Judgment and Judgment

Letter 4525

What is hard for me is easy for another.

What is easy for me is hard for another.

Wherefore then do I judge? Why then do I worry of others’ judgment?

By this measure can I rightly judge my own acts: How aligned they are with your will — how truthfully am I trying to find that alignment.

The sun peeking into my room, it illuminates a tidy desk as well as remnants of last night’s meal, uncleared. Meanwhile here I sit, in devotion to you, seeking your will.

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I am untroubled by judgment over my table. Let me carry this through the day.

Let me see and do your will.

Consider:

Can I release judgment today?

Reading:

❖ “Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there.” — Rumi, translated by Coleman Barks and John Moyne, The Essential Rumi

❖ “Shame needs three things to grow exponentially. Secrecy, silence, and judgment.” — Brené Brown, Unlocking Us, “The Power of Regret”

❖ “Judge not, that ye be not judged.” — Matthew 7:1 (KJV)

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

~B.R.

Morning Gloom

Letter 4524

The sun rises ever later; where I used to sit in early sun, my room is now dark as I sit in devotion. Into this room I allow only a small lamp, and I keep the light low.

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Just two months ago the lamp was not necessary, bright sun spilling through the window. Why now am I so careful with the light, preferring gloom? Could I not choose bright light? The dark setting brings with it the temptation to fall asleep rather than seek you, Lord.

Let me devote myself to you at noon as equally as dawn.

Consider:

Can I seek you, no matter the setting?

Reading:

❖ “The eternal stars shine out again, so soon as it is dark enough.” — Thomas Carlyle, Past and Present

❖ “I have learned things in the dark that I could never have learned in the light.” — Barbara Brown Taylor, Learning to Walk in the Dark

❖ “Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.” — Psalm 139:12 (KJV)

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

~B.R.

Unspoken

Letter 4523

I pray to you each morn, Lord, and this one is no different. The worry of coming days weighs on me, the worry of coming moments.

Am I then to recite a litany of requests? My prayers then become long lists.

Indeed the words do not come, Lord. I seek you, I seek your will, I seek relief. Yet I cannot articulate from what. Will you be deaf to me if all I can muster is a groan?

I draw near to you, you draw near to me. That in itself is relief. We need no words for there to be a channel between us.

❖

You know what I need whether I can speak it or not. “Lord, help me” is a full prayer.

Lord, help me.

Consider:

Can I try to draw near today?

Reading:

❖ “And prayer is more than an order of words…” — T. S. Eliot, Little Gidding

❖ “The quieter you become inside, the more you will pull back a little and remove yourself from the reactive mode that you are in.” — Ram Dass

❖ “Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” — Romans 8:26 (KJV)

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

~B.R.

Praise and Song

Letter 4522

The rains have stopped and dawn comes brightly. My heart holds energy and my limbs are strong.

Such newness and joy! I am ready for the world.

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Let me sing of the joy I feel, and lift up all that undergirds it for all to see. Let me fill my day with praise and song! Gratitude! How else to mark this turning point if a morning?

Let me live and speak my joy today.

Consider:

Can I sing of my gratitude today?

Reading:

❖ “Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.” — Mary Oliver, “Sometimes,” Red Bird

❖ “For it is not joy that makes us grateful; it is gratitude that makes us joyful.” — David Steindl-Rast, Gratefulness, the Heart of Prayer

❖ “Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise: be thankful unto him, and bless his name.” — Psalm 100:4 (KJV)

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

~B.R.