Letter 4340

With a sigh, I look out across the morning-dark field. Snow has come, and I have a long path to shovel. There is my own, and the way along the road that must be cleared.

I dress reluctantly, putting off the effort.

My neighbor has risen early and has begun his own work. We labor on in silence together, each at our own task.

❖

As I finish clearing snow from my walkway, nearing the road, I see my neighbor has already shoveled a path along the road. Passersby will be able to make their way easily.

My weary resentment becomes gratitude.

---

Consider:

Lord, what else have you already done for me, that I needlessly dread?

---

Reading:

❖ “Gratitude turns what we have into enough.” — Aesop

❖ “Do not wait for leaders; do it alone, person to person.” — Mother Teresa

❖ “And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.” — Galatians 6:9 (KJV)

---

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

~B.R.

Letter 4339

We spent great effort yesterday.

It is time, now, for repair, for replenishment of what is spent, for restoration.

Tools have been laid down; now is time to put them away.

❖

Rest can be work, too.

---

Consider:

Yesterday’s work took all of me. Can I bring all of myself to today’s?

---

Reading:

❖ “Almost everything will work again if you unplug it for a few minutes, including you.” — Anne Lamott

❖ “Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.” — John Lubbock

❖ “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” — Matthew 11:28 (KJV)

---

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

~B.R.

• Facebook
• Threads
• Mail
• ShareCopied to clipboard

Letter 4338

A sack split in the square. Grain scattered across the stones. Voices rose. Hands reached.

I felt the rush in my chest. The urge to hurry, to fix.

The sun lay warm on the wall of the well. The rope creaked in its steady rhythm.

❖

Must I run? Be as scattered as the grain?

Lord, let me bend and gather slowly.

Let me bring quiet hands.

---

Consider:

Can I cultivate stillness in all settings?

---

Reading:

❖ “Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

❖ “Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself.” — Francis de Sales

❖ “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.” — Proverbs 16:32 (KJV)

---

Can I capture them?

While putting away my night clothes, a thought came to me. But the time I had finished, I could no longer recall it.

Walking the grounds, the idea I had moments ago has vanished.

❖

Were these thoughts unimportant, Lord? Or did you note them, with love, and might you deliver to me all my desires, even ones I forgot I had?

Even my fleeting thoughts are precious to you, Lord. Let me treat them so.

---

Consider:

Can I be more attentive to my inner life today?

---

Reading:

“The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.”

— Marcus Aurelius

❖

“Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength.”

— Francis de Sales

❖

“How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!”

— Psalm 139:17 (KJV)

---