PROUD

I received an e-mail attachment with a newsletter from a friend. The front page showed pictures of my sister, Mai read, who is a missionary FMM sister in Pakistan. The order run a Hospice for men, women and children of all denominations who are in need of medical assistance. They also run a Day Clinic.

I am so proud of my sister, and all the other sisters and volunteers and benefactors who help their fellow man in whatever way they can.

This is the Christian message, to see Christ is our neighbour, especially those who need assistance. My sister has dedicated her life to this work.

Who is she? Just an ordinary person who has responded to God's invitation to love others. She is not a saint, yet her response is saintly. This is what happens when we respond to grace and do God's Will.

Most of us do respond to grace / respond to love, and often we fail. Yet, God will take into account our good will. This is what matters most.

Be proud of all who love.

COURAGE TO BE.

Part of growing older, is the realisation that we are not as 'capable' as we were when younger. A young person races about the place (packed full of natural enzymes) and seems able to take on the world. They search for challenges, want to climb mountains etc. This is great and to be admired, yet not so wise to imitate.

The human body slows down as the years go by. However, the mind often does not slow down. Instead it escalates almost out of control, wanting to DO so much / achieve so much...

It takes courage to realise that life is about living / being in the moment. We can be impressed by achievements of others, yet it is a very wise person who can simply BE!

This is where courage takes place, when we are able and willing to be just who we are; no frills or pretence.

Can you imagine someone coming up to an artist, looking at his painting, then taking up a paint-brush and altering his masterpiece to suit their own taste.

This is what we do when we try to alter ourselves and be someone we are not. God is the Master Artist. He has created each one of us as a unique being. When we are not happy with who we are,we insult the Artist and try to alter His masterpiece.

God is happy with who we are. Let's do likewise and be our happy selves.

TRAVEL

I've just booked online for trip to Cork re Arts Theatre. This was a new 'adventure' for me, finding my way around the Internet. A few clicks and a trip is organised.
When we think back to years ago and how it was. Travel was more a necessary hardship rather than a journey to be enjoyed.
I find myself thinking of the 'real' journey we are on in life. For those of a spiritual mind, the journey is leading us towards Heaven, a union with God for all eternity.

I believe I've booked my place, and as a friend said, 'our names are written in heaven' so all I need now is to make the journey, and make it a pleasant one.

God is loving and compassionate. He leans over backwards to help us have a happy trip. The more we are open and 'connected' to His loving Will, the easier and happier we make the journey, both for ourselves and others. We are all connected.

Travel of any kind is a chance for us to create a positive, happy atmosphere.

Enjoy the journey!

MARY, MY MOTHER

I was reminded today of the benefit of depending on my Mother, Mary. Perhaps this is a very Catholic thing to do, and yet, all those who honour the life of Christ would have a love for His mother too.

This is the case with me. Because of my interest in Christ, I learned to have a high regard for Mary, the mother of Christ who is God.

When we look at the world today, we are presented with so many Shrines to the Blessed Virgin, the mother of God. This is God's way of helping us out and affording us an 'easy' way to Him.

St. Therese, the little flower, spoke of finding an easy way to God. She used the example of an elevator that helps people to reach to high places and felt that God was inspiring her to be, as a little child with Him, depending on God to lift her up because she was too little on her own.

For me, Mary is God's way of helping me to reach up to high places to be with Him.

Mary is like a door that leads to a compassionate and loving God.

He will not refuse her anything she would ask and just like a mother she asks for protection and love for her children.

PATIENCE

I've just had an experience of my need for patience. My computor would not work. Instead of letters I had numbers. The more I tried to correct the error, the more frustrated I became. Then I asked a friend. He had no answer for me, yet gave his time willingly while I shut down the computor and tried again.

Patiently he waited while I fumbled through the keys until, almost by accident, I realised number-lock had been pressed on.

Without his patience, I would not have had the patience to try, and try again to solve the problem. I was grateful and relieved, and enlightened.

By asking for help, I received a solution to my dilemma. Perhaps this is the case with many things that happen to us. Things so easily go wrong, and often our immediate reaction is one of impatience. We become frustrated and so enlightenment is not given to us.

Patience teaches us to relax and look for a solution, and especially ask for help / ask a friend / ask God's guidence. We will never be disappointed and always receive assistance.

ON A JOURNEY

My friends and I went on a journey - a break away from the norm. We set off on Sunday morning and winded up in a lovely holiday area, Ardmore Beach. This was a first for me and I was so impressed by the beauty of the place, a quaint village with all the amenities one could need when on holiday.

The Church, dedicated to St. Declan, invites visitors to come in and read about the history of the Church while spending a quiet moment of reflection.

The sea was most impressive as the waves crashed along the sandy beach. With or without sunshine, we just had to have a swim, screaming like children as the waves lifted us off our feet and carried us ashore. It was so beautiful when the sun came out, yet we had fun even when it hid behind the clouds.

In a way, we are on a journey, destined to lead us to fulfillment and peace; eternal peace. How we behave and what we do will have consequences that will mould or marr us, forever.

Enjoy the journey!

RESPOND TO LOVE

This evening at our Friday 'open-house' meditation session, I became aware of how important it is to love. I suppose all of us would like to believe that we can love, and most of us probably make good efforts towards being a loving person, yet are we capable of loving?

This is a huge question and the answer rocks my complacent security.

The truth is we cannot love. We can respond to love and to He who is LOVE. This is the best we can do, and it's okay. After all, we are an imperfect race. This we can blame on God. He created us in His image, yet has allowed us to be weak and flawed in many ways.

'How frail You had made the sons of men... '

God doesn't expect us to be perfect, loving people. He does expect us to respond to love. This way we afford God the opportunity to be as a Father to us . We supply the good-will.

God supplies the love!