Letter 4454

How bright the torch I bear, how bright the flame. With pride, I hold it aloft and stride ahead. The dark night is held at bay in a pool of light.

Burning brightly, but for how long? The journey will last through the night, but will my torch? Where then will be my reason for pride?

❖

Could I but husband my resources more carefully, I would have more than enough. Let me not wave my torch, let pride not walk before reason.

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Consider:

Can I have humility today?

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Reading:

❖ “My candle burns at both ends; it will not last the night; but ah, my foes, and oh, my friends — it gives a lovely light!” — Edna St. Vincent Millay, “First Fig”

❖ “He is truly great who is little in himself, and makes no account of any height of honor.” — Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ

❖ “And what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” — Micah 6:8 (KJV)

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

~B.R.

Letter 4453

Can I walk out into the world from my rooms, in full expectation that joy will greet me like the doves and foxes?

Or am I to struggle and drag a despondent outlook along with me?

When the world laughs yet I am morose, it is a bitter pill to swallow.

❖

Let me adjust my attitude, to greet the bright sun that has already arranged the day.

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Consider:

Can I accept joy today?

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Reading:

❖ “The world is charged with the grandeur of God.” — Gerard Manley Hopkins, “God’s Grandeur”

❖ “Joy does not simply happen to us. We have to choose joy and keep choosing it every day.” — Henri Nouwen, Here and Now

❖ “Ask, and ye shall receive, that your joy may be full.” — John 16:24 (KJV)

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

~B.R.

Letter 4452

I must make a journey today, so I consulted a forecast to learn what the weather might be. The news was mixed: storms are possible. Yet the skies look clear.

How can I prepare when the future is a maybe?

Am I to carry extra clothing just in case? This adds to the burden. What if it is unnecessary, and I left home without something else I may need?

❖

It is a temptation to stay home.

Lord, let me learn to trust in you, that I may carry what I need yet also find what you provide along the way. All this time spent worrying over the clouds — let me instead begin the walk.

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Consider:

Can I trust in you today?

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Reading:

❖ “To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive, and the true success is to labour.” — Robert Louis Stevenson, Virginibus Puerisque (“El Dorado”)

❖ “Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see the distant scene; one step enough for me.” — John Henry Newman, “Lead, Kindly Light”

❖ “He that observeth the wind shall not sow; and he that regardeth the clouds shall not reap.” — Ecclesiastes 11:4 (KJV)

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

~B.R.

Letter 4451

All night, I could not stop thinking about my project.

A fine box, dovetail joints, polished walnut. I am putting my all into it. I imagine new means of joinery and finish.

This was meant to be a concrete form of devotion, work with my hands, and it has overtaken its purpose. It has become an end in itself.

❖

Lord, is this a worthy preoccupation or has it become an escape? Let me see clearly.

Grant me a life without self-distraction, Lord.

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Consider:

Can I pay attention fully?

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Reading:

❖ “It is not enough to be industrious; so are the ants. What are you industrious about?” — Henry David Thoreau, letter to H.G.O. Blake, 1857

❖ “We can do little things for God; I turn the cake that is frying on the pan for love of him.” — Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God

❖ “And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men.” — Colossians 3:23 (KJV)

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

~B.R.