Shadows.

In dark of night, while the world slept, fear crept in. Its shadow fell across my room, looming large over me. My heart was gripped, pounding.

It was simply the angle of the moon that made such a long shadow. It had no substance. Like mist, it came, obscured vision, then left.

❖

Lord, let me give myself to you in easy times and hard, at noon and dark of night. Let not the shadows mist stop me.

Grant me knowledge of your will for me, and power to carry it out.

– from the mountain

Consider:

Can I see through the shadows?

Reading:

“We are more often frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination than from reality.”

— Seneca

❖

“I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear.”

— Rosa Parks

❖

“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”

— Psalm 27:1 (KJV)

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

Self-forgiveness.

I tried to repair the shed door. Where it had shut only with difficulty, but still latched, after my work it no longer closed.

The job seemed simple. I did not know what I did not know.

Now: remorse over not leaving well enough alone. The shed stands open. I made it worse.

❖

Were my intentions ill? I meant well.

Lord, let me forgive myself for what I did not know.

– from the mountain

Consider:

Can I forgive myself?

Reading:

“The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance—it is the illusion of knowledge.”

— Daniel J. Boorstin

❖

“Mistakes are the portals of discovery.”

— James Joyce

❖

“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”

— Luke 23:34 (KJV)

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

Where we look out for one another.

Here at the edge of town, where few travel, I can feel alone. Yet I have neighbors.

Last night came a visitor, in need of aid. He knocked on my door. Why mine, not another’s? After the snowstorm, I had cleared a path from the road to my door.

My neighbors had not.

❖

I had no idea what felt simply fastidious would turn into a welcome.

Let my life be a welcome, Lord.

– from the mountain

Consider:

Can I create welcome everywhere I go?

Reading:

“Let my life be a small light for those who need it.”

— Rabindranath Tagore

❖

“Hospitality means primarily the creation of free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend.”

— Henri J. M. Nouwen

❖

“Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”

— Hebrews 13:2 (KJV)

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

And quietude.

I have duties. Yet I will instead live this day in retreat.

This shed used to be filled with tools and implements. Now it has a chair, a table, a small shelf. Here is where now the greatest work takes place.

I sit, and read, and study, and breathe, and reflect, and sit.

❖

You place no more burden upon me, Lord, than I can bear — yet perhaps it is not strength I need but rest and respite.

What greater joy could there be, than to be with you in quietude?

– from the mountain

Consider:

Can I sit, and enjoy the stillness today?

Reading:

“Solitude is the furnace of transformation.”

— Henri J. M. Nouwen

❖

“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.”

— John Lubbock

❖

“In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.”

— Isaiah 30:15 (KJV)

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