On The Inside of St. Patrick's Breastplate

Meditation:  My Shepherd Is The Lord

Christ be with you, Christ within you,

Christ behind you, Christ before you,

Christ beside you, Christ to win you,

Christ to comfort and restore you.

Christ beneath you, Christ above you,

Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,

Christ in hearts of all that love you,

Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.

   -Amen

Finding Joy -or- A Light In Dark Places

Meditations:

Daniel 12:3 And they that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that turn many to righteousness as the stars for ever and ever.


Isaiah 26:19 Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast out the dead.


John 14:23 Jesus answered him, ‘Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.


John 15:10 If ye keep my commandments, ye shall abide in my love; even as I have kept my Father's commandments, and abide in his love.
John 15:11 These things have I spoken unto you, that my joy might remain in you, and that your joy might be full.
John 15:12 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.

 For many, these are hard times.  Times when we find it hard to do the next thing, hard to move ahead, when we perhaps wish that there was just some way to give up.  Times when we remember joyful times and wish for them again, when we miss our loved ones who are gone from us, when we feel we cannot move on.

If someone could show us a way back to joy from these hard, sad, dark places, would we not seize it and follow it, like a lover follows his or her beloved, like a bee follows the scent of nectar, like a bird or squirrel following a trail of seeds?

I have the way, but it means giving something up.  Here it is, in six steps.  Think of it as a half-price twelve-step program:   

1. Give Up
2. Smile
3. Love
4. Make Do
5. Help Others
6. Start Over

Give Up:  Give up your hurts and pains, your feelings of being subject to injustice and cruelty, your need to nurse your injuries, your sense that your rights and entitlements have been crushed.  Forgive whomever you need to, and put these wrongs out of your mind.  They are not helping you.  Give them up, new and old.  Many more hurts will come, and you will have to give them up in turn. 

Smile:  Because you are in God’s hands, and because it will give you courage, and encourage those who are with you.  This is a battle, and if we fight it with courage, we are assured of our victory.  Smile for courage, for yourself and others.

Love:  Because when you love, you invite God into your life, and love reminds you of how much you care for others. Remember, our care for each other is a good part of why we are here.  Love each other, and remember to love those who are difficult to love.  Remember that you have been unlovable yourself at times, and others have loved you anyway.  Honor that love by multiplying it.

Make Do:  Decide what you really need, and make do with that, and try and be smart with your time and abilities.  Find the best way forward you can for now, and keep your eyes open for the next practical and healthy opportunity.  ‘Make Do’ means no wallowing in self-pity, no giving in to despair.  It means you step forward and say ‘Here I Am’ and ‘What Can I Do Now.’

Help Others:  No matter how little you have, you can help others.  Sometimes helping is as little as a smile, or an ‘I Care’ said (or written) with feeling, or a listening ear - sometimes it is much, much more.  Everyone can give.  Figure out how much giving you can reasonably do, and do it.  Make time to touch other people’s lives.  Seek out those in need, and make a difference.  Do this faithfully, carefully, lovingly, practically, and with a smile, and you will find joy in your heart.  This is the joy of Christ.  Cherish it.

Start Over:  Start over in a better place, emotionally and spiritually.  Reset your needs, and your attitudes.  Let go of desires for things that are high-maintenance and expensive, and latch onto the practical and reasonable.  And in that spirit, start over at the beginning of this list, happily, prayerfully, thoughtfully, and with care for yourself and others.  

And if you do these things, you will be truly blessed.


   With Love,
          LE

I heard that God lived in the forest

Proposed Antiphon:  Deep in the forest, if you listen, You can hear faint hymns of joy among the trees

I heard that God lived in the forest

And I built a fence around it

Every day, I chopped down as many trees as I could

One day the forest was gone

And I felt very free and alone

The next day a robber showed up and took everything I had

And he laughed at me

I brought him to a court of law

And the judge said that it was all relative

My children said to me ‘why have you lied to us?’

And they abandoned me to seek pleasure

My spouse said ‘what does my vow mean now?’

And left with a richer, perhaps wiser man

I heard that God lived in the forest

And I built a fence around it

Every day, I chopped down as many trees as I could

One day the forest was gone

And I felt very alone

The Word 'Love'

Antiphon:  Break my chains and free my heart

We have only one word for love,

And I think that we need more.

We say we ‘love’ coffee, and we say we ‘love’ donuts;

And we ‘love’ chocolate and we ‘love’ caramel;

We ‘love’ ice cream and custard.

We ‘love’ going for walks;

And we ‘love’ going out;

And we ‘love’ wearing nice things.

We ‘love’ cars, and we ‘love’ houses;

We ‘love’ movies, and we ‘love’ art;

We ‘love’ books, and we ‘love’ sunsets;

But these are not the same Love;

As what one feels for a spouse or a friend;

Or a brother, or a sister;

Or a child, or a stranger.

These are not relational loves.

And they don’t deserve the same word.

If I had my way, they would be cast off;

Left to find another word;

A word appropriate to the world of things that don’t feel;

Things that don’t answer back;

Things that don’t know love;

Things that cannot feel hurt.

Love is too strong for them;

They cannot know it;

And it is not about them.

I Believe

Antiphon:   Love rejoices in the truth

I believe in God the Creator,
Who gives us breath and life,
Maker of all that is.

I believe in Jesus the Christ;
Wholly God and Wholly Man,
Who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,
And was born to a maid named Mary,

Who was tormented by Pontius Pilate,
Was crucified, died, and was entombed.
Who ministered to the dead,
And whom the gates of hell and death cannot restrain.

Three days after his death, he arose,
And ascended into heaven,
He sits on the right hand of God the Creator.
He shall come again to judge the living and the dead.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,
The Church, the Body of Christ,
The communion of saints,
The forgiveness of sins,
The resurrection of the body,
And the life everlasting.

Something to look at when times are hard;

In Life’s Cycle, Lessons

Meditation:  Provision for charity

God brings forth his bounty

Fruit hangs on the vines

In preparation for winter

For much colder times

Go, pick and eat

Harvest and store

It’s a blessing from God

When the earth brings forth more

In kitchens and pantries

Ferment and preserve

In store-rooms and barns

God’s bounty conserve

In life’s cycle, lessons;

Plant, harvest, store

Setting aside in the light;

So when the dark comes, there’s more