Letter 4446

In the village there is a meeting in the square. We must determine who will lead us.

I arrive early, and help set up chairs.

Working with my fellows, we laugh and the work is done quickly. During the meeting, I feel as if I belong.

❖

Walking home through the meadow, I reflect: do we not all belong where we live? Why, then, do some have greater comfort than others? Let me pass on the belonging and ease you granted me, Lord.

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Consider:

Can I welcome all?

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Reading:

❖ “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.” — John Donne, Devotions upon Emergent Occasions (Meditation XVII)

❖ “Community cannot feed for long on itself; it can only flourish where always the boundaries are giving way to the coming of others from beyond them — unknown and undiscovered brothers.” — Howard Thurman, The Search for Common Ground

❖ “Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” — Hebrews 13:2 (KJV)

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

~B.R.

Letter 4445

I cannot forever stand against your will for me, though I may mulishly push on your tide. The water rises, then falls, then rises.

❖

Instead of trying to guide the river, let me stand still and let the current flow around me. Neighbors and joy will come to visit, drawn by the current, and I will greet them one by one.

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Consider:

Can I stand still?

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Reading:

❖ “Fate leads the willing and drags along the reluctant.” — Seneca, Letters to Lucilius (107.11, quoting Cleanthes)

❖ “We do not obtain the most precious gifts by going in search of them but by waiting for them.” — Simone Weil, Waiting for God

❖ “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD.” — Exodus 14:13 (KJV)

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

~B.R.

Letter 4444

The heat has caused the meadow grass to go brown, the plants to wither.

When I go to the village and walk the square, my neighbors shuffle from side to side, slowly moving under a sun that has become oppressive.

The animals stay inside. My shades remain drawn.

❖

The heat will break. The rains will come. The deluge will cool the land, and we will look to the skies, mouths open, tongues out to taste the relief.

Even while under this lash, I know conditions will change. Let me make ready.

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Consider:

Can I anticipate the change that I hope for?

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Reading:

❖ “If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?” — Percy Bysshe Shelley, Ode to the West Wind

❖ “The present moment is always full of infinite treasure. It contains far more than you can possibly grasp.” — Jean-Pierre de Caussade, Abandonment to Divine Providence

❖ “And Elijah said unto Ahab, Get thee up, eat and drink; for there is a sound of abundance of rain.” — 1 Kings 18:41 (KJV)

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

~B.R.

Letter 4443

The light spreads over the land, from horizon to meadow to bedroom window.

It quickens, it brings joy, it brightens.

❖

What more could I add to this land, Lord? How dare I think I could build upon perfection?

Let me drink in the sunrise.

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Consider:

Can I accept and enjoy the beauty around me?

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Reading:

❖ “Hello, sun in my face. Hello, you who make the morning and spread it over the fields… Watch, now, how I start the day in happiness, in kindness.” — Mary Oliver, “Why I Wake Early”

❖ “You never enjoy the world aright, till the Sea itself floweth in your veins, till you are clothed with the heavens, and crowned with the stars.” — Thomas Traherne, Centuries of Meditations

❖ “And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good.” — Genesis 1:31 (KJV)

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

~B.R.