Alone, not lonely

"Your presence makes the difference

Between aloneness and loneliness.

Your companionship quiets me.

A loving stillness encircles my being.

I can reside in my solitariness

And not grow restless or fearful.

Knowing you are here with me

Allows my spirit to be at peace,

To be alone without feeling isolated

Because you are ever by my side."

Sr. Joyce Rupp, "Fragments of Your Ancient Name"

I sure couldn't have put this better myself! It is so much I how feel every day. I sit outside watching the sun first appear on the very top of the pine tree and, even though I may be alone, there are birds, squirrels and insects that make the place almost crowded! And there is such a peace...a peace that can only come from the Source of all peace. Thank you, dear Jesus, for sharing my everything! Love, heidi

Truly a treasure...

"Brothers and sisters. We hold this treasure in earthen vessels, that the surpassing power may be of God and not from us."

2 Corinthians 4:7

OK, raise your hands if the song, "Earthen Vessels" is now running through your head! I was thinking about this reading, in light of all that has happened with the Colorado shooting, and realizing how true it is that our earthen vessels are so fragile. A young, vibrant life can be ended in an instant, and how truly sad and tragic that feels to us. It hurts us to the core of our being and perplexes us, just like St. Paul says later in this same reading ("We are perplexed but not driven to despair," v. 8) As I was sitting there, pondering this, I was watching the tree of birds in my neighbor's yard. So fragile and delicate those finches are, and yet, their lives so precious to God, too. Our God is so woven through every fiber of life; whether it be human life or life of any kind. Our earthen vessels do indeed hold a treasure, the treasure being the very breath of God. And if our earthen vessels hold the breath of God, so do our neighbors'. If we sit still and really ponder this, we should be overwhelmed by it! Dear God, please help us see that the earthen vessels containing all life are so precious to you! And help us to treat all life with love, care and compassion...love, heidi

A reward for her labors...

"Give her a reward for her labors, and let her works praise her at the city gates."

Proverbs 31:31

Today is Amelia Earhart's birthday (she was born in 1898) and yesterday, the first woman in space, Sally Ride, passed away. It's a good day to celebrate women! We have all had wonderful women role models in our lives...mothers, grandmothers, teachers, friends...the prayer card used to mark this scripture in my bible bears the picture of my dear friend, Helen. We have amazing scriptural women to look up to--Ruth, Elizabeth, several Marys. And several more women saints to follow too--Joan, Therese, Louise de Marillac, Edith Stein, and Blessed Teresa of Calcutta. And I think of the wonderful Sisters of Charity, who greatly influenced me and generations of my family. These women give us faithful examples of women whose lives are touched by God and who followed God's will for their lives. We may be surrounded by amazing women in our lives right now--our 4th day sisters, blood sisters, sisters in Christ. The sisterhood of God is a prayerful, powerful witness to God in our lives! So, today, let's think about the amazing women we know right now and throughout history. Let's thank God for the women we are, the women we know, and the women who will follow us. "...and let her works praise her at the city gates!" Love, heidi

Please, wipe our tears...

"Shedding tears is neither a lack of faith

nor a signal of personal weakness.

When afflictions too massive to contain

push open the floodgates of our heart,

when tormenting hurts rise upward

and press teardrops from our eyes,

You do not reprimand or admonish us.

Instead, when we succumb to weeping

you reach to softly catch our teardrops

with the loving touch of your compassion."

 

Ruth Marlene Fox, as quoted in "Fragments of Your Ancient Name," by Joyce Rupp