Spread far and wide.

You have spread your bounty and providence in so many places. Everywhere I look, I see piles of treasure: leaves, brush, a wheelbarrow.

On some days I see clearly the riches there for all. On others I see a wasteland. Is the world different? It is the viewer who changes.

Some days I feel you near. Others, far.

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It is me who has become distant.

Let me draw more near to you, Lord.

– from the mountain

Consider:

How can I better see your bounty?

Reading:

“Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity.” — Simone Weil, Gravity and Grace

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“There is not in the world a kind of life more sweet and delightful than that of a continual conversation with God.” — Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection, The Practice of the Presence of God

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“Thou crownest the year with thy goodness; and thy paths drop fatness.” — Psalm 65:11 (KJV)

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On their own path.

I am worried about one of the flock. He struggles to stay with the rest. Always at the edge of the pasture.

Each day, if I call to him rightly he will stay with the others, think I. Yet each day he strays.

❖

My voice alone cannot change the course of things, yet daily must I try.

Grant me, Lord, acceptance of your will.

– from the mountain

Consider:

Can I accept the path of even the strays?

Reading:

“The impeded stream is the one that sings.” — Wendell Berry

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“Love seeks one thing only: the good of the one loved.” — Thomas Merton

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“What man of you, having an hundred sheep, if he lose one of them, doth not leave the ninety and nine in the wilderness, and go after that which is lost, until he find it?” — Luke 15:4 (KJV)

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Unexpectedly, yet not.

Last night troubles visited my dwelling. Winds and rain. A thief in the dark.

This morning I awoke to expected wreckage. But the land had transformed. What had been a busy yard was empty and open.

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Perhaps I do not need to build back the structures that blew down.

Perhaps what I thought came to destroy instead came to create space for love and joy.

– from the mountain

Consider:

Can I be more expectant of joy, rather than sorrow?

Reading:

“Growth itself contains the germ of happiness.” — John Dewey

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“Try not to resist the changes that come your way. Instead, let life live through you.” — Rainer Maria Rilke

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“Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.” — John 12:24 (KJV)

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Giving all.

What have I to offer you, Lord?

This simple dwelling, this near-spent body, this meager cupboard.

What if I gave half of all? Such devotion and abandon — am I willing?

❖

Let me give myself over to you, Lord. Let me surrender fully.

– from the mountain

Consider:

Can I give yet more?

Reading:

“What we need is here.” — Wendell Berry

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“The soul must give itself to God as He gives Himself to the soul.” — Meister Eckhart

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“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.” — Romans 12:1 (KJV)

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