February Twenty-Seventeen

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    

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