A prayer for New Year's Eve

Another year is dawning
With the chance to start anew.
May I be kinder, wiser, Lord,
In all I say and do.

Not so caught up in selfish gain
That I would fail to see
The things in life that mean the most
Cost not a fancy fee.

The warm, kind word that I can give,
The outstretched hand to help,
The prayers I pray for those in need--
More precious these than wealth.

I know not what may lie ahead
Of laughter or of tears;
I only need to know each day
That You are walking near.

I'm thankful for this brand new year
As now I humbly pray,
My hand secure in Yours, dear Lord,
Each step along the way.

                                                                       - Kay Hoffman -

TFTD - He will shout until you hear

"God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains; it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world."

                                                                                         - C.S. Lewis -

TFTD - With, not for

"I find the doing of the will of God leaves me no time for disputing about His plans."

                                                                               - George Macdonald -

"Always remember that, every time you step out of your comfort zone, you step into God's comfort zone."

                                                                               - Mark Cahill -

And, as a very wise woman said to me recently, "Instead of trying to work for God, try working with Him and see what a difference it makes!"

*With apologies for the recent disruption. Normal service will now resume :)

The day breaks and the shadows flee this Christmas time

"I salute you. I am your friend, and my love for you goes deep. There is nothing I can give you which you have not already; but there is much, very much, which though I cannot give it, you can take. No heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in today. Take heaven. No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in this precious little instant. Take peace. The gloom of the world is but a shadow. Behind it, yet within our reach, is joy. There is radiance and courage in the darkness could we but see it; and to see, we have only to look. Life is so generous a giver, but we, judging its gifts by their coverings, cast them away as ugly or heavy or hard. Remove the covering, and you will find beneath it a living splendor, woven of love, and wisdom, and power. Welcome it, greet it, and you touch the angel's hand that brings it.

Everything we call a trial, a sorrow, a duty, believe me, that angel's hand is there, the gift is there, and the wonder of an overshadowing Presence. Our joys, too, be not content with them as joys. They, too, conceal diviner gifts. Life is so full of meaning and purpose, so full of beauty beneath its covering, that you will find earth but cloaks your heaven. Courage, then, to claim it, that is all! But courage you have, and the knowledge that we are pilgrims wending through unknown country our way home.

And so, at this Christmas time, I greet you, not quite as the world sends greeting, but with profound esteem now and forever.

The day breaks and the shadows flee away."

-This old Christmas greeting from a letter written between 1387-1455 by Giovanni da Fiesole (Fra Angelico)

TFTD - Always there

"We need never shout across the spaces to an absent God. He is nearer than our own soul, closer than our most secret thoughts."

                                                            - A. W. Tozer -

Keep Christmas Within

Then let every heart keep Christmas within:

Christ's pity for sorrow,

Christ's hatred for sin,

Christ's care for the weakest,

Christ's courage for right.

Everywhere, everywhere,

Christmas tonight!

                                                   - Bishop Phillips Brooks -

(From Everywhere. Everywhere Christmas Tonight, a Christmas carol)

Postcards from God #6

TFTD - How much?

TFTD - Made with love

“You weren't an accident. You weren't mass produced. You aren't an assembly-line product. You were deliberately planned, specifically gifted, and lovingly positioned on the earth by the Master Craftsman.” 

                                                  - Max Lucado, The Christmas Candle -

“If God had a refrigerator, your picture would be on it. If He had a wallet, your photo would be in it. He sends you flowers every spring and a sunrise every morning... Face it, friend. He is crazy about you! ” 

        

                                                                  - Max Lucado -

The first hint of Christmas :)

"And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that are highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast her mind in what manner of salutation this should be. And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And behold, thou shalt conceive in they womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end."

                                                                         (Luke 1:26-33, KJV)

TFTD - love letters

"We are all pencils in the hand of a writing God, who is sending love letters to the world."

                                                                                 - Mother Theresa -

TFTD - One day, you will be amazed

"You have been created by God and for God, and someday you will stand amazed at the simple yet profound ways He has used you even when you weren't aware of it."


                                                                                                           - Kay Arthur -

Postcards from God #5

TFTD

"Be careful how you live; you will be the only Bible some people ever read."

                                                                                - William Toms -

TFTD -No way to lose

"I mean you can’t lose in this game. You can’t go wrong. It’s not part of the plan. There’s no way not to get where you are going. There’s no way to miss your destination. If God is your target, you’re in luck, because God is so big, you can’t miss."

                                                            - Neale Donald Walsch, Conversations With God -

Lord, You've got the love I need to see me through

Sometimes I feel like

throwing my hands up in the air.

I know I can count on You. 

Sometimes I feel like saying

"Lord I just don't care", 

but You've got the love I need

to see me through.

Sometimes it seems that

the going is just too rough,

and things go wrong

no matter what I do.

Now and then I feel

that life is just too much, 

but You've got the love I need

to see me through.

When food is gone

You are my daily meal;

when friends are gone

I know my Saviour's love is real.

Your love is real.

Every once in a while

I say "Lord I can't go on"; 

every once in a while

I get to feeling blue;

every once in a while

it seems like I am all alone, 

but You got the love I need

to see me through.

Occasionally 

my thoughts are brave and friends are few.

Occasionally

I cry out "Lord what must I do?"

Occasionally

I call out "Master make me new" - 

You've got the love I need 

to see me through.

Sometimes I feel like

throwing my hands up in the air.

I know I can count on You. 

Sometimes I feel like saying

"Lord I just don't care", 

but You've got the love I need

to see me through.

* You Got the Love, The Source feat. Candi Staton

TFTD

"To take all that we are and have and hand it over to God may not be easy; but it can be done; and when it is done, the world has in it one less candidate for misery."

                                                                                        - Paul Scherer -

A Psalm of Life

Tell me not in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou are, to dust thou returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each tomorrow
Finds us farther than today.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act, - act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o'erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sand of time;

Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solenm main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us then be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labour and to wait.

                                               - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow -


*The further on I get in my life and in my journey, the more this poem means to me. It says everything I want to say and more; it's everything I try for.

TFTD -Which do you feed the most?

"A Native American elder once described his own inner struggles in this manner: Inside of me there are two dogs. One of the dogs is mean and evil. The other dog is good. The mean dog fights the good dog all the time. When asked which dog wins, he reflected for a moment and replied, 'The one I feed the most.'"

                                                                                   - George Bernard Shaw -

TFTD - Never too far

"Your best days are never so good that you are beyond the reach of God's grace. Your worst days are never so bad that you are beyond the reach of God's grace."

                                                                                             - Unknown -

Thank the Lord for that!

I don't know where I'm going, but I know I'm not alone

Many of you will already be familiar with the prayer below, but it helps me to be reminded of it from time to time, and I hope it will bring something of value to you. Before writing this post, I said a short prayer, as I often do, to ask for guidance. And it came to me very strongly that I needed to post this prayer. I wouldn't ordinarily make you share my thought process for the sake of a "quote post", but I think someone reading this needs to be reading it at this time; and I think that person needs to know that there was intent behind this prayer being up on this day, even if the intent wasn't exactly mine!

So, whatever is going on with you, know that you are not alone. If you are anything like me, i.e. remotely human, then chances are you do feel that way sometimes, even if you know that's not true. Aside from the people who love you, God is always there beside you, and with you in whatever it is that's going on in your life. I sometimes feel distant from God, especially if I've been struggling with something for a long time. But I am learning to be mindful that even if I feel distant from God, He is always close to me. God doesn't distance himself from me, I put up walls and dull my sense of Him. Notice I don't say that I distance myself from Him. I believe that no matter how hard you try to push Him away, no matter how impregnable your fortress seems, God is always there with you. That's the point of Him. He loves us too much to leave us as we are, but He does love us as we are. He is endlessly loving, and endlessly patient, and He will wait until we turn to Him. Until we turn and see Him there, and realise  that He has always been there, He is ever with us, and He will never leave us. 

The Merton Prayer

My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end. Nor do I really know myself, and the fact that I think I am following your will does not mean that I am actually doing so. But I believe that the desire to please You does in fact please you. And I hope I have that desire in all I am doing. I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire. And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road, though I may know nothing about it. Therefore I will trust in you always though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death. I will not fear, for you are ever with me, and you will never leave me to face my perils alone. (Thomas Merton, "Thoughts in Solitude", Part Two, Chapter II)

TFTD - Keep Calm and Have Faith

"Faith is to believe what you do not see; the reward of this faith is to see what you believe."

                                                                           - Saint Augustine -

"He who has faith has... an inward reservoir of courage, hope confidence, calmness, and assuring trust that all will come out well - even though to the world it may appear to come out most badly."

                                                                           - B.C. Forbes -

*Image: Roisin O'Farrell

Being the Beloved

“Over the years, I have come to realize that the greatest trap in our life is not success, popularity, or power, but self-rejection. Success, popularity, and power can indeed present a great temptation, but their seductive quality often comes from the way they are part of the much larger temptation to self-rejection. When we have come to believe in the voices that call us worthless and unlovable, then success, popularity, and power are easily perceived as attractive solutions. The real trap, however, is self-rejection. As soon as someone accuses me or criticizes me, as soon as I am rejected, left alone, or abandoned, I find myself thinking, "Well, that proves once again that I am a nobody." ... [My dark side says,] I am no good... I deserve to be pushed aside, forgotten, rejected, and abandoned. Self-rejection is the greatest enemy of the spiritual life because it contradicts the sacred voice that calls us the "Beloved." Being the Beloved constitutes the core truth of our existence.” 

                                     - Henri Nouwen, Life of the Beloved: Spiritual Living in a Secular world - 

TFTD - Tend your lamp

"Don’t think that love, to be true, has to be extraordinary. What is necessary is to continue to love. How does a lamp burn, if it is not by the continuous feeding of little drops of oil? When there is no oil, there is no light and the bridegroom will say: “I do not know you”. Dear friends, what are our drops of oil in our lamps? They are the small things from every day life: the joy, the generosity, the little good things, the humility and the patience. A simple thought for someone else. Our way to be silent, to listen, to forgive, to speak and to act. That are the real drops of oil that make our lamps burn vividly our whole life. Don’t look for Jesus far away, He is not there. He is in you, take care of your lamp and you will see Him.”

                                                                                                      - Mother Teresa - 

*Image credit