A BLOG THAT ATTEMPTS TO CELEBRATE GOD'S MYSTICAL PRESENCE. The author believes that like nature's beauty, God's grace is overflowing! God's blessings is enduring and abiding. But they always "elude" us! May his apprentice photo expressions & "appropriated" thoughts and reflections stir up, inspire and bring about more awareness of and deeper responses to God's constant & dynamic seizing us all to deeper intimacy!
GOD LOVES AND CARES SO MUCH FOR US! HE HAS BLESSED US AND HAS CONTINUED TO SHOWER US WITH HIS GRACE IN SO MANY WAYS WE COULD NOT EVEN IMAGINE.
LET US JOIN HANDS IN PRAYING THAT WE MAY CONTINUE TO BE AMAZED
BY GOD'S MANY BLESSINGS
ON OUR LIFE'S JOURNEYS ESPECIALLY DURING
THIS NEW YEAR.
God's plan is good,
His Power is GREAT
and His Best is yet to come.
Matt Anderson
For I know I have PLANS FOR YOU, says the Lord,
a PLAN OF FULLNESS, NOT OF HARM
TO GIVE YOU HOPE AND FUTURE...
Jer 29:11
Sunday, September 30, 2012
HOPE AND RESILIENCY "You sanctify what you are grateful for!"
- Anthony De Mello, S.J. Surely, all art is the result of one's having lived in danger, of having gone through all experience all the way to the end, where no one can go further... - Rainer Maria Rilke - PRAYER Lord, teach us always to recognize your greatness, to ponder on our treasures, and to draw strength from our daily blessings, especially during our most trying times. Guide our sometimes weary hearts to trust in your abiding presence and in your great plans for us (Jer 29:11)! "For I know the plans I have for you - it is Yahweh who speaks - plans for peace not disaster, reserving a future full of hope for you." Jeremiah 29:11
Monday, June 4, 2012
REST IN THE GOODNESS OF GOD,
FOR THAT GOODNESS REACHES TO THE DEPTHS OF OUR NEEDS!
Julian of Norwich PATIENT TRUST Above all, trust in the slow work of God We are quite naturally impatient in everything to reach the end of the day without delay. We should like to skip the intermediate states. We are impatient of being on the way to something unknown, something new. And yet it is the law of all progress that is made by passing through some stages of instability - and that it may take a very long time. And so it think it is with you. Your ideas mature gradually -let them grow, let them shape themselves, without undue haste. Do not try to force them on, as though you could be today what time (that is to say, grace and circumstances acting on your good will) will make of you tomorrow. Only God could say what this new spirit gradually forming within you will be. Give our Lord the benefit of believing that his hand is leading you, and accept the anxiety of feeling yourself in suspense and incomplete. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin SJ
A corollary water imagery came alive to my mind as I watched this thought provoking video. I remembered admiring a beautiful snapshot of flashy sailboats anchored safely in a harbor of calm and undisturbed waters. In the background were expensive rest houses and gorgeous hillsides. The water was surreal. The sailboats were shining in the sun. The words on the poster read, "Ships in a harbor are safe. But that's not what ships are for!"
" Life is not a destination; it is a journey," we are reminded by those who hve fathomed the depths of life. Sometimes, when we have docked our lives into a safe harbor, it is so easy to forget our life's journey and to just be content to rest at anchor. Just like the disciples who saw the transfiguration of Jesus, every time we had a "retreat experience" it is so tempting to just stay close to the clouds and not go down from the mountain. We tend to stay where we are comfortable and safe.
Let us remember and pray for those who are moving forward in their life's journey, including our loved ones, our friends, even ourselves. That as we move from our comfort zones and transition into major life changes, may we be encouraged and empowered by these journey wisdom.
May we rely on our ever-deepening faith in our Pilgrim God to propel us to risk the open seas, to continue sailing into unknown waters and to encounter wrath of storms and winds once again. Let us hold each other close in our hearts and speak our prayers with hope and joy!
A Prayer
by Francis Drake (1577)
Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves
When our dreams have come true because we dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely, because we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, when with the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst for the Waters of Life;
Having fallen in love with life, we have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision of the new Heaven to dim.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas where storms will show your mastery:
Where losing sight of land,we shall find the stars.
We ask you to push back the horizons of our hopes;
And to push us in the future
in strength, courage, hope, and love.
This we ask in the name of our Captain, who is Jesus Christ.
Graced Margins of our Lives begin when we dare to leave behind our comfort zones!
"Twenty years from now, you will be disappointed by the things that you did not do than by the things that you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore! Dream! Discover!" -Mark Twain-
