The path I trod for thee

And he rode alone because the huntsmen of the unknown must follow a path narrow as the confines of his own body, lonely as his own pain, dark as his own ignorance, and his way is his own way and cannot be shared with another.

The voice came again, the words this time spoken very low in his own soul, as though in warning,
'Many sorrows shalt thou endure for my sake, many temptations will assail thee, but be of good courage, I will always be with thee.'

Pilgrim's Inn: Elizabeth Goudge

Lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world
Matt 28:20


Because thou hast the power and own'st the grace,
To look through and behind the mask of me,
(Against which years have beat thus blenchingly
With their rains), and behold my soul's true face,
The dim and weary witness of life's race,-
Because thou hast the faith and love to see,
Through that same soul's distracting lethargy,
The patient angel waiting for a place,
In the new Heavens...

Sonnets from the Portuguese: Elizabeth Barrett Browning

The Bread of Life.

Bethlehem means, Home of bread.

 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger;
John 6:35

Jesus was born in a manger, literally a place to eat. Only two classes of people found the babe; the shepherds and the Wise Men; the simple and the learned; those that knew they knew nothing, and those who knew that they did not know everything.

The Life of Christ: Fulton J Sheen

Identity

The Greeks had a word for ultimate self-consciousness; hubris: pride: pride in the sense of putting oneself in the centre of the Universe. The strange and terrible thing is that this kind of self-consciousness invariably leads to self-annihilation.

A Circle of Quiet: Madeleine L'Engle

He lives

The Lord is risen indeed
Luke 24:34

He has risen and death is no more.

I have believed in God my whole life. My earliest 2 memories are when I must have been about 3 or 4 years old. I am standing before the lupins in our garden. They are taller than I am at that young age and I touch them gently with a finger and laugh to myself. My Father God made these; I know it is so. In the second memory, I am walking hand in hand with my Dad across a meadow. A lark is high in the blue summer sky, birds are singing, the air is sweet, the meadow is covered with buttercups. I must have laughed to myself as my Dad looking down at me says, "You happy, little 'un?" I look up at him and smile. "This is God" I say to him. I don't know what he thought of that statement and being so young I didn't consider his thoughts, neither did I have the means to express myself better.  But what I meant is as clear to me now as it was then; that this wonder, this love, between me and my Dad and between me and nature, was God. It was of His making and His love. Clearly I was still surrounded by 'clouds of glory.'

I have wandered far since those days. I have wandered into dark places and at times have lost my direction. I have been sick in heart, in mind and in body. I have been accused and betrayed. I have stumbled over my pride and thus suffered more. But even in these darkest moments, I have always known that God was there and that all things beautiful, full of love and goodness, is He.

Today, when I am closer to the end of my life than the beginning,  I can claim that He lives. I know this to be true. He lives, and I rejoice that He lives. For with Him will live all that is the best of me, and all of true Creation.

How ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God
And to wait for His Son from heaven whom He raised from the dead, even Jesus
1 Thes. 1:9-10

Good Friday

On this day, Christ had the victory over sin.  Now death and sin are under His feet. He is victorious.

I am thinking of all my friends and family this Easter. But my thoughts and prayers are especially with anyone who is grieving. My prayer is for the love of God and the hope in the resurrection will bring healing. Every tear will be wiped away in that glorious morn when loved ones will be reunited.

He will swallow up death in victory; and the Lord God will wipe away tears from off all faces
Isa. 25:8

In the love and service of God part 1

If you desire to serve the Lord, to make a change in the world, to live in light and spread that light for others.;then the first step is to start with trust in the author of love, goodness, peace and life.

I believe the Lord helps those who set out to do great things for His sake, and never fails those who trust in Him alone. This does not mean I am excused from seeking to help myself, only that by trusting in Him I will be free from anxiety.
Teresa of Avila


Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding.
In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy path.
Prov. 3: 5-6

The Search for Peace.

Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you.
Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.
John 14:27

We hear the Lord calling to us and promising us His peace. So desirous is the Lord that we should seek Him and enjoy the peace of His company, that in one way or another He never ceases calling to us.
Teresa of Avila

For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace
1 Cor. 14:33

However long we live, we could never wish for a better friend than God. If you desire peace in this stress filled, materialistic, egotistical world we live in, seek Him and be refreshed with living water.

Palm Sunday and welcoming the light

All ye who enter here, abandon hate
Thus freedom comes, thus peace
Uncelestial City: Humbert Wolfe

Took branches of palm trees, and went forth and cried, Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.
John 12:13

Fear not, daughter of Sion; behold, they king cometh
John 12:15

I am come a light unto the world, that whosever believeth on me should not abide in darkness.
John 12: 46

It was in a place of supposed darkness that she found not only a turning, but a healing.

Man's absurd desire to replace God is matched only by his inability to learn from his past.

So long ago we don't even know when the practice began, people saw the need for regular prayer. People from all walks of life halting every hour to give a short prayer. Only a few brief words, but every hour they took time to turn to God.
The Book of Hours: T. Davis Burns.

Turn ye unto me, saith the Lord of hosts, and I will turn unto you
Zech 1:3