Outside

Letter 4487

The sun shines, the air breezes. Here inside with my books, I am called out.

Is this what leaning into you looks like, Lord? To follow you where you call?

Here under the skies, I am companion to all who share the same sun, the just and unjust, the believers and non.

❖

This was what you meant when you said to seek you.

Let me seek.

Consider:

Can I find you outside today?

Reading:

❖ “Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.” — Henry David Thoreau, Walden

❖ “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

❖ “That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us.” — Acts 17:27 (KJV)

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

~B.R.

Surveying the Realm

Letter 4486

In the morning, I walk the lands to know what the night has brought.

I shuffle through my rooms, before I go outside, making sure all is in order.

And before even walking downstairs, I sit and explore my spirit. What am I bringing to this day?

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Realms within realms, all needing to be tended.

Let me bring attention to each.

Consider:

Can I tend to my inner life with devotion today?

Reading:

❖ “Look within. Within is the fountain of good, and it will ever bubble up, if thou wilt ever dig.” — Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

❖ “I began to think of the soul as if it were a castle made of a single diamond or of very clear crystal, in which there are many rooms, just as in Heaven there are many mansions.” — Teresa of Ávila, Interior Castle

❖ “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” — Proverbs 4:23 (KJV)

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

~B.R.

Always You

Letter 4485

It was always you, Lord.

When I was alone, you grew a community.

When I was a libertine, you protected me from myself.

When I had nothing, you made sure there was enough for the day.

When I had pain, you gave me a friend to halve it.

When I had joy, you brought me a companion with whom to double it.

Always you, Lord, behind it all.

❖

Now, on the mountain, you are underfoot and overhead.

Let me breathe you in. What will you deliver next?

Consider:

Can I anticipate great things today?

Reading:

❖ “And I have felt / A presence that disturbs me with the joy / Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime / Of something far more deeply interfused.” — William Wordsworth, “Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey”

❖ “The friend who can be silent with us in a moment of despair or confusion, who can stay with us in an hour of grief and bereavement… that is a friend who cares.” — Henri Nouwen, Out of Solitude

❖ “The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms.” — Deuteronomy 33:27 (KJV)

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

~B.R.

On Offer

Letter 4484

These gifts littered around my home and my land — food to eat, shelter to use, shade to cool, a wall, a shed, a garden, a forest, a meadow — are available and ready at all times.

Why do I wait? Why do I self-deny?

❖

Treasure awaits me simply grasping it.

Let me take what you offer, Lord.

Consider:

Can I accept your gifts today?

Reading:

❖ “Love bade me welcome: yet my soul drew back, / Guilty of dust and sin.” — George Herbert, “Love (III)”

❖ “Grace fills empty spaces, but it can only enter where there is a void to receive it.” — Simone Weil, Gravity and Grace

❖ “And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely.” — Revelation 22:17 (KJV)

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

~B.R.