― Anthony de Mello* 1931-1987
If you knew that this would be
the very last time we would speak to each other, would our conversation be
different? We have those moments every
day with store clerks, shoppers, people on elevators, those we sit next to in
church, at a concert, or sporting event. And then there are our families and
friends. What feelings, thoughts, awareness arise if you realize we are all
dying. A shocking thought! But it’s true. Some sooner, some later. Some at
length and painfully, and some quite suddenly. Some will have a comfortably
long life and quietly and peacefully go. Most of us take daily living for granted and yet
none of us know the time or the hour [Matthew 25:13]. So let us all LIVE while we can with all that life brings and
even all it takes away. Let us turn our eyes to the Creation that our Creator
surrounds us with and look for joy in all the life within it, accepting those
moments when joy must await our return, as return to it we will and we must. Let us
live for those who can no longer and who want us to go on as they walk with us
in heart and memory. Embrace LIFE!
Dear Lord of Life:
You have given each of us this precious gift of the breath of life; what are we doing with it? Is it wasted on the young, regretted by the old, dismissed by those in-between who are too busy to recognize it for what it is? For today, I will give up taking breathing and life for granted and take on the understanding and compassion that even if the next breath isn't my last it will be for someone. I'll pray for the fullness of breath that inhales Your love, patience, and understanding and with each exhale to disperse anger, frustration, and bitterness. Today may be the last chance we'll have in this life and any days beyond it will truly be a gift. Help us to not waste it by being oblivious to all the gifts we have, thoughtless about the needs of others, chronically cranky, and especially not forgetting to remember You. amen.
*Anthony de Mello was a Jesuit priest from India and a psychotherapist who wrote a number of books and made videos on spirituality with an eastern flavor. His first published book Sadhana: A Way to God contained spiritual exercises influenced by Saint Ignatius of Loyola. Long after his sudden death, then Cardinal-Prefect Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict XVI, convened a commission to study de Mello's work and seemed to find some of his writings and lectures theologically problematic. There was a temporary ban on them for Roman Catholics which has since been lifted. Millions of Catholics and non-Catholics alike, however, have found great wisdom and transformational thought in de Mello's writings, many more of which were published posthumously.
Dear Lord of Life:
You have given each of us this precious gift of the breath of life; what are we doing with it? Is it wasted on the young, regretted by the old, dismissed by those in-between who are too busy to recognize it for what it is? For today, I will give up taking breathing and life for granted and take on the understanding and compassion that even if the next breath isn't my last it will be for someone. I'll pray for the fullness of breath that inhales Your love, patience, and understanding and with each exhale to disperse anger, frustration, and bitterness. Today may be the last chance we'll have in this life and any days beyond it will truly be a gift. Help us to not waste it by being oblivious to all the gifts we have, thoughtless about the needs of others, chronically cranky, and especially not forgetting to remember You. amen.
*Anthony de Mello was a Jesuit priest from India and a psychotherapist who wrote a number of books and made videos on spirituality with an eastern flavor. His first published book Sadhana: A Way to God contained spiritual exercises influenced by Saint Ignatius of Loyola. Long after his sudden death, then Cardinal-Prefect Ratzinger, later Pope Benedict XVI, convened a commission to study de Mello's work and seemed to find some of his writings and lectures theologically problematic. There was a temporary ban on them for Roman Catholics which has since been lifted. Millions of Catholics and non-Catholics alike, however, have found great wisdom and transformational thought in de Mello's writings, many more of which were published posthumously.
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