Flowing

Letter 4563

A lake, to be living, I need an inflow and an outflow.

The guidance and strength to act.

The inclination and fact of my acting for the benefit of others.

❖

Inflow and outflow.

Let me not be stagnant, Lord.

Consider:

Can I both receive and give today?

Reading:

❖ “You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.” — Kahlil Gibran, The Prophet

❖ “All flourishing is mutual.” — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Braiding Sweetgrass

❖ “Freely ye have received, freely give.” — Matthew 10:8 (KJV)

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

~B.R.

Thanks

Letter 4562

Do I speak words of thanks?

Do think thoughts of thanks?

Do I act in the way of thanks?

The grass grows, the sun rises and shines, the air is clear, the ground supports my feet.

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Each a boon. Together, a miracle.

Let me take nothing for granted today.

Consider:

Can I live a day of gratitude?

Reading:

❖ “The world is so full of a number of things, / I’m sure we should all be as happy as kings.” — Robert Louis Stevenson, A Child’s Garden of Verses

❖ “Praised be my Lord for our brother the wind, and for air and cloud, calms and all weather,” — Francis of Assisi, Canticle of the Sun

❖ “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:” — Psalm 103:2 (KJV)

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

~B.R.

Experience

Letter 4561

I have come this way before, and again before again. This path, these trees, this stream. Over and over have I walked this way.

My neighbor wonders how to get to a distant village. This is the way. I explain it, but they must make the journey.

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My experience, can it help them? I know the taste of the air here, and the feel of the stones. Will that get them closer to their destination?

I only have what I know. Let it be enough, even as it seems it is not.

Consider:

Can I allow my experience to help others today?

Reading:

❖ “I am a part of all that I have met;” — Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Ulysses

❖ “I felt a tender Compassion for the Youth, who remained entangled in Snares, like those which had entangled me” — John Woolman, Journal

❖ “Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble,” — 2 Corinthians 1:4 (KJV)

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

~B.R.

Me

Letter 4560

Who am I, to imagine a fresh world and new mountains?

Who am I, to think healing could come to pass?

Who am I, to wish for peace to find my neighbors?

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A small voice, alone in a small room, in a small dwelling on a mountainside. My quiet devotion is my own, as I gather my prayers and lay them at your feet. When I think of what could happen I tremble before the responsibility.

If you are listening, Lord, let me take care with my words. Small thoughts, heard aright, can grow to great things.

Consider:

Can I be painstaking in my devotions today?

Reading:

❖ “No coward soul is mine, / No trembler in the world’s storm-troubled sphere;” — Emily Brontë, Last Lines

❖ “Having no light nor guide / Excepting that which burned within my heart,” — John of the Cross, Dark Night of the Soul

❖ “Even so the tongue is a little member, and boasteth great things.” — James 3:5 (KJV)

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

~B.R.