Persistence

Letter 4556

The daily things I do, the daily chores — will one day of effort get done the task? Will one day off destroy the labor?

No, and yes. If the front room is not swept for a day, or even two, there will be dust but it will be easily cleaned on the third day.

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It is the constancy of the work that does its job. You do not demand the rooms be swept, Lord. You are teaching me to persist.

Let me persist.

Consider:

Can I be consistent today?

Reading:

❖ “If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,” — Rudyard Kipling, If—

❖ “It is conformity to this will, that makes the ordinary actions of men on earth become an acceptable service to God.” — William Law, A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life

❖ “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 reading. If this helped you today, please consider sharing it.

~B.R.

Working Together

Letter 4555

Two travelers, walking separately. They meet at a fallen tree across the path.

Each could climb over, and go on their way.

They spend the morning, and remove the block. Why?

❖

Each wanted the other to know they cared for the wider world. Alone, unseen, they might have made a different decision.

Let me live as if the world is watching all of my actions.

Consider:

Can I make decisions that I would later be pleased with today?

Reading:

❖ “His little, nameless, unremembered, acts / Of kindness and of love.” — William Wordsworth, Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey

❖ “O sisters! how easy it is to know which of you have attained to a sincere love of your neighbour, and which of you are far from it.” — Teresa of Ávila, The Interior Castle

❖ “Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.” — Galatians 6:2 (KJV)

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

~B.R.

Disturbance

Letter 4554

I have habits in the morning: slippers, tea, devotion. This morning they were disturbed. One of the animals needed me. It took the full morning to attend to them.

What do I do after being knocked off course? Shall I begin again? Shall I launch into the day, skipping my dawn rituals?

❖

Perhaps your message to me was that by pursuing the next indicated action, I would draw closer to you. Perhaps you were saying: listen.

Perhaps you were saying: come closer.

Consider:

Can I accept all of your guidance today?

Reading:

❖ “The woods are lovely, dark and deep,” — Robert Frost, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

❖ “We must work faithfully without trouble or disquiet, recalling our mind to God mildly and with tranquillity as often as we find it wandering from Him.” — Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God

❖ “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” — 1 Thessalonians 5:18 (KJV)

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

~B.R.

At Altitude

Letter 4553

On a journey, I awaken by an alpine lake. Water lapping gently at a gravel shore.

I was here before, and will be again. It is a favorite waypoint.

Is it the soothing water that draws me? The mist over the lake?

❖

Or is it simply the altitude? Up here, a day’s journey toward the peaks, I feel closer to you, Lord.

Must I know why? Let me take pleasure in this moment of peace.

Consider:

Can I be grateful for peace without trying to understand it?

Reading:

❖ “There is a pleasure in the pathless woods, / There is a rapture on the lonely shore,” — Lord Byron, Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage

❖ “He may well be loved, but not thought. By love may He be gotten and holden; but by thought never.” — Anonymous, The Cloud of Unknowing

❖ “And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.” — Philippians 4:7 (KJV)

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

~B.R.