Friday, March 18, 2022
March 18, 2022
THOUGHT FOR TODAY
"... and catch the heart
of God, and blow it open."
of God, and blow it open."
Postscript
Seamus Heaney
And some time make the time to drive out westInto County Clare, along the Flaggy Shore,In September or October, when the windAnd the light are working off each otherSo that the ocean on one side is wildWith foam and glitter, and inland among stonesThe surface of a slate-grey lake is litBy the earthed lightning of a flock of swans,Their feathers roughed and ruffling, white on white,Their fully grown headstrong-looking headsTucked or cresting or busy underwater.Useless to think you’ll park and capture itMore thoroughly. You are neither here nor there,A hurry through which known and strange things passAs big soft buffetings come at the car sidewaysAnd catch the heart off guard and blow it open.
Feature Date
- July 21, 2019
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Copyright © 2019 by Seamus Heaney; Farrar, Straus and Giroux
All rights reserved.
Reproduced by Poetry Daily with permission
Thursday, March 17, 2022
March 17, 2022
LEAPS OF FAITHAND LOST LEADERS
To get people into the store, supermarkets and department
stores use “lost leaders”.
The store owners and managers are willing to take a loss on one thing, knowing that you’ll
hopefully buy something else when you come into the store for the bargain.
There’s a parable, a message, a lesson, in this
somewhere.
Sexuality works pretty much the same way. Sometimes it gets us to stop getting to really know the other person. Sometimes
people get lost and the other becomes our leader.
God “works” the same way, I suppose.
The feelings get us to pray – or to at least go “Wow!”
Sunrise … sunset … a mountain … the ocean … and we stop
the car to walk to a scenic overview – and we see an overwhelming view.
Rainbows, autumn leaves, all get us to say, “Wow!”
Beauty stops us – yet we also know there’s always more…. Life – time – being a human being – and we
always know there’s more.
The color, the splash, the music of morning birds, seeing
children playing soccer – all can be awe moments – and all can be grabbers.
Abraham Joshua Heschel wrote, “Awe precedes faith; it is
the root of faith. Awe must grow in awe
in order to reach faith.”
We marry in awe. We honeymoon in awe. We take vows in
awe.
Surprise! Autumn leaves crumble …. Skin wrinkles … There
is the second year of marriage … as well as the 26th year. We stop
growing. We stop getting to know the
other – or ourselves for that matter.
We can say, “I was suckered, tricked, caught by a lost
leader.”
We can also wake up to a new day – a new phase – the new
adventures life provides.
Go for the ride.
Laugh go out further with the tide.
© Andy Costello, Reflections 2022
Wednesday, March 16, 2022
March 16, 2022
ABUNDANCE
“I felt so empty these past 5 years.”
She paused after saying that.
I paused as well – as I was listening.
Then I said to myself, “She’s about to tell me about a
conversion moment.”
I was there just to chat, just to have a cup of tea, just
to be there, and then to move on.
I was visiting shut-ins.
Shut-ins. Terrible words – horrible thought.
She continued: “First it was the kids that left – one by
one. Off to college…. Into marriages….
Jackie went off to the marines.
This house – which always seemed so small – got larger and larger – with
every kid – going away for good.”
I asked where each kid was now – how many grandkids. Grandkids? She didn’t want to go into them. Enough.
She continued: “Then Jack died. We were married 38 years. I didn’t expect that one. I thought he would
beat the cancer. He was always such a strong man.”
Silence.
I had experience doing this. No more wrong questions. No more small talk.
Then more silence.
Then she continued, “Then one night I had Billy, my
middle son, over here for supper. His wife and their kids went down to see her
parents. Billy couldn’t skip work. Tax
season. He’s an accountant. I figured he’d enjoy his mom’s home cooking once
again. His wife Kathy ain’t that great a cook.”
“It hit me – at that supper. Billy isn’t much of a talker. Maybe when
there isn’t much talking going around, there’s more inner talk going on.
Quiet.
Then she told me - as if she was telling me one of life's secrets: "Then I
opened up the cabinet over the sink. It was full. I opened up the fridge. It
was filled.”
Silence.
She said, “I said to myself: ‘Abundance.’”
I was listening. I was looking.
She continued, “I began to notice that I had pictures – pictures, pictures, everywhere.”
I was listening. I was looking.
She repeated herself, “Abundance. I had abundance everywhere. The abundance of abundance
was everywhere. This house is full – full of memories and life. My life is full. God has certainly given us
an abundance of abundance everywhere.”
An abundance of tears ran down her face.
Billy said, “Mom – are you okay?”
“Yes,” she said. “Everything is perfect. You’re here.”
She told me, "Inwardly I said, 'Billy you won’t be understanding this for
another 30 years.'”
© Andy Costello, Reflections 2022
March 16, 2022
Thought for Today
AMAZING GRACE
Amazing Grace how sweet the
sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I'm found
Was blind but now I see
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I'm found
Was blind but now I see
'Twas grace that taught my
heart to fear
And grace my fears relieved
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed
Through many dangers, toils,
and snares
I have already come
'Tis grace that brought me safe thus far
And grace will lead me home
When we've been here ten
thousand years
Bright, shining as the sun
We've no less days to sing God's praise
Than when we first begun
Amazing Grace how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now I'm found
Was blind but now I see
Songwriters: Steve Mac, David Miller, Urs Buhler,
Traditional, Carlos Marin, John Baker, Sebastien Izambard, Dave
Arc
Tuesday, March 15, 2022
March 15, 2022
Thought for Today:
"Mary's virginity protected a great deal more than her own moral character, reputation, and the legitimacy of Jesus' birth. It protected the nature of the divine Son of God .... Jesus had to have one human parent or He could not have been human, and thereby a partaker of our flesh. But he also had to have divine parentage or He could not have made a sinless and perfect sacrifice on our behalf."
John Macarthur
Monday, March 14, 2022
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