February 2017
‘What
day is it?’, asked Winnie the Pooh.
‘It’s today,’ squeaked Piglet.
‘My favorite day,’ said Pooh.”
—The Adventures of Winnie the Pooh by A. A. Milne
Tim
Hansel writes, "I have some very dear friends who almost lost their home
recently in one of this famous California brush fires. The flames were so close
they were licking over the patio and roof. My friends were out of town at the
time and only the heroic efforts of neighbors saved the day. Some wet down the
roof while others quickly moved furniture and other personal items out into the
yard just in case the house did go. I talked to Peg and Gary after they
returned and she said, 'Oh, it's such a wonderful mess!' She realized it
would be weeks before she could clean up the soot and ashes and get things back
together, but she still knew that it was wonderful to have the mess to clean
up, rather than have nothing but ashes. I can't help comparing the experience
of Peg and Gary with being a parent. There are plenty of brush fires, but the
question for me is, do I stop and realize what a wonderful mess my home and
family can be?" -What Kids Need Most in a Dad
That we ought not to be weary in doing little things for the
love of God, who regard not the greatness of the work, but the love with which
it is performed. –Brother Lawrence
Did I offer peace today? Did I bring a smile to
someone's face? Did I say words of healing? Did I let go of my anger and resentment?
Did I forgive? Did I love? These are the real questions. I must trust that the
little bit of love that I sow now will bear many fruits, here in this world and
the life to come.
-Henri Nouwen
-Henri Nouwen
Our bodies, our pleasures, our fears, our fatigue, our
friendships, our fights—these are in fact the stuff of our formation and
transformation into the frail but infinitely dignified creatures we were meant
to be and shall become. Our moments of exaltation and our stifled yawns—somehow
they go together, part of the whole life that we are meant to offer to God day
by day, as well as Sunday by Sunday, the life that God has taken into his own
life. It is the life that Christ himself
assumed, and this rescued and redeemed.
–Andy Crouch
The supreme work to which we need to address ourselves in this
world is to learn love. Is life not full of opportunities for learning love?
Every man and woman every day has a thousand of them. The world is not a
playground; it is a schoolroom. Life is not a holiday, but an education. And
the one eternal lesson for us all is how better we can love.
–Henry Drummond The
Greatest Thing in the World
Each day holds a surprise. But only if we expect
it can we see, hear, or feel it when it comes to us. Let's not be afraid to
receive each day's surprise, whether it comes to us as sorrow or as joy It will
open a new place in our hearts, a place where we can welcome new friends and
celebrate more fully our shared humanity. Henri Nouwen
It is a quotidian mystery that dailiness can lead to such
despair and yet also be at the core of our salvation…We want life to have
meaning, we want fulfillment, healing and even ecstasy, but the human paradox
is that we find these things by starting where we are….We must look for
blessings to come from unlikely, everyday places. –Kathleen Norris
Watch
with glittering eyes the whole world around you, because the greatest secrets
are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don’t who don’t
believe in magic will never find it.
—The Minpins by Roald Dahl
The real enemies of our life are the 'oughts'
and the 'ifs.' They pull us backward into the unalterable past and forward into
the unpredictable future. But real life takes place in the here and now. - Henri
Nouwen
