The Power of Love...

Yesterday, St. Valentine's day, caused me to think about Love and all the many ways we have to show that we care for each other.

I was amused at the amount of men I caught sight of, walking or rather rushing home with a bouquet of flowers to the one they love. Is it a commercial thing that wives expect husbands to display their love with flowers and chocolates?  Perhaps, and yet it is a wonderful thing to have the courage to show the one we love how much we care for them.

This got me thinking about the Power of Love and how we willingly make sacrifices for those we love. Perhaps our ability to love may be hampered by human weakness and yet, will always have a comforting and positive effect.

No wonder God displays His love for us so often, even when we don't recognise His Loving Hand behind the many good happenings in our lives.

Love, when true, does not need or look for a return.  It's enough for the Lover to love and for the receiver to receive.

If only the world could grasp the Power of Love, then what a magnificent world we would have.

Spread the Good News...

After Mass this morning, Fr. Donal asked us to pray for young people who will be making their Confirmation, a commitment to their Faith.
He handed out cards with a person's first name on it and the idea is to pray especially for this young person that they will be enlightened by the Holy Spirit in their preparation for Confirmation.
I wonder how it was for myself?
Did I understand the commitment I was making, becoming a 'soldier of Christ' and opening my heart and soul to the Holy Spirit?
Of course the nuns gave us good training, explaining what it was all about and yet, did I truly understand?
I remember the fear I had of not being able to answer the Bishop's question whatever it might be...
And, the interest in receiving new clothes...

Did I dwell on the importance of my commitment or even understand it?  Perhaps in some small way I did. This makes me realise that God never pushes us to do good, yet will inspire and draw by the good we see in others.
We learn from others and hopefully they learn from us.

Community Spirit

Living in Community is such a blessing.  

When people live in unity and are bonded by the same high values then it becomes a treasure and must be protected at all times.

The danger can often be found when we put our own interests before the common good.

We can't deny that human nature can be selfish and want to please self and yet we also know the value of love, of caring for another person / persons.

God has instilled in each one of us the ability to love.

This ability needs to be fostered and matured.  This way we are guided by Truth, not feelings.

Each person has an inner voice / a conscience that will guide and protect so that one is not swayed by a temptation to see only one's own interests.

When we live for the common good, we are happy and free to be our true selves.

Community life gives the foundation and opportunities to become a loving person, open to all that is good and especially open to doing God's Will at all times.

WEAKNESS

Weakness is such a reality and yet often we can pretend that we are not weak. that we are strong.

Why I wonder is it so difficult to be weak, to face the truth that we are not perfect and that we are flawed in many ways, even unbeknown to ourselves.

Perhaps that's why it's such a blessing to become aware of the many ways in which we are imperfect.

Today is a good day for me as regards knowing and facing my weaknesses which are many.

I find it's often when I am physically unwell that this awareness takes place.

I don't want to be unwell and yet may have to accept being so.

The next step is to deal with this knowledge, without fear or trying to justify why etc.

God knows us / He has created each one of us and yet allows us to be in an imperfect state.

Why?  Delving into the answer to this question takes us on a journey of knowledge and truth.

Am I able to accept who I am?

Do I truly know myself and willing to live with this knowledge without shame or justification?

What I've learned so far is the value of weakness.

It's often in our weakest state that we experience love / friendship / a sense of belonging.

When I can admit to being imperfect, I allow another person to be their true and imperfect self.

Now the Wisdom of God comes to the forefront...

Weakness allows us to make room for each other and grow in compassion for whatever weakness we are faced with in another person.

We can even learn to love ourselves and to love others.

Begin again...

One of the most wonderful things about a New Year is the invitation to Begin again...  to recap on all those resolutions that taunt us and make us desire to be better than we are.

Of course, it may not be wise to over-burden ourselves with a long list of resolutions.

I find what helps me most is to be selective and give time to what I feel able to do now.

Clearing out a drawer / cleaning shelves / de-cluttering etc.

All of these mundane jobs can help to inspire us to greater things and most important of all,

we become active!

Time is such a precious gift, pity to waste time thinking when we can be active and encouraged

by the efforts we make.

For me, a little prayer helps to get me started, a little chat with my Divine Friend and I'm inspired

to go forward and begin again to tackle new things in this New Year!

Take a Moment...

The other day I had a series of 'panic attacks' where I felt unable to cope with a situation...

How easy to happen and yet how easy to remedy.

The solution to most ' emotional accidents' is to take a moment and reflect...

Of course this knowledge is simple, after our emotions have jumped ahead and we may feel drained of our ability to cope.

Simply to take a moment...  reflect..  perhaps a little prayer and all is well again

God does not burden us beyond our good will and strength and so we ought to have the same gentleness and kindness for ourselves.

We are made to love and be a loving person, so if there is something that hinders us in so doing, we need to take a moment...  reflect... and come back to love! 

Friends

I wonder do we 'create' friends through our desires and interests?

Perhaps we do and yet, I believe there is a spiritual aspect to all friendships.

We have our natural side and we have our spiritual side, all mixed up together like body and soul.

The spiritual awareness in us that is drawn to others is of great importance for our happiness and well being. We are given a friend who cares for us and we care for them in a special way.

In a natural sense we could be like 'cheese and chalk' and yet we could be closer because our spiritual self is alive and well, guided by our shared interests.

I often think about the saints and how it was for them.  Many of them had good friends who supported them in their desire to love God and become a more loving person.

When we find ourselves in the company of those who inspire us to be a better and more loving person, then we have truly found friendship and perhaps a singular friend who will become our soul-mate.