Life is a choice
I was disappointed when I left a 'Nail Saloon' the other day because I could not stand the scent of the chemicals. Even wearing a mouth cap did not help. The attendant was very kind to let me go as I could not breath. The other side of the coin was when I asked her how she is able to work in that situation the answer she gave me set me thinking out loud the whole day. She said a.o. "I have no choice"......How often have we all been forced to remain in situations which are not healthy.......... jobs we did not like but kept for years only to help us pay the bills because we had no choice or did not dare to take the risk to quit, becoming comfortable with the situation than to dare change? a bird in hand is better than the 10 out there? or the devil you know is better than the angel you know? ..... With hindsight we can see patterns in our own life and realize how far we have come......Of course life is a choice and every choice we make moves us on to the next level of the journey. It is true in the physical as well as the spiritual........
We read often in Scriptures to choose life..... I set before you life and death, choose life....... every day we make choices who to serve for we cannot serve both God and mammon. The choices we have made over the years have brought us to where we are right now, but we can learn the lessons and move on. Each new day is an opportunity to change and or begin anew!!
Wednesday 30 October 2019
Wednesday 25 September 2019
Seeing through tainted Glass
Entering the Chapel today, I found it dark, tried to put on the light only to realize that I have rather turned it off so I switched it on, yet the Chapel was still dark. Oops, I entered with my dark glasses on....... Hmm that set me thinking.....it can be easy to blame the other person due to wrong attitude, misjudge a person because of being biased, get into unnecessary argument due to impatience......... the list can be endless causing much harm. Need to work on self and not on the other..... removing the log in my own eye before trying to remove the splinter in my brother's eye?......... becoming more understanding, kind, loving, compassionate............? your guess will certainly be as good as mine for our small world will become a better place as we all strive to incorporate the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi:-
Lord, make me a channel of your peace
where there is hatred, let me sow your love,
where there is injury, pardon,
where there is discord, union,
where there is doubt, faith,
where there is darkness, light,
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not
so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand,
to be loved as to love,
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life!
Entering the Chapel today, I found it dark, tried to put on the light only to realize that I have rather turned it off so I switched it on, yet the Chapel was still dark. Oops, I entered with my dark glasses on....... Hmm that set me thinking.....it can be easy to blame the other person due to wrong attitude, misjudge a person because of being biased, get into unnecessary argument due to impatience......... the list can be endless causing much harm. Need to work on self and not on the other..... removing the log in my own eye before trying to remove the splinter in my brother's eye?......... becoming more understanding, kind, loving, compassionate............? your guess will certainly be as good as mine for our small world will become a better place as we all strive to incorporate the prayer of St. Francis of Assisi:-
Lord, make me a channel of your peace
where there is hatred, let me sow your love,
where there is injury, pardon,
where there is discord, union,
where there is doubt, faith,
where there is darkness, light,
and where there is sadness, joy.
O Divine Master, grant that I may not
so much seek to be consoled, as to console;
to be understood, as to understand,
to be loved as to love,
for it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life!
Friday 20 September 2019
The Hidden Presence of God
Hidden God, we adore You..... is God really hidden from man? ,,,,, this is a mystery that needs a reflection..... God made man in his own image and likeness so that means God lives in man as his creation ,,,,, Man is therefore supposed to be a reflection of God's presence in the world since God lives in him....How ?.... exhibiting the nature of God. Spiritual things need to be spiritually discerned and this is the reason why God seems to be hidden even though He is present, man has failed to make his creator visible.....by making giant steps in the physical at the expense of the mystical/ spiritual..... moving far away from his commandments which are love guides to live in union with God.... man seems to have lost the conscience of sin.......separation from God.
One area where God is truly present and yet hidden is the Holy Eucharist and the Blessed Sacrament. God is present in the species of Bread and Wine totally in Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, yet hidden from the naked eye. Only with eyes of faith we can look beyond the Bread we eat to see our Saviour and our Lord, look beyond the Cup we drink to see His Blood poured out for us.
Another area is in the Word.... that was in the beginning was with God and was God...... that became incarnated and became Man.... the Light of the world giving sight to the blind..... the Word spoken and written..... sharper than two-edged sword, a curse and a blessing..... the Word giving life to those who accept it or death to those who reject it.....the Word that is the Truth.......the Life and the Way.....the Word that sets the captive free...... heals and comforts...... the litany goes on!
Look beyond nature and see the Master Artist/Creator, each blade of leaf is unique... no two rain drops or snow flakes are the same...... the birds of the air..... not one escape His attention for His eye is on the sparrow, the fish in the sea ....... the Sun, the Moon, the Stars and the grandeur of all creation cannot be compared to Man....... The Psalmist cry out ' What is Man, oh what is man that you are mindful of him...mortal man that you care for him? yet you have made him a little lower than God and crown him with glory and honour........ and have put all things under his feet.......(Psalm 8)'
Man can only find his true existence in God and St. Augustine in his Confession concluded: 'God, you have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they come to rest in you'.
Hidden God, we adore You..... is God really hidden from man? ,,,,, this is a mystery that needs a reflection..... God made man in his own image and likeness so that means God lives in man as his creation ,,,,, Man is therefore supposed to be a reflection of God's presence in the world since God lives in him....How ?.... exhibiting the nature of God. Spiritual things need to be spiritually discerned and this is the reason why God seems to be hidden even though He is present, man has failed to make his creator visible.....by making giant steps in the physical at the expense of the mystical/ spiritual..... moving far away from his commandments which are love guides to live in union with God.... man seems to have lost the conscience of sin.......separation from God.
One area where God is truly present and yet hidden is the Holy Eucharist and the Blessed Sacrament. God is present in the species of Bread and Wine totally in Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, yet hidden from the naked eye. Only with eyes of faith we can look beyond the Bread we eat to see our Saviour and our Lord, look beyond the Cup we drink to see His Blood poured out for us.
Another area is in the Word.... that was in the beginning was with God and was God...... that became incarnated and became Man.... the Light of the world giving sight to the blind..... the Word spoken and written..... sharper than two-edged sword, a curse and a blessing..... the Word giving life to those who accept it or death to those who reject it.....the Word that is the Truth.......the Life and the Way.....the Word that sets the captive free...... heals and comforts...... the litany goes on!
Look beyond nature and see the Master Artist/Creator, each blade of leaf is unique... no two rain drops or snow flakes are the same...... the birds of the air..... not one escape His attention for His eye is on the sparrow, the fish in the sea ....... the Sun, the Moon, the Stars and the grandeur of all creation cannot be compared to Man....... The Psalmist cry out ' What is Man, oh what is man that you are mindful of him...mortal man that you care for him? yet you have made him a little lower than God and crown him with glory and honour........ and have put all things under his feet.......(Psalm 8)'
Man can only find his true existence in God and St. Augustine in his Confession concluded: 'God, you have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless until they come to rest in you'.
Sunday 8 September 2019
The Cross
I woke and realized it was a dream,
and no ordinary dream it was.
A huge Cross stood into the heavens,
around it were people each carrying a tiny cross.
A light shone from the Heavens, and I heard a
voice:
" Lift up your cross to the Huge Cross"
No one in the crowd stirred,
everyone stood still, each deep in thought.
With a smile, I tried to lift up my tiny cross,
I realized that it was heavy and made of silver.
For three years, I pondered about the dream.
Then the Lord gave me an insight and I no more
worry.
The Huge Cross is Christ on Calvary,
It was there that the Lamb paid the Price;
a heavy Price by a Perfect Sacrifice.
It was not an easy ordeal,
for He suffered shame and humiliation;
He was mocked and scourged,
Pain, Horror, Anguished, mere words cannot describe it.
The more I think of it, the more I feel His pain.
In anguish, He cried to His Father,
It was not a cry of defeat.
Rather, it was a cry of Victory!
His cry rings out into the Heavens!
it echoes down into the earth below.
Graves were opened, and death was conquered!
Victory, Victory, Victory!
There is Life beyond the Cross!
As I stand beneath the Cross, I see clearly God's Love.
I have been saved only through the Cross of Jesus.
For God so loves me, that He gave His Son
to give me new life through His death on the Cross!
Hail!, all hail the Risen Christ!
Hail Him who has overcome the world!
Hail Him in His New Glorifies Body!
Glory to the Father, who is Faithful in all His Promises,
Even to Raising His Son Jesus from the Dead!
Glory and Honor to the Healing Cross!
Author: Honey-Rose Aku Gbologah
Looking back and pondering on the Scripture: " I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6). There is no easier way. The only way is the Cross. If we are the first to go through this way, we may be excused if we are tempted to consider it an impossibility. But we have a cloud of witnesses that have gone this way before us. There is no shorter way to go to Heaven than the Cross.
If Jesus is the light of the world, then we need to follow Him. "I am the light of the world; who ever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life." (John 8:12)
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