Patience

Letter 4414

It took longer than I would have hoped.

For the garden to sprout.

For the wall to be built.

For my ways to mend.

For my chattering thoughts to subside.

❖

Without, around, within — all around me are examples of slow progress.

Grant me patience, Lord, and the ability to see growth where before I saw only what had yet to be.

Consider:

Can I grow more patient?

Reading:

❖ “A tree that is unbending is easily broken.” — Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching

❖ “Even if our efforts of attention seem for years to be producing no result, one day a light that is in exact proportion to them will flood the soul.” — Simone Weil, Waiting for God

❖ “But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles.” — Isaiah 40:31 (KJV)

Thank you for for reading. If this helped you today, please consider sharing it.

~B.R.

On Guard

Letter 4413

I imagined a great battle to come, and I prepared for it. Armor, weaponry. It was not long before my neighbor became an enemy, so ready was I to fight.

I worried over the new plantlings in my garden and tended them with gusto. I overwatered and they soon shriveled.

What I guard against becomes real.

❖

If there is a battle to come, let me be ready. If there be peace, let me allow it. If others must do their own growing, let me step aside.

Let me live a day of acceptance, Lord.

Consider:

Can I live a life of acceptance?

Reading:

❖ “We become what we behold.” — William Blake

❖ “Let nothing disturb thee, nothing affright thee; all things are passing.” — Teresa of Ávila, Bookmark Prayer

❖ “Be still, and know that I am God.” — Psalm 46:10 (KJV)

Thank you for for reading. If this helped you today, please consider sharing it.

~B.R.

Proportion

Letter 4412

Do my responses match my circumstances?

There is fog and drizzle, while I despair of ever seeing the sun.

My candle nears its end, while I worry over penury.

Equally, a stranger nods to me in the crowded square, and I imagine a great friendship.

My emotions are out of proportion.

❖

Bring my inner life into line with the world, Lord, and let me meet it eye to eye.

Consider:

Can I respond in greater proportion to the world?

Reading:

❖ “Nothing is miserable unless you think it so; and on the other hand, nothing brings happiness unless you are content with it.” — Boethius, The Consolation of Philosophy

❖ “Equanimity is the mark of a soul that has found its center.” — Thomas Merton, New Seeds of Contemplation

❖ “Let your moderation be known unto all men.” — Philippians 4:5 (KJV)

Thank you for for reading. If this helped you today, please consider sharing it.

~B.R.

Details

Letter 4411

Morning light through the window falls in a golden pool. The dew on grass is like a grey blanket.

I look and look for you, Lord, yet you are already here, in the shape of a leaf.

❖

Let me open my eyes to you.

Consider:

Can I see you already here, in the details of my day?

Reading:

❖ “The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson, Nature

❖ “The spiritual life does not remove us from the world but leads us deeper into it.” — Henri Nouwen, The Wounded Healer

❖ “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.” — Psalm 19:1 (KJV)

Thank you for for reading. If this helped you today, please consider sharing it.

~B.R.