Reflection for October 26, 2011

Rules for the Unruly

The path is not straight.

Mistakes need not be fatal.

People are more important than achievements or possessions.

Be gentle with your parents.

Never stop doing what you care the most about.

Learn to use a semicolon.

You will find love.

Marion Winik

Reflection for October 19, 2011

It seems to me that if a little flower could speak, it would simply tell what God has done for it without trying to hide its blessings. It would not say, under the pretext of false humility, that it is not beautiful or without perfume, that the sun has taken away its splendor and the storm has broken its stem when it knows that all this is untrue. The flower about to tell her story rejoices at having to publish the totally gratuitous gifts of Jesus. She knows that nothing in herself was capable of attracting the divine glances, and God's mercy alone brought about everything that is good to her.

St. Therese of Lisieux

Reflection for October 12, 2011

Ours is a shape-shifting God,

a shit disturber,

insisting that we take

another look

anytime we refuse

to see the truth

or imagine that we

have things figured out.

This Holy One invites us

to find the light and love

in the darkest places

and holds us always

in the heart of healing.

Nancy Gibbs Richard

Reflection for October 5, 2011

JVR

The poem is translated by M. Aryanpoor as:

Human beings are members of a whole,

In creation of one essence and soul.

If one member is afflicted with pain,

Other members uneasy will remain.

Saadi