Expectations

Letter 4455

Today I planned to go nowhere, and maintain my dwelling. Yet here I am already walking the field, on my way to the village. A message came that my presence was required.

What will I find when I get there? I am filled with pride that only I can answer the need — yet perhaps I will be equally surprised as I was by the message. Perhaps I will be of little use. Perhaps the issue will be beyond me.

Perhaps the problem will already have been solved.

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Let me set aside my expectations, Lord. Let me be joyfully surprised even by the dawn.

Consider:

Can I set aside my expectations today?

Reading:

❖ “It may be that when we no longer know what to do we have come to our real work, and that when we no longer know which way to go we have come to our real journey.” — Wendell Berry, “The Real Work”

❖ “In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, but in the expert’s mind there are few.” — Shunryu Suzuki, Zen Mind, Beginner’s Mind

❖ “A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.” — Proverbs 16:9 (KJV)

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

~B.R.

The Torch

Letter 4454

How bright the torch I bear, how bright the flame. With pride, I hold it aloft and stride ahead. The dark night is held at bay in a pool of light.

Burning brightly, but for how long? The journey will last through the night, but will my torch? Where then will be my reason for pride?

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Could I but husband my resources more carefully, I would have more than enough. Let me not wave my torch, let pride not walk before reason.

Consider:

Can I have humility today?

Reading:

❖ “My candle burns at both ends; it will not last the night; but ah, my foes, and oh, my friends — it gives a lovely light!” — Edna St. Vincent Millay, “First Fig”

❖ “He is truly great who is little in himself, and makes no account of any height of honor.” — Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ

❖ “And what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” — Micah 6:8 (KJV)

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

~B.R.

Expecting Joy

Letter 4453

Can I walk out into the world from my rooms, in full expectation that joy will greet me like the doves and foxes?

Or am I to struggle and drag a despondent outlook along with me?

When the world laughs yet I am morose, it is a bitter pill to swallow.

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Let me adjust my attitude, to greet the bright sun that has already arranged the day.

Consider:

Can I accept joy today?

Reading:

❖ “The world is charged with the grandeur of God.” — Gerard Manley Hopkins, “God’s Grandeur”

❖ “Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.” — Henri Nouwen, Here and Now

❖ “Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.” — John 16:24 (KJV)

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

~B.R.

The Forecast

Letter 4452

I must make a journey today, so I consulted a forecast to learn what the weather might be. The news was mixed: storms are possible. Yet the skies look clear.

How can I prepare when the future is a maybe?

Am I to carry extra clothing just in case? This adds to the burden. What if it is unnecessary, and I left home without something else I may need?

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It is a temptation to stay home.

Lord, let me learn to trust in you, that I may carry what I need yet also find what you provide along the way. All this time spent worrying over the clouds — let me instead begin the walk.

Consider:

Can I trust in you today?

Reading:

❖ “To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive, and the true success is to labour.” — Robert Louis Stevenson, Virginibus Puerisque (“El Dorado”)

❖ “Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see the distant scene; one step enough for me.” — John Henry Newman, “Lead, Kindly Light”

❖ “He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.” — Ecclesiastes 11:4 (KJV)

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

~B.R.