Differences

Letter 4510

Two dogs, running the field. One brown, one black. In pursuit of the same quarry.

Two neighbors, working in their gardens. One peaceful, one complaining. Growing the same herbs.

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When viewed closely, our differences are easily seen. Viewed from farther away, the truth is apparent: we are more alike than different.

Let me run the fields with my neighbors.

Consider:

Can I see my neighbors as brothers and sisters?

Reading:

❖ “One touch of nature makes the whole world kin.” — William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida

❖ “We are more alike, my friends, than we are unalike.” — Maya Angelou, “Human Family”

❖ “And hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth.” — Acts 17:26 (KJV)

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

~B.R.

Near

Letter 4509

I awaken — and how far am I from you, Lord?

Some days quite near to you. Other days, at a great distance. Yet I awaken in the same bed.

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Even when estranged, I need only seek you to draw nearer and nearer.

Let me seek you today, Lord.

Consider:

Can I try to draw near today?

Reading:

❖ “God is nearer to us than our own Soul.” — Julian of Norwich, Revelations of Divine Love

❖ “God is always where we are. God is with us until the end of time.” — Henri Nouwen, “Prayer: The Discipline of Attentiveness”

❖ “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you.” — James 4:8 (KJV)

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

~B.R.

Today’s Choice

Letter 4508

At the fork on the way to town, it is always the same choice. Right down to the village, left up the mountain.

In the morning, preparing for my journey, sometimes I worry about the decision. Will I go the way I intend? Sometimes the mountain calls, even when I do not have time nor leisure for the walk.

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Today’s choice is not forever. The decision needs no more weight than a meal, or a chore, or a nap.

Consider:

Can I allow myself to worry less about results?

Reading:

❖ “Take to your bosom with a smile what is easy and simple and near.” — Rabindranath Tagore, The Gardener

❖ “How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives.” — Annie Dillard, The Writing Life

❖ “Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself.” — Matthew 6:34 (KJV)

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

~B.R.

Sunlight

Letter 4507

Such a glorious day, shining down on me.

It shines down upon my neighbor.

Upon my family.

Upon those laboring in fields.

Even upon those imprisoned, through concrete and wire somehow the light makes it in.

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Whether I be prisoner or mayor, let me drink in the light, Lord.

Consider:

Can I feel your spirit shining upon me?

Reading:

❖ “The sun does not shine for a few trees and flowers, but for the wide world’s joy.” — Henry Ward Beecher

❖ “In the depths of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer.” — Albert Camus, Return to Tipasa

❖ “For he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good.” — Matthew 5:45 (KJV)

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

~B.R.