The Next Chore

Letter 4388

Faced with indecision, faced with hesitation, faced with wondering what to do.

The day is a sea, not a river or path. I can move in any direction, and still be at sea. How can I see progress?

Let me find and do the next chore, Lord. A rail needs painting, let me do that. A room needs sweeping, let me do that.

❖

Is this your lot for me? Small tasks filling my day?

Those tasks form the bones of a path where otherwise there would be none. They allow me to walk where I would drift.

Thank you, Lord, for a path.

Consider:

Can I do the next right thing?

Reading:

❖ “It may be that when we no longer know what to do, we have come to our real work, and when we no longer know which way to go, we have begun our real journey.” — Wendell Berry

❖ “The present moment is always full of infinite treasure. It contains more than you have the capacity to hold.” — Jean-Pierre de Caussade, The Sacrament of the Present Moment

❖ “Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.” — Ecclesiastes 9:10 (KJV)

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

~B.R.

Scattered

Letter 4387

The morning task is before me. I know what to do with my hands.

Yet my eye goes to the window, to the field, to the bird on the fence post, to the clouds moving east.

I have tried to gather myself as I gather kindling — piece by piece, returning again to the pile. Still the pieces scatter.

❖

Lord, let me return, again, to what is before me. Not in frustration, but in patience.

Consider:

Can I bring myself back, even now?

Reading:

❖ “The faculty of voluntarily bringing back a wandering attention, over and over again, is the very root of judgment, character, and will.” — William James, Principles of Psychology

❖ “Have patience with all things, but first of all with yourself.” — Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life

❖ “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” — Isaiah 26:3 (KJV)

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

~B.R.

Discipline

Letter 4386

Each night, I fold and stow my garment.

Each morning, I sweep my small dwelling.

Mid morning finds me at labor.

At noon I rest and eat, then continue on.

In the evening I reflect on the day.

Is this a meager life? Or is this abundance?

❖

Hidden in and among my simple days is great and unseeable wealth.

Routine provides strength within which I can roam freely, as I walk from treasure-heap to treasure-heap.

Lord, let me live your discipline.

Consider:

Can I follow routine today?

Reading:

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

❖ “The present moment is always overflowing with immeasurable riches, far more than you are able to hold.” — Jean-Pierre de Caussade, Abandonment to Divine Providence

❖ “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” — Ecclesiastes 3:1 (KJV)

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

~B.R.

Rough Stone Steps

Letter 4385

This morning I climb the tower. Rough stone steps circle up. One would hardly know what awaits.

A luxurious room at the top, with heaps of treasure, and a view of the valley.

Hawks circle in updrafts while I sit and watch the people below.

❖

Returning, descending the same steps, the world becomes again ordinary and the views hidden by tree line.

Such treasures hidden by such plain stonework.

Consider:

Can I see beyond the ordinary?

Reading:

❖ “To see a World in a Grain of Sand / And a Heaven in a Wild Flower / Hold Infinity in the palm of your hand / And Eternity in an hour.” — William Blake, Auguries of Innocence

❖ “For lack of attention a thousand forms of loveliness elude us every day.” — Evelyn Underhill, Practical Mysticism

❖ “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.” — Matthew 13:44 (KJV)

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

~B.R.