Letter 4433

Awake before dawn, disregarding the cold floor, I am eager to get to my chores. Wherefrom came this willingness? On other mornings I drag myself to the barn.

Love can be motion. My body moves toward what it tends, and the heart catches up later, surprised to find itself already there.

❖

Love can be waiting. I stand still, and let my heart run ahead, so my body arrives to a made bed.

Let me keep this gladness, Lord, when the floor turns cold again.

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Consider:

Can I love a thing by simply showing up to it?

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Reading:

❖ “Work is love made visible.” — Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet (“On Work”)

❖ “While washing the dishes one should only be washing the dishes.” — Thich Nhat Hanh, The Miracle of Mindfulness

❖ “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.

Letter 4432

There will be a river to cross; I do not know how we will ford it. Perhaps the bridge still stands. Perhaps there is a ferry. We may swim.

Such precarious balance, as we set out.

❖

Let me trust that we will find what power we need when we need it.

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Consider:

Can I trust fully in you today?

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Reading:

❖ “When we no longer know which way to go we have come to our real journey. The mind that is not baffled is not employed. The impeded stream is the one that sings.” — Wendell Berry, Standing by Words (“The Real Work”)

❖ “To come to the knowledge you have not you must go by a way in which you know not.” — John of the Cross, The Ascent of Mount Carmel

❖ “Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.” — Hebrews 4:16 (KJV)

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

~B.R.

Letter 4431

The bright dawn, the chirping birds, the fresh feeling in my heart. What is special about this day?

Has it been set aside for devotion, for building? For joy? What of tomorrow and yesterday, are they not equally worthy?

❖

Let me love this day like all days, Lord, and feel the quickening you have made available. Let me accept what has been offered.

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Consider:

Can I enjoy this day, regardless of what came before or may follow?

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Reading:

❖ “Write it on your heart that every day is the best day in the year.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson, Society and Solitude (“Works and Days”)

❖ “The present moment is always full of infinite treasure. It contains far more than you can possibly grasp.” — Jean-Pierre de Caussade, Abandonment to Divine Providence

❖ “They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.” — Lamentations 3:23 (KJV)

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

~B.R.

Letter 4430

I set out on a great journey to the summit of the mountain under which we live. It will take days to go and return.

But today the journey begins.

❖

What, then, is my purpose on this day?

To start something?
To do what I said?
To avoid others?

Let me discern and live a worthy purpose, Lord.

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Consider:

Can I discern my purpose for 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”)

❖ “My Lord God, I have no idea where I am going. I do not see the road ahead of me. I cannot know for certain where it will end… But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.” — Thomas Merton, Thoughts in Solitude

❖ “A man’s heart deviseth his way: but the LORD directeth his steps.” — Proverbs 16:9 (KJV)

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

~B.R.