Letter 4531

The late nights, the frantic action, the hoarding, I have left them behind.

In their place: simple mornings, orderly habits. Do I feel the loss of what I had, though it created bedevilements?

As the leaves turn, the limbs lose their cover. Do they feel this loss?

❖

Skin after skin. Growth after growth. In the transition is when I feel the change.

I have chosen this. I have chosen this loss. Let me choose again.

---

Consider:

Can I feel new growth in the place of old ways?

---

Reading:

❖ “So this constant abrasion and decay makes the soil of my future growth.” — Henry David Thoreau, Journal, October 24, 1837

❖ “He says the best way out is always through.” — Robert Frost, “A Servant to Servants,” North of Boston

❖ “A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;” — Ecclesiastes 3:6 (KJV)

---

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

~B.R.

Letter 4530

Another day dawns on the mountain. I live high above a valley, with just a handful of neighbors. We all must walk some distance to the nearby village.

The sun making its way into my room and casting a pattern on the floor through my window — none are with me to see. Whatever shape it makes, upon which I may remark, will disappear as the day wears on. This moment will slip into memory.

❖

Are my neighbors experiencing the same things? Are they awake, at devotion so early?

It may be that I am well and truly alone. Let this prospect not alarm me, for I chose this life.

---

Consider:

Can I embrace solitude today?

---

Reading:

❖ “I never found the companion that was so companionable as solitude.” — Henry David Thoreau, Walden, “Solitude”

❖ “Search your heart. Find what brings you joy, in whose company you are most serene. Be there, be fully there.” — Omid Safi, “Solitude Is About More Than Just Being Alone,” On Being

❖ “And in the morning, rising up a great while before day, he went out, and departed into a solitary place, and there prayed.” — Mark 1:35 (KJV)

---

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

~B.R.

Letter 4529

Worry over the day. Will I succeed at my tasks? Will my work be complete?

Yesterday, a similar day, these thoughts did not enter. Why today? Nothing has changed. The sun rises as ever.

❖

If the way is equally clear yesterday and today, let me then go forth with equal courage. Yesterday I walked these paths. Today shall I too.

Let me walk unafraid.

---

Consider:

Can I have courage today?

---

Reading:

❖ “Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. / Just keep going. No feeling is final.” — Rainer Maria Rilke, The Book of Hours, I.59, trans. Joanna Macy and Anita Barrows

❖ “Fear is a natural reaction to moving closer to the truth.” — Pema Chödrön, When Things Fall Apart

❖ “Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed…” — Joshua 1:9 (KJV)

---

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

~B.R.

Letter 4528

I watched the sun rise from my chair. Slowly, the light on my table became unnecessary.

Slowly, the coat I wore at night was no longer needed.

Slowly, I filled with energy that in the dark had not been there.

❖

All these gifts, brought to me in my chair.

What other gifts are you prepared to send my way, Lord?

---

Consider:

Can I be attentive to and grateful for all I receive today?

---

Reading:

❖ “The invariable mark of wisdom is to see the miraculous in the common.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Literary Ethics”

❖ “Attention is the beginning of devotion.” — Mary Oliver, Upstream

❖ “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights…” — James 1:17 (KJV)

---

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

~B.R.