Growth is too gentle, too tender. Life is basically hidden. It is small and begs for constant care and protection. If you are committed to always saying “yes” to life, you are going to have to become a person who chooses it when it is hidden.