Meditation Moment in Eastertide: Saturday, Week 4 '23

Dear God,

    It's seems too simple, John Wesley's Rule of Life.  Just do good, all the time, in all ways, in all places, to everyone for as long as possible.  But I realize that sometimes in the seemingly simple there is deep complexity. I must look deeply within myself to be conscious and intentional about my thoughts and actions to see where I am on track and where I am not.  

   Oh Dear God! I'm off track more than I'm on and I am in such need of Your help. I want to do the good You have called me to do. Having Wesley's words as a kind of mantra will help to guide me but at the end of every day, I need to return to You in my prayer. Please breathe the good of Jesus into my soul as the fuel to fire my life in Christ. Give me the courage and fortitude to spread the Good News through good thoughts actions throughout all the days of my life, for as long as I ever can.  amen.  

John Wesley [1703-1791], born in Epworth, England, was an Anglican cleric and with his brother Charles, also Anglican, and Charles Whitefield, a Calvinist, riding a circuit to reach rural areas, starting an evangelical movement known as Methodism and strongly influenced the Holiness and Pentecostal movements. He argued against Calvinism, especially pre-destination, and remained committed to the Anglican Church and its sacramental theology. His "method" effectively trained and used non-ordained itinerant preachers to develop small Christian discipleship groups with religious instruction to effect social reforms particularly in prison reform and abolitionism. By the end of his life he was known as "the best loved man in England."

 

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Meditation Moment in Eastertide ~ Friday, Week 4 '23

The spiritual life is not the elimination of struggle; 

it is the sanctification of struggle.  

It is struggle transformed to wisdom.

~ Sr. Joan Chittister*            

When I was a child, I spoke and thought and reasoned as a child. 

But when I grew up, I put away childish things.  

~ 1 Corinthians 13:11

Dear God,
     When I was a kid I thought You were The Most Magic Person. You created the heavens and the earth and all that is in it, Adam and Eve and me! As I grow older I wonder more about You and discover that the more I learn, the less I know, although I now believe some things very differently. 
    I now believe that as life happens, so do the ups and downs, joys and sorrows, the routine and ordinary. I know that it's up to me to turn to You, as the God in the Holy Trinity, to sanctify the days of struggle and the days of nothing special. In the midst of terrible times I won't feel immediately better as the Magic You of my childish imaginings would have it. Yet through Your presence in my soul, the older me is more readily able, and sooner, to move forward, accepting the things I cannot change and living each day as fully as possible for the time that I have. Perhaps in my times of struggle ahead, and by remembering to turn to You before, during, and after, I will more easily transform those times into opportunities for some wisdom. As I continue to work on entering and growing into a more spiritual life, I already know that there is peace and rest in the midst of questions and conflict.  
   As I grow older, help me please, to be more child-like in my faith ~ that is, unspoiled, open, with an accepting innocence, and less child-ish ~ that is, immature, stubborn, and demanding to have things my way and angry when I cannot. Let me remember always that the Magic of Life is in my acceptance, perseverance, and Faith, walking in, with, and through Your grace. amen.

*Sr. Joan Chittister [1936- ] is a member of the Benedictine Sisters in Erie, Pennsylvania.  A noted author and lecturer, she is regular columnist with the National Catholic Reporter, and also contributes to other publications on-line and in print. She writes on the issues of women in the church and society, human rights, peace, and justice in the areas of war and poverty, religious life, and spirituality. She is co-chair of the Global Peace Initiative of Women, a UN-sponsored organization creating a worldwide network of women peacemakers.  The author of more than 50 books and hundreds of articles, Sr. Joan has received numerous awards for her writing. Sr. Joan is slated to be a keynote speaker at the Discipleship of Equals in October 2023 in Rome hosted by Spirit Unbounded, a new international network for Reform-Minded Catholics.

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Meditation Moment in Eastertide ~ Thursday, Week 4 '23

Believe, when you are most unhappy, 

that there is something for you to do in the world. 

So long as you can sweeten another's pain,

life is not in vain.

        ~  Helen Keller *

Dear God ~ Straight up, I need Your help! I do my best to be a helpful person to family, friends, and even strangers (unless their driving is driving me nuts ~ I keep working on that). But the part that is hard is remembering to remember others when I'm feeling down and sometimes even when I'm on top of the world.  Help me find a way to look outside of myself regardless of what is happening in my life. In the ordinary moments of life, reaching out my hand to another is easy. It is in the difficult times that I want to be thoughtlessly thoughtful, to hold my hand out to someone who needs me more than I need to think about myself.  Please give me a hand with this. Thank You, as always.  amen.

*Helen Keller [1880-1968] was born a healthy girl in Tuscumbria, Alabama and at 19 months old she contracted an illness that left her deaf and blind. The story of her extraordinary journey and that of her teacher, Anne Sullivan, has been depicted in the play and film "The Miracle Worker." An internationally known author, political activist, and lecturer, she was  the recipient of numerous honors including the Presidential Medal of Freedom by Lyndon Johnson, elections to the National Women's Hall of Fame and the Alabama Women's Hall of Fame. She was the first deaf/blind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree upon graduation from Radcliffe. Her life and work are iconic in framing the concept of overcoming obstacles and as an ardent advocate on behalf of others.

Click here to see Helen and her teacher Anne: How Helen Learned to Speak

All compositions remain the property of the owner of this blog but may be used with attribution and edited for local use as long as they are not sold or charged for in any way. For more information or comments, contact: Leeosophy@gmail.com