4th. April 2020.Daily Devotion.
Good Day everyone,
Once again it is a privilege to share Peter Millar’s thoughts for today’ devotion.
1st April 2020 A Candle in the Window. Peter Millar
Words to encourage us in tough times (Please share around this reflection)
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The only way to eat an elephant is in small pieces. Desmond Tutu
Given that we are all now living under the equivalent of house arrest, I’m thanking my lucky stars that this crisis has happened just as spring (in our northern hemisphere) has sprung. Imagine if it had begun in November when birdsong was non-existent, and the days were shortening. Instead (at least here in this part of the world, although very different elsewhere) the timing could not have been better, as nature nears its peak of activity. Over the next three months –which God-willing, will be all we have to spend in enforced isolation – fauna and flora will be flaunting itself as never before. (Adapted from a longer article by Stephen Moss)
Perhaps the Earth can teach us as when everything seems dead and later proves to be alive. Pablo Neruda in “Keeping Quiet”
Normally we have Mass daily; not now, but we are praying more. Faith is important to people in times such as this. For all of us, the crisis is triggering questions about what is important. Having a Pope like Francis is wonderful; he sent out a beautiful message: “Tonight before falling asleep, think about when we will return to the street, hug again…We will go back to laughing together. Strength and courage. See you soon!” The temptation is to retreat, to look inwards. But once this is over, do we stay behind borders or will we have learned things? We might have opened our hearts in ways we hadn’t thought about before. The Jesuit sister, Jane Livesey
Mother and Father God,
Creator of the deep quiet,
May we never be a stranger
To that place within our heart
Where we are at one
With life’s source and tiniest bloom. PM
Be patient toward all that is unresolved in your heart and try to live the questions themselves. Do not seek answers which cannot be given to you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything, live the questions now. Perhaps you will gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer. Ranier Maria Rilke
My heart is moved by all I cannot save so much has been destroyed. I have to cast my lot with those who, age after age, perversely, with no extraordinary power, reconstitute the world. Adrienne Rich
Prayers for the week ahead:
Spirit of life, in the mystery of each new day, with its uncertainties and unknowns, to untangle the knots within me, so that in this time of turbulence I can mend my start hearts simple ties to others. PM
Lord, in these times when all of us are bundled together in ways we could not have imagined a few weeks ago, help us to recognise that you are propelling us to wider vision , an enhanced awareness and even to a calmer acceptance of Life’s surprising turns. Give us the spiritual depths to see that much in our present situation can be turned to blessings – blessings from You, blessings from family and friends and blessings from those who ask for our help near and far PM
Please also pray for people in poorer countries like Ecuador which is already experiencing horrifying scenes as the dead are being left in the streets outside their homes, and Malawi which though not yet badly affected, is one of the poorest in the world and least equipped to handle the pandemic. CA
Scriptures for today
Matthew 14:14 When he went ashore, he saw a great crowd, and he had compassion on them and healed their sick.
Jeremiah 30:17 But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds,” declares the Lord, “because you are called an outcast, Zion for whom no one cares.”
