Dear Friends,
The reflections today don’t have an obvious theme yet they seem to fit well together as we settle into this ‘ordinary’ time. They give me a sense of ‘feeling good’. Maybe they are a bit of an antidote to the already interminable pre-election carry on! Another four weeks to go! But we can’t forget the terrible happenings in so many parts of our world – hence today’s blessing is Marty Haugen’s ‘Dona Nobis Pacem’. Let’s pray it for all those suffering as a result of conflict.
Hoping that the coming week will be a good one for you & sending our love & prayer
Being Happy for Others
We find gladness in the midst of the gladness of another,
joy in the happiness of another,
appreciation for the many ways our lives and our hearts are touched by the life and heart of another.
A significant aspect of the fabric of joy is tempering our tendencies to envy others in ways that we feel ourselves to be deprived or inadequate, and to come to know a selfless joy in the face of another’s happiness.
A selfless joy – that sums up the priceless decision to share in another’s good fortune without trying to claim it for our own possession.
Christina Feldman
Love is the Nature of the Soul
John O’Donohue
The soul needs love as urgently as the body needs air. In the warmth of love, the soul can be itself. All the possibilities of your human destiny are asleep in your soul. You are here to realise and honour these possibilities. When love comes into your life, unrecognized dimensions of your destiny awaken and blossom and grow. Possibility is the secret heart of time. On its outer surface time is vulnerable to transience. Regardless of its sadness or beauty, each day empties and vanishes. In its deeper heart, time is transfiguration. Time looks after possibility and makes sure ids lost or forgotten. That which seems to pass away on the surface of time is in fact transfigured and housed in the tabernacle of memory. Possibility is the secret heart of creativity. At the deepest level of being, possibility is both mother and transfigured destination of what we call events and facts. This quiet and secret world of the eternal is the soul. Love is the nature of the soul. When we love and allow ourselves to be loved, we begin more and more to inhabit the kingdom of the eternal. Fear changes into courage, emptiness becomes plenitude and distance becomes intimacy.
What would rejuvenate my Spirit? I pray for these gifts ………….
Love
to be the north star in my soul,
leading me always in the direction of divine light.
Stillness
to sweep through my restless mind,
instilling calmness and a serenity that dispels apprehension.
Nonviolence
to enter every thought, word, deed and desire,
flowing gently from me like a brook caressing inflexible stones.
Savouring
to remember with thankfulness
lovely moments of beauty and the joy of people’s good will.
Other-Centredness
to dissolve the closely held part of myself
that prefers to ignore or refuses to respond to the plight of others.
Laughter
to retain the sprightly dance of joy
amid endless duties, preparations, chores & responsibilities.
Perspective
to expand an inner vision that sees
each difficult person or situation through the wide lens of kindness.
Solace
to recognize, welcome and embrace
whoever and whatever seeks shelter in the sanctuary of self.
Hope
to rekindle my affection and gratitude
for the source of love who intermingles with each part of my life.
JOYCE RUPP