January  6,  2022

 

Thought for Today

 

“People who cough incessantly never seem to go to the doctor.  They go to banquets, concerts and churches.”

 

CONVICTIONS

 
Prayer – moments of prayer – help us to get in touch with our convictions.
 
Too often we’re rootless – like an autumn leaf – dead, dried up, fallen on a hard sidewalk – blowing in the direction of the prevailing wind.
 
Prayer – better moments of prayer, moments of listening to God roots us, connects us to the human community – like grapes on the vine.
 
We become young again, green again, alive again.
 
Resurrection.
 
In the silence of prayer, we hear the call of God.
 
We discover that all are called to be prophets – people who have convictions.
 
Prayer lets us know what’s right and what’s wrong.
 
Prayers convict people.
 
We discover that we are convicts, imprisoned by food, television, money, public opinion.
 
We discover in prayer that God wants to free us- to break our shackles, to pardon us, to release us from prison, to lead us to promised lands.
 
Prayer helps u to see, to hear, to know the truth.
 
And the truth will set us free.
 
Prayer brings us face to face with the convictions of God:
 
·       Human rights,
·       Social justice,
·       Love one another,
·       Protect the children,
·       Protect the environment we all live in,            the air, the water,
·       Visit the sick,
·       Visit the  imprisoned,
·       Comfort those in sorrow or mourning.
 
Moments of prayer bring us face to face with God – the God of truth – and slowly we become convinced of his convictions.
 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2022

January  5,  2022

Thought for Today

“Growing older is not upsetting; being perceived as old is.”

 Kenny Rogers

January 4, 2022

FIND  THEM  EVERYWHERE

 

 You find them everywhere.
 
It is natural for us humans to build places of prayer.
 
Temples, mosques, churches, chapels dot the globe.
 
These “upper rooms” get us in touch with God in the upper room of our mind as well as in our inner center: our heart.
 
Holy Places help us to be holy – to be whole.
 
Holy Places help us to see the holiness of all places.
 
Holy Places help us to enter into heaven, into eternity, to be one with God – to be one with all people who have gone before us and those who are going to come after us.
 
Holy Places are the eye of the needle. We can’t fit in without letting go of our burdens – those inner burdens that bloat us, that fill us, that sap our energy.
 
Holy Places are the great equalizers.   We are all one when we are all in the same room together.
 
Chartres, Sancta Sophia, the Wailing Wall, Mecca, Sagrada Familia, the local church, the hospital chapel, the secret garden, are all there to help us get and be centered.
 
When Moses had his great revelation of god, he heard the sacred words, “Take off your shoes.  You are standing on Holy Ground.
 
Holy Places are Holy Ground – places where God Speaks to us, places where we can question God, places where God reveals who God is slowly, “I Am Who Am.”
 
Holy Places are Holy Ground – places where God missions us - where God sends us to others – where God tells us about a shut-in down the road from us or a teenager whom we tend to neglect.
 
Holy Places are places we only got to - but places we come from – filled with God. 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2022

January  4,  2022

 

Thought for Today

 

“There are two types of people – those who come into a room and say, ‘Well, here I am!’ and those who come in and say, ‘Ah, there you are.’”

 

Frederick L. Collins

January 3, 2022

 

 

THERE IS A GOD!

 

Our family is a family of card players!

 

It beats TV every time – especially if you win the most games that evening.

 

Down through the years, having played so many game, our family has a list of stories, memories, sayings, traditions sand customs.

 

One of our sayings is, “There is a God!”

 

Whenever someone says THAT, you know you’re about to lose the hand you’re playing.

 

“There is a God!”

 

It’s a saying usually used when someone draws a joker, or the winning card – and then they put their hand down on the table.

 

The tension – the inner tension – had mounted.  Everyone figured someone else has their card – or the card they need is already down and covered. Surprise we draw a joker or someone discards our card – and we can pick it up to win the game.

 

“There is a God!”

 

“Rummy!”

 

“There is a God!”

 

What a great prayer.

 

We’re in the supermarket.  We turn into a new aisle. We see a beautiful 18 pound baby sitting up in a shopping cart – staring at us – with a supermarket smile.

 

Without pausing we say, “There is a God!”

 

We’re on vacation at the beach.  We get up early and walk down to the ocean say and look out into the Eastern sky. It’s just as the sun is rising and we automatically say,  “There is a God!”

 

We’re out walking the dog at night.  We pause as the dog does his business. We look up into the heavens – something he hadn’t done in weeks. The night sky is filled with stars  - the moon is a bright flashlight – and we say, “There is a God!”

 

“There is a God!”

 

“What a great prayer!”

 

 

 

 

 

© Andy Costello, Reflections 2022

 January 3, 2022

 

Thought for Today

“The important thing in life is not to have a good hand but to play it well.”

 

Louis-N. Fortin

Penses, Proverbs, Maxims