Excerpt - Graced Time- profound questions-The women at the well

Excerpt

Graced Time

Suggested Questions

1. Have you ever had what you thought was a "chance encounter" that turned out to be a grace-filled event?

2. What things isolate you from the world around you?

3. What perpetuates isolation?

4. What can you do to break that perpetuity?

5. Do you perpetuate bias toward other persons or groups of people?

6. Do you have layers of barriers that make it difficult for God to reach you in a profound way?

7. Can you identify with the woman's isolation?

Women at the well-the samaritan women

Time erased

By life-giving water,

Offered by a man who had no bucket,

Who knew me not, yet knew me well.

My past washed clean

In the spring that I became —

Flowing, flowing through me,

God's instrument.

Never again shall I thirst.

Judy Ritter

WOMAN AT THE WELL

WOMAN AT THE WELL

A SAMARITAN WOMAN.-Poetry of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Poetry of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Christus: A Mystery

VI

JACOB'S WELL

A SAMARITAN WOMAN.
The sun is hot; and the dry east-wind blowing
Fills all the air with dust. The birds are silent;
Even the little fieldfares in the corn
No longer twitter; only the grasshoppers
Sing their incessant song of sun and summer.
I wonder who those strangers were I met
Going into the city? Galileans
They seemed to me in speaking, when they asked
The short way to the market-place. Perhaps
They are fishermen from the lake; or travellers,
Looking to find the inn. And here is some one
Sitting beside the well; another stranger;
A Galilean also by his looks.
What can so many Jews be doing here
Together in Samaria? Are they going
Up to Jerusalem to the Passover?
Our Passover is better here at Sychem,
For here is Ebal; here is Gerizim,
The mountain where our father Abraham
Went up to offer Isaac; here the tomb
Of Joseph,--for they brought his bones Egypt
And buried them in this land, and it is holy.

CHRISTUS.
Give me to drink.

SAMARITAN WOMAN.
How can it be that thou,
Being a Jew, askest to drink of me
Which am a woman of Samaria?
You Jews despise us; have no dealings with us;
Make us a byword; call us in derision
The silly folk of Sychar. Sir, how is it
Thou askest drink of me?

CHRISTUS.
If thou hadst known
The gift of God, and who it is that sayeth
Give me to drink, thou wouldst have asked of Him;
He would have given thee the living water.

SAMARITAN WOMAN.
Sir, thou hast naught to draw with, and the well
Is deep ! Whence hast thou living water?
Say, art thou greater than our father Jacob,
Which gave this well to us, and drank thereof
Himself, and all his children and his cattle?

CHRISTUS.
Ah, whosoever drinketh of this water
Shall thirst again; but whosoever drinketh
The water I shall give him shall not thirst
Forevermore, for it shall be within him
A well of living water, springing up
Into life everlasting.

SAMARITAN WOMAN.
Every day
I must go to and fro, in heat and cold,
And I am weary. Give me of this water,
That I may thirst not, nor come here to draw.

CHRISTUS.
Go call thy husband, woman, and come hither.

SAMARITAN WOMAN.
I have no husband, Sir.

CHRISTUS.
Thou hast well said
I have no husband. Thou hast had five husbands;
And he whom now thou hast is not thy husband.

SAMARITAN WOMAN.
Surely thou art a Prophet, for thou readest
The hidden things of life! Our fathers worshipped
Upon this mountain Gerizim; and ye say
The only place in which men ought to worship
Is at Jerusalem.

CHRISTUS.
Believe me, woman,
The hour is coming, when ye neither shall
Upon this mount, nor at Jerusalem,
Worship the Father; for the hour is coming,
And is now come, when the true worshippers
Shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth!
The Father seeketh such to worship Him.
God is a spirit; and they that worship Him
Must worship Him in spirit and in truth.

SAMARITAN WOMAN.
Master, I know that the Messiah cometh,
Which is called Christ; and he will tell us all things.

CHRISTUS.
I that speak unto thee am He!

THE DISCIPLES, returning.
Behold,
The Master sitting by the well, and talking
With a Samaritan woman! With a woman
Of Sychar, the silly people, always boasting
Of their Mount Ebal, and Mount Gerizim,
Their Everlasting Mountain, which they think
Higher and holier than our Mount Moriah!
Why, once upon the Feast of the New Moon,
When our great Sanhedrim of Jerusalem
Had all its watch-fires kindled on the hills
To warn the distant villages, these people
Lighted up others to mislead the Jews,
And make a mockery of their festival!
See, she has left the Master; and is running
Back to the city!

SAMARITAN WOMAN.
Oh, come see a man
Who hath told me all things that I ever did!
Say, is not this the Christ?

THE DISCIPLES.
Lo, Master, here
Is food, that we have brought thee from the city.
We pray thee eat it.

CHRISTUS.
I have food to eat
Ye know not of.

THE DISCIPLES, to each other.
Hath any man been here,
And brought Him aught to eat, while we were gone?

CHRISTUS.
The food I speak of is to do the will
Of Him that sent me, and to finish his work.
Do ye not say, Lo! there are yet four months
And cometh, harvest? I say unto you,
Lift up your eyes, and look upon the fields,
For they are white already unto harvest!

Una Fiesta de Venganza

Una Fiesta de Venganza (Marcos 6:21-29)

Durante la fiesta de cumpleaños de Herodes, nos encontramos que este le ofreció a la hija de Herodias hasta la mitad de su reino. Ella, instruida por su madre pidió en un plato la cabeza del profeta. Debido a los visitantes, y atado bajo el juramento se vio obligado a acceder a la petición que por mucho tiempo este trato de evitar que ocurriera. Por consecuencia, Herodias a través de su hija, logro llevar acabo su plan de venganza en contra del precursor de Cristo.

William Makepeace Thackeray quote

‘Tis not the dying for a faith that’s so hard, Master Harry – every man of every nation has done that – ’tis the living up to it that is difficult.
-William Makepeace Thackeray

Fear,Faith ,Worry..............and Dreams

As your faith is strengthened you will find that there is no longer the need to have a sense of control, that things will flow as they will, and that you will flow with them, to your great delight and benefit.
-As your faith is strengthened you will find that there is no longer the need to have a sense of control, that things will flow as they will, and that you will flow with them, to your great delight and benefit.
-Emmanuel Teney

Every tomorrow has two handles. We can take hold of it with the handle of anxiety or the handle of faith.
-Henry Ward Beecher

To me faith means not worrying.
-John Dewey

Faith isn’t the ability to believe long and far into the misty future. It’s simply taking God at His Word and taking the next step.
- Joni Erickson Tada

Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.
-Martin Luther King, Jr.

You block your dream when you allow your fear to grow bigger than your faith.
-Mary Manin Morrissey

Let this cup pass from me

Lord Jesus, it is not Your will that Your people should suffer. And yet, I remember so well how You took on suffering for us all. Keep me now from losing hope as I face once again my infirmity. I feel the pain and ask of God, "Let this cup pass from me."

As I kneel with You in the garden, may I welcome another day with a prayer that echoes yours: "Not my wil but Thine be done." Let me never forget how to laugh, for laughter is Your gift to me to undo depression and heal the hurt of a sickness I cannot control. Then I will gladly walk Your way, to join in Your sacrifice of love, and I will not dwell upon the pain that leads my thoughts away from You.

Take me into Your gentle embrace, for I know that whatever this day brings, You have paved my way with Your tears and redeemed me with Your victory. Amen.

Prayer for Health, Wisdom, and a Sense of Humor

Prayer for Health, Wisdom, and a Sense of Humor

O Lord, give me a good digestion as well as something to digest. Give me health of body as well as the sense to keep it healthy. Give me a holy soul, O Lord, which keeps its eyes on beauty and purity, so that it will not be afraid on seeing sin. Give me a soul that knows nothing of boredom, groans, and sighs. Never let me be overly concerned for this inconstant thing that I call me. Lord, give me a sense of humor, so that I may take some happiness from this life, and share it with others. Amen.

A new lease of life

A new lease of life,
is what i long for some days.
On other days this same life,
seems exciting enough.
Some days are too tough to handle
some days have no time for reflection
someday s i have no tome to gaze at stars or
the rustling leaves and the chirping bird.
Some days , its all sweat and rush,
no time sit and talk
you wake up and find too little time,
for task a head and it bangs heavily on you,
Somedays its more of body ache ,
and somedays its no work at all.

But all days i would like ,
the climate to be cooler,
in mypart of country.
To have less noise and pollution,
To be greatful to the Lord for His grace.

i do not comprehend HIM

awesome are His ways
far from my minds realms,
i do not comprehend HIM
but want Him to comprehend me
which He surely does,
but iam not satisfied
He knows my bones and marrows
and every thought,
before it is brought out,
there is nothing in me,
that He cannot know,
for He is my maker'
and the maker knows
my makings more than me,
yet iam unsatisfied
and i say to Him,
still you have not known me,
for my rebellious heart knows'
His ways are not my ways.

y gracia sobre gracia."

"Pues de su plenitud todos hemos recibido, y gracia sobre gracia."

Juan 1:16 (LBLA)

To Do List From God

To Do List From God

I ran my life in search of worldly things;
My time and will were firmly in control.
I thought I had no need for what God brings;
I gave no heed to murmurs from my soul.

"You're planning, doing all the time," it said,
"But something else is missing deep inside.
Your mind is whirling, but your heart is dead,
So turn to God and let go of your pride."

I did, and God said, "Here's My plan for you:
Give your life to to Me, and just let go.
Have faith and pray, and read the Bible through,
And you'll have blessings more than you can know."

So simple, yet it brings me perfect peace,
Living life for God the way I should.
Direction, purpose, fullness and release-
Life with God is very, very good.

By Joanna Fuchs
Wonderful Mother's day
http://www.squidoo.com/Mothers-Day-Christian-Poems

Hagar and Ishamael

Hagar, cast out now of her home
all alone, in the desert,
with a baby clinging by her side,
she cried and cried,
to the one above,
why was i chosen by the mistress,
why did i ever taunt her barrenness
was not she the one, who chose from many,
to be that special bearer of the masters child
but lo, now iam all by myself ,
even the master , not sees my plight
but with a pot of water ,sent me outright.
Why did my son have to die
for what is not his fault
for though not born of Sarah,
he is surely Abrahams firstborn.
Will the Lord from heaven send me some help
let me go at distance ,for i cannot see my sons death.
Oh , my creator , who cares for the contrite,
surely send me some help,
and help me and my dying son.

By self

William Makepeace Thackeray's poem: "Ah, Bleak And Barren Was The Moor."

Ah! bleak and barren was the moor,
Ah! loud and piercing was the storm,
The cottage roof was shelter'd sure,
The cottage hearth was bright and warm--
An orphan-boy the lattice pass'd,
And, as he mark'd its cheerful glow,
Felt doubly keen the midnight blast,
And doubly cold the fallen snow.

They marked him as he onward press'd,
With fainting heart and weary limb;
Kind voices bade him turn and rest,
And gentle faces welcomed him.
The dawn is up--the guest is gone,
The cottage hearth is blazing still:
Heaven pity all poor wanderers lone!
Hark to the wind upon the hill!


William Makepeace Thackeray's poem: "Ah, Bleak And Barren Was The Moor."

Doubt Heralding Vision Author: George MacDonald

Doubt Heralding Vision
Author: George MacDonald

An angel saw me sitting by a brook,
Pleased with the silence, and the melodies
Of wind and water which did fall and rise:
He gently stirred his plumes and from them shook
An outworn doubt, which fell on me and took
The shape of darkness, hiding all the skies,
Blinding the sun, but giving to my eyes
An inextinguishable wish to look;
When, lo! thick as the buds of spring there came,
Crowd upon crowd, informing all the sky,
A host of splendours watching silently,
With lustrous eyes that wept as if in blame,
And waving hands that crossed in lines of flame,
And signalled things I hope to hold although I die!

http://www.readbookonline.net/readOnLine/14551/

Blessed Are The Meek, For They Shall Inherit The Earth -By George MacDonald

Blessed Are The Meek, For They Shall Inherit The Earth
Author: George MacDonald

A quiet heart, submissive, meek,
Father do thou bestow;
Which more than granted will not seek
To have, or give, or know.

Each green hill then will hold its gift
Forth to my joying eyes;
The mountains blue will then uplift
My spirit to the skies.

The falling water then will sound
As if for me alone;
Nay, will not blessing more abound
That many hear its tone?

The trees their murmuring forth will send,
The birds send forth their song;
The waving grass its tribute lend,
Sweet music to prolong.

The water-lily's shining cup,
The trumpet of the bee,
The thousand odours floating up,
The many-shaded sea;

The rising sun's imprinted tread
Upon the eastward waves;
The gold and blue clouds over head;
The weed from far sea-caves;

All lovely things from south to north,
All harmonies that be,
Each will its soul of joy send forth
To enter into me.

And thus the wide earth I shall hold,
A perfect gift of thine;
Richer by these, a thousandfold,
Than if broad lands were mine.

The Aurora Borealis- By George MacDonald

The Aurora Borealis
George MacDonald

Now have I grown a sharpness and an edge
Unto my future nights, and I will cut
Sheer through the ebon gates that yet will shut
On every set of day; or as a sledge
Drawn over snowy plains; where not a hedge
Breaks this Aurora's dancing, nothing but
The one cold Esquimaux' unlikely hut
That swims in the broad moonlight! Lo, a wedge
Of the clean meteor hath been brightly driven
Right home into the fastness of the north!
Anon it quickeneth up into the heaven!
And I with it have clomb and spreaded forth
Upon the crisp and cooling atmosphere!
My soul is all abroad: I cannot find it here!

The Inuits and their homeland

The Inuit live in such uninhabitable conditions ,and yet live such peaceful lives .They are mainly found in the coastal regions , nearer to the north pole, the arctic, in regions spanning canada, Alaska, Siberia, Greenland etc.They are hunters who hunt whales, seals, caribou etc.They use Dog sleds for travelling.
Amazing to see their lives.

How our Lord sustains us in different climates and meets our needs.

Jorge Luis Borges- A famous Argentinian Writer

Limits by Jorge Luis Borges

Of all the streets that blur in to the sunset,
There must be one (which, I am not sure)
That I by now have walked for the last time
Without guessing it, the pawn of that Someone

Who fixes in advance omnipotent laws,
Sets up a secret and unwavering scale
for all the shadows, dreams, and forms
Woven into the texture of this life.

If there is a limit to all things and a measure
And a last time and nothing more and forgetfulness,
Who will tell us to whom in this house
We without knowing it have said farewell?

Through the dawning window night withdraws
And among the stacked books which throw
Irregular shadows on the dim table,
There must be one which I will never read.

There is in the South more than one worn gate,
With its cement urns and planted cactus,
Which is already forbidden to my entry,
Inaccessible, as in a lithograph.

There is a door you have closed forever
And some mirror is expecting you in vain;
To you the crossroads seem wide open,
Yet watching you, four-faced, is a Janus.

There is among all your memories one
Which has now been lost beyond recall.
You will not be seen going down to that fountain
Neither by white sun nor by yellow moon.

You will never recapture what the Persian
Said in his language woven with birds and roses,
When, in the sunset, before the light disperses,
You wish to give words to unforgettable things.

And the steadily flowing Rhone and the lake,
All that vast yesterday over which today I bend?
They will be as lost as Carthage,
Scourged by the Romans with fire and salt.

At dawn I seem to hear the turbulent
Murmur of crowds milling and fading away;
They are all I have been loved by, forgotten by;
Space, time, and Borges now are leaving me.

Lot's Wife- A Poem by Anna Akhmatova

Lot's Wife by Anna Akhmatova

And the just man trailed God's shining agent,
over a black mountain, in his giant track,
while a restless voice kept harrying his woman:
"It's not too late, you can still look back

at the red towers of your native Sodom,
the square where once you sang, the spinning-shed,
at the empty windows set in the tall house
where sons and daughters blessed your marriage-bed."

A single glance: a sudden dart of pain
stitching her eyes before she made a sound . . .
Her body flaked into transparent salt,
and her swift legs rooted to the ground.

Who will grieve for this woman? Does she not seem
too insignificant for our concern?
Yet in my heart I never will deny her,
who suffered death because she chose to turn.

Anna Akhmatova-I Taught Myself To Live Simply

I Taught Myself To Live Simply by Anna Akhmatova

I taught myself to live simply and wisely,
to look at the sky and pray to God,
and to wander long before evening
to tire my superfluous worries.
When the burdocks rustle in the ravine
and the yellow-red rowanberry cluster droops
I compose happy verses
about life's decay, decay and beauty.
I come back. The fluffy cat
licks my palm, purrs so sweetly
and the fire flares bright
on the saw-mill turret by the lake.
Only the cry of a stork landing on the roof
occasionally breaks the silence.
If you knock on my door
I may not even hear.

Polish Poetry in Siberian Exile

Supplications

From hunger,

From marches,

From rain,

From lice,

From strong wind that slashes your face,

From fire’s warmth-when at night they order you to leave it,

From marshlike taiga that you sink in up to your knees,

From torn-off shoe soles,

From stolen breadbag-Save us, Lord!

From tundra lying on its back facing the sky,

From nightmare of white nights,

From swarms of mosquitoes,

From sudden and unexpected night marches,

From leaden dawns to sooty dusks,

- Holy God!

- Holy Almighty!

Holy and Immortal, save us, oh Lord!

We the sinners,

We the tired,

We the ones given up to vast expanses,

We the ones cast out to be eaten alive by the frozen wastes,

We the ones deprived of humanity and legal rights,

Trampled like grass,

Hounded down and rounded up-

We the louse-infested beggars,

We the ones stupefied by hunger,

We the nameless multitude

Poisoned by wrongdoings,

We the filthy,

We the ragged,

We at times the ludicrous,

We the consoled,

We the sinners,

You Lord God we beg,

The Living and True,

The One and Indivisible,

- Holy God!

- Holy Almighty!

- Holy and Everlasting, have mercy on us!

Through the last,

posthumous

Wound of thy Son

through His Blood and Suffering

Amen - Amen - Amen (1)

From-
Lives Remembered:
Polish Poetry in Siberian Exile
A Survivor's Daughter's Commentary
Halina Ablamowicz
http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~sarmatia/105/251ablam.html#1

The Puppet- A beautiful poem by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Gabriel Garcia Marquez

The Puppet

If for a moment God would forget that I am a rag doll and give me a scrap of life, possibly I would not say everything that I think, but I would definitely think everything that I say.

I would value things not for how much they are worth but rather for what they mean.

I would sleep little, dream more. I know that for each minute that we close our eyes we lose sixty seconds of light.

I would walk when the others loiter; I would awaken when the others sleep.

I would listen when the others speak, and how I would enjoy a good chocolate ice cream.

If God would bestow on me a scrap of life, I would dress simply, I would throw myself flat under the sun, exposing not only my body but also my soul.

My God, if I had a heart, I would write my hatred on ice and wait for the sun to come out. With a dream of Van Gogh I would paint on the stars a poem by Benedetti, and a song by Serrat would be my serenade to the moon.

With my tears I would water the roses, to feel the pain of their thorns and the incarnated kiss of their petals...My God, if I only had a scrap of life...

I wouldn't let a single day go by without saying to people I love, that I love them.

I would convince each woman or man that they are my favourites and I would live in love with love.

I would prove to the men how mistaken they are in thinking that they no longer fall in love when they grow old--not knowing that they grow old when they stop falling in love. To a child I would give wings, but I would let him learn how to fly by himself. To the old I would teach that death comes not with old age but with forgetting. I have learned so much from you men....

I have learned that everybody wants to live at the top of the mountain without realizing that true happiness lies in the way we climb the slope.

I have learned that when a newborn first squeezes his father's finger in his tiny fist, he has caught him forever.

I have learned that a man only has the right to look down on another man when it is to help him to stand up. I have learned so many things from you, but in the end most of it will be no use because when they put me inside that suitcase, unfortunately I will be dying.

translated by Matthew Taylor and Rosa Arelis Taylor

Antonio Goncalves Dias-A Brazilian Writer

The Song Of Exile

My homeland has many palm-trees
and the thrush-song fills its air;
no bird here can sing as well
as the birds sing over there.

We have fields more full of flowers
and a starrier sky above,
we have woods more full of life
and a life more full of love.

Lonely night-time meditations
please me more when I am there;
my homeland has many palm-trees
and the thrush-song fills its air.

Such delights as my land offers
Are not found here nor elsewhere;
lonely night-time meditations
please me more when I am there;
My homeland has many palm-trees
and the thrush-song fills its air.

Don't allow me, God, to die
without getting back to where
I belong, without enjoying
the delights found only there,
without seeing all those palm-trees,
hearing thrush-songs fill the air.

Antonio Goncalves Dias

Octavio Paz The Nobel Prize in Literature 1990

Motion

If you are the amber mare
I am the road of blood
If you are the first snow
I am he who lights the hearth of dawn
If you are the tower of night
I am the spike burning in your mind
If you are the morning tide
I am the first bird's cry
If you are the basket of oranges
I am the knife of the sun
If you are the stone altar
I am the sacrilegious hand
If you are the sleeping land
I am the green cane
If you are the wind's leap
I am the buried fire
If you are the water's mouth
I am the mouth of moss
If you are the forest of the clouds
I am the axe that parts it
If you are the profaned city
I am the rain of consecration
If you are the yellow mountain
I am the red arms of lichen
If you are the rising sun
I am the road of blood

Octavio Paz
The Nobel Prize in Literature 1990

Reluctance - Apoem by Robert Frost

Reluctance

Out through the fields and the woods
And over the walls I have wended;
I have climbed the hills of view
And looked at the world and descended;
I have come by the highway home,
And lo, it is ended.

The leaves are all dead on the ground,
Save those that the oak is keeping
To ravel them one by one
And let them go scraping and creeping
Out over the crusted snow,
When others are sleeping.

And the dead leaves lie huddled and still,
No longer blown hither and thither;
The last lone aster is gone;
The flowers of the witch-hazel wither;
The heart is still aching to seek,
But the feet question 'Whither?'

Ah, when to the heart of man
Was it ever less than a treason
To go with the drift of things,
To yield with a grace to reason,
And bow and accept the end
Of a love or a season?


Robert Frost

Helena Morley of Brazil

Helena Morley kept a diary from the age of twelve.Born to a British father and a Brazilian mother , Helena lived in a diamond mining town in Brazil.
Her diary translated by Elizabeth Bishop gives us a peek into the life of this girl.
Her real name was Alice Dayrell Caldeira Brant (August 28, 1880 – June 20, 1970) .
Read ---The Diary of "Helena Morley"
by Helena Morley

To be happy with a man

“To be happy with a man you must understand him a lot and love him a little. To be happy with a woman you must love her a lot and not try to understand her at all.”

Helen Rowland quotes (English-American writer, 1876-1950)
“The woman who appeals to a man's vanity may stimulate him, the woman who appeals to his heart may attract him, but it is the woman who appeals to his imagination who gets him”

Helen Rowland quotes (English-American writer, 1876-1950)
“Women marry men hoping they will change. Men marry women hoping they will not. So each is inevitably disappointed.”

Albert Einstein quotes

- I'll Get Even -

"'Lord, this is what went wrong...I give it all to You, every detail, every barb, every frustration, the major things and the petty things.

May the pain I am feeling before healing, and not a spring of bitterness. May my hurts be Christ-centered, and for those involved, rather than self-centered and against them.'
Angela Ashwin"
Dorothy Valcàrcel, Author
When A Woman Meets Jesus
Dorothy@Transformationgarden.com

"A New Kind of Army" - Marketplace Meditations 4/25

"A New Kind of Army" - Marketplace Meditations 4/25: "God has called you to transform your view of yourself and your work. He desires to use you and your work life to impact your workplace, city and nation. Are you ready to beat your plowshare into a sword and your pruning hook into a spear?

Contact Os Hillman at www.marketplaceleaders.org."

My froward heart

Quiet, Lord, my froward heart,
Make me teachable and mild,
Upright, simple, free from art,
Make me as a weaned child;
From distrust and envy free,
Pleased with all that pleaseth Thee.
J. NEWTON.

-- Press Releases March 2010 - World Water Day 2010 Highlights Solutions and Calls for Action to Improve Water Quality Worldwide - United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) --

-- Press Releases March 2010 - World Water Day 2010 Highlights Solutions and Calls for Action to Improve Water Quality Worldwide - United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) --: "# Globally, 2 million tons of sewage and industrial and agricultural waste are poured into the world's waters every day;

# At least 1.8 million children under five years-old die every year from water-related diseases, or one every 20 seconds;

# Every day, millions of tons of inadequately treated sewage and industrial agricultural wastes are poured into the world's waters;

# More people die as a result of polluted water than are killed by all forms of violence, including wars;

# Over half of the world's hospital beds are occupied with people suffering from illnesses linked with contaminated water."

ICT and Mobility for Development | II International Meeting on ICT for Development Cooperation

ICT and Mobility for Development | II International Meeting on ICT for Development Cooperation

Unite for Children, Unite against AIDS

Focus areas: 4 P's

Child friendly schools

Child friendly schools

Leave behind your ideals as a legacy

Lord Wavell said: "People like to be remembered, not for the institutions they set up, but by the ideals they leave behind."
What are the ideals that we leave behind for our children, grand children, depends upon how much we followed certain principles and values, how much we maintained our integrity at compromising times, above all what was the personal relationship like with your children and how much time you gave them.

There is a desire in me to strive for excellence , to strive to maintain moral ethical values, to work hard, to stand up and speak up and be in action for the needs around.But above all , my tender children who may notice me say these things are also eager to have personal time with me, to talk , to share, to plan things with me.When i give them that time iam making my best investment.But its always not possible to do so, one has to make a choice ascertaining their best circumstances.

My Daughters Grade card

Today myself and my daughter went to collect her grade card , not the rank card, because the school does not believe in giving ranks but awards grades A, B , C based on on overall assessment.I was pleased with this very system , which made me to enroll her in this school.This method doesnot differentiates students, based on marks but gives a relative measure taking into account various factors.My daughter came out beeming and then went on to collect her new books for next year .
But i was reminded of my nightmares associted with certain subjects and their respective teachers who were the cause of it.Example my fear of Maths teacher which then later developed in me fear of maths though analytically iam quite bright.
How immensely pressurizing was my school system and how scared we students were of marks, tests, assignments everything.If i were to say, though school time is reminiscient of certain wonderful memories yet in terms of the educational load its one of the most horrible times.This i have heard from many many others.
Iam glad my daughter has a choice today to opt out from such perfomance oriented pressurizing systems and is able to go for alternatives which are child friendly,
bringing out the best in them , enhancing their creativity and fostering overall development and not just marks.

Waking up in the middle of the night

For past few days i have been up in the middle of night , quite disturbed , but unable to exactly locate the cause behind it.Iam just, at that moment reminded in a nightmarish way ,about some urgent need.I can sense my heart pound, and my breathing to be faster, i feel like the fleeing off to some safe refuge, but there is at the back of my mind , an urgency to pray about something or someone.I pray, i try to calm down, for it is not a pleasant experience, i remind myself that God is in control and He will not allow me to experience anything , beyond what i can bear.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - A Psalm of Life

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow - A Psalm of Life

WHAT THE HEART OF THE YOUNG MAN SAID TO THE PSALMIST.

Tell me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream!
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.

Life is real! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.

Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.

Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.

In the world's broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle!
Be a hero in the strife!

Trust no Future, howe'er pleasant!
Let the dead Past bury its dead!
Act,--act in the living Present!
Heart within, and God o'erhead!

Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time;--

Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o'er life's solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.

Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.

renewing of your mind

“Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is-his good, pleasing and perfect will.” (Romans 12:2)

How often i allow my mind to be renewed?
Sometimes even His words don't seem to offer the solace and comfort.
But yet I hope on His words, for there is nothing else which seems Stable, original, unique than the words of my heavenly father.
How often would have the psalmist complained, morned, groaned, how often help appeared delayed to him , yet his hope was always on the Lord.
Hold on , my soul, my spirit, onto the unchanging word , the fountain of life , you will find yourself renewed.
Ruth

your paths

Make me to know your ways, O Lord; teach me your paths. Psalm 25:
Let me hear in the morning of your steadfast love, for in you I trust. Make me know the way I should go, for to you I lift up my soul. Psalm 143:8

Iam not sure what to do ?
Iam at an important crossroad in my life, i have weighed long before pros and cons of my decision, above all and the first thing was to ask God to guide me in correct path.Knowing my limitations and my requirements i have thought and thought.Iam still waiting for the guidance.

To A Husband - a poem by Anne Finch

This is to the crown and blessing of my life,
The much loved husband of a happy wife;
To him whose constant passion found the art
To win a stubborn and ungrateful heart,
And to the world by tenderest proof discovers
They err, who say that husbands can't be lovers.
With such return of passion, as is due,
Daphnis I love, Daphinis my thoughts pursue;
Daphnis, my hopes and joys are bounded all in you.
Even I, for Daphnis' and my promise' sake,
What I in woman censure, undertake.
But this from love, not vanity proceeds;
You know who writes, and I who 'tis that reads.
Judge not my passion by my want of skill:
Many love well, though they express it ill;
And I your censure could with pleasure bear,
Would you but soon return, and speak it here.

To A Husband
Anne Finch
http://www.poetry-online.org/finch_to_a_husband.htm

John Wesley "My God - My Choice"

"My God - My Choice"

"Thou hidden love of God, whose height,
Whose depth unfathomed no man knows.
I see from far their beauteous light,
Inly I sigh for they repose;
My heart is pained, nor can it be
At rest, till it finds rest in thee.

The secret voice invites me still,
The sweetness of thy yoke to prove:
And fain I would: but though my will
Seems fixed, yet wide my passions rove;
Yet hindrances strew all the way;
I aim at thee, yet from thee stray.


'Tis mercy all, that thou hast brought
My mind to seek her peace in thee;
Yet while I seek, but find thee not,
No peace my wandering soul shall see;
O when shall all my wanderings end,
And all my steps to thee-ward tend!...

O Love, thy sovereign aid impart,
To save me from low-thoughted care:
Chase this self-will through all my heart.
Through all its latent mazes there:
Make me thy duteous child, that I
Ceaseless may Abba, Father, cry!...


Each moment draw from earth away
My heart that lowly waits thy call:
Speak to my inmost soul, and say,
I am thy love, thy God, thy all!
To feel thy power, to hear thy voice.
To taste thy love, be all my choice."
John Wesley
1703-91

Taken from www.transformationgarden.com

A Prayer for my Daughter a poem by William Butler Yeats

A Prayer for my Daughter
a poem by William Butler Yeats




Once more the storm is howling, and half hid
Under this cradle-hood and coverlid
My child sleeps on.There is no obstacle
But Gregory's wood and one bare hill
Whereby the haystack- and roof-levelling wind.
Bred on the Atlantic, can be stayed;
And for an hour I have walked and prayed
Because of the great gloom that is in my mind.

I have walked and prayed for this young child an hour
And heard the sea-wind scream upon the tower,
And-under the arches of the bridge, and scream
In the elms above the flooded stream;
Imagining in excited reverie
That the future years had come,
Dancing to a frenzied drum,
Out of the murderous innocence of the sea.

May she be granted beauty and yet not
Beauty to make a stranger's eye distraught,
Or hers before a looking-glass, for such,
Being made beautiful overmuch,
Consider beauty a sufficient end,
Lose natural kindness and maybe
The heart-revealing intimacy
That chooses right, and never find a friend.

Helen being chosen found life flat and dull
And later had much trouble from a fool,
While that great Queen, that rose out of the spray,
Being fatherless could have her way
Yet chose a bandy-leggèd smith for man.
It's certain that fine women eat
A crazy salad with their meat
Whereby the Horn of plenty is undone.

In courtesy I'd have her chiefly learned;
Hearts are not had as a gift but hearts are earned
By those that are not entirely beautiful;
Yet many, that have played the fool
For beauty's very self, has charm made wisc.
And many a poor man that has roved,
Loved and thought himself beloved,
From a glad kindness cannot take his eyes.

May she become a flourishing hidden tree
That all her thoughts may like the linnet be,
And have no business but dispensing round
Their magnanimities of sound,
Nor but in merriment begin a chase,
Nor but in merriment a quarrel.
O may she live like some green laurel
Rooted in one dear perpetual place.

My mind, because the minds that I have loved,
The sort of beauty that I have approved,
Prosper but little, has dried up of late,
Yet knows that to be choked with hate
May well be of all evil chances chief.
If there's no hatred in a mind
Assault and battery of the wind
Can never tear the linnet from the leaf.

An intellectual hatred is the worst,
So let her think opinions are accursed.
Have I not seen the loveliest woman born
Out of the mouth of plenty's horn,
Because of her opinionated mind
Barter that horn and every good
By quiet natures understood
For an old bellows full of angry wind?

Considering that, all hatred driven hence,
The soul recovers radical innocence
And learns at last that it is self-delighting,
Self-appeasing, self-affrighting,
And that its own sweet will is Heaven's will;
She can, though every face should scowl
And every windy quarter howl
Or every bellows burst, be happy Still.

And may her bridegroom bring her to a house
Where all's accustomed, ceremonious;
For arrogance and hatred are the wares
Peddled in the thoroughfares.
How but in custom and in ceremony
Are innocence and beauty born?
Ceremony's a name for the rich horn,
And custom for the spreading laurel tree.

Daffodils - a poem by by William Wordsworth

Daffodils - a poem by by William Wordsworth




I wandered lonely as a cloud
That floats on high o'er vales and hills,
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

Continuous as the stars that shine
And twinkle on the milky way,
They stretched in never-ending line
Along the margin of a bay:
Ten thousand saw I at a glance,
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

The waves beside them danced, but they
Out-did the sparkling leaves in glee;
A poet could not be but gay,
In such a jocund company!
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought
What wealth the show to me had brought:

For oft, when on my couch I lie
In vacant or in pensive mood,
They flash upon that inward eye
Which is the bliss of solitude;
And then my heart with pleasure fills,
And dances with the daffodils.
www.poetry-online.org

Ash Wednesday a poem by T S Eliot

Ash Wednesday
T.S. Eliot

Because I do not hope to turn again
Because I do not hope
Because I do not hope to turn
Desiring this man's gift and that man's scope
I no longer strive to strive towards such things
(Why should the agèd eagle stretch its wings?)
Why should I mourn
The vanished power of the usual reign?

Because I do not hope to know
The infirm glory of the positive hour
Because I do not think
Because I know I shall not know
The one veritable transitory power
Because I cannot drink
There, where trees flower, and springs flow, for there is
nothing again

Because I know that time is always time
And place is always and only place
And what is actual is actual only for one time
And only for one place
I rejoice that things are as they are and
I renounce the blessèd face
And renounce the voice
Because I cannot hope to turn again
Consequently I rejoice, having to construct something
Upon which to rejoice

And pray to God to have mercy upon us
And pray that I may forget
These matters that with myself I too much discuss
Too much explain
Because I do not hope to turn again
Let these words answer
For what is done, not to be done again
May the judgement not be too heavy upon us

Because these wings are no longer wings to fly
But merely vans to beat the air
The air which is now thoroughly small and dry
Smaller and dryer than the will
Teach us to care and not to care Teach us to sit still.

Pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death
Pray for us now and at the hour of our death.

John Brown ,Missionary tto Samoa

John Brown, born in Durham, England in 1835 was a missionary to the Islands of Samoa.
He worked there for 14 yrs from 1860-1874, mastering the native language and focusing on education and upliftment.helper.He founded the Piula Theological College .He worked among the Samoans to bring them into ministry, costructing churches, mission complexes etc.He wrote extensively on the Somoan culture.He was a diarist and kept a record of his missionary life therein 1875 he moved to New Britain Islands and had difficult time working among the cannibalistic natives.Later he served as the secretary of missions for the Methodist Church during which time his knowledge about the cultures of Polynesian and Melanesian islands was of immense importance .

.About him,
‘ Brown had lived amongst the islanders since 1860 and was an unrivalled source of stories and information about the people and their culture. He was also a regular correspondent of the Zoological Society of London, and knowledgeable about local flora and fauna.”
“Having decided that I ought to do justice to myself and the Missionary Society by whom I am sent out [I decided] to keep some record of any events which may take place during my stay. I think it best to commence by a short outline of our proceedings since we said farewell to our kind friends in Auckland and started on our journey to this place.”
The journals proceed with a detailed account of life on the Pacific Islands, revealing his interest in landscape, folk tales and local beliefs. He found the people “to be amongst the nicest and most lovable people with whom I have ever lived.”
“[a] splendid [man], with no humbug, plenty of courage, and the love of adventure.”
Robert Louis Stevenson

Your purpose in life is chosen by God.

O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD" (Ps 139:1-4).

Your purpose in life is chosen by God. It is not negotiable. It is like calling water wet-there is no changing that fact, and there's no changing God's purpose for your life. While you may not fulfill the purpose for which you were made, you still have a purpose that God intends for you to fulfill. This is your blueprint from God. In the same way that He had a specific purpose in mind for Jesus when He sent Him to the earth, He has a specific purpose in mind for your life.
Defining your purpose will help you to determine the activities that you should be involved in. Like Jesus, you should not involve yourself in activities that contradict His purpose for your existence. Jesus' purpose was to do the will of the Father and become the salvation for mankind.

protector and omniscient

God was like an eagle hovering over its nest, overshadowing its young, then spreading its wings, lifting them into the air, teaching them to fly. God alone led (her)."
Deuteronomy 32:11
"O LORD, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O LORD" (Ps 139:1-4).

Oppurtunity-Edward Rowland Sill

This I beheld, or dreamed it in a dream:—
There spread a cloud of dust along a plain;
And underneath the cloud, or in it, raged
A furious battle, and men yelled, and swords
Shocked upon swords and shields. A prince's banner
Wavered, then staggered backward, hemmed by foes.
A craven hung along the battle's edge,
And thought, "Had I a sword of keener steel—
That blue blade that the king's son bears,— but this
Blunt thing—!" He snapped and flung it from his hand,
And lowering crept away and left the field.
Then came the king's son, wounded sore bested,
And weaponless, and saw the broken sword
Hilt-buried in the dry and trodden sand,
And ran and snatched it, and with battle-shout
Lifted afresh he hewed his enemy down
And saved a great cause that heroic day.

Edward Rowland Sill

A TIDE of sun and song in beauty broke
Against a bitter heart, where no voice woke
Till thus it spoke:—

What was it, in the old time that I know,
That made the world with inner beauty glow,
Now a vain show?

Still dance the shadows on the grass at play,
Still move the clouds like great, calm thoughts away,
Nor haste, nor stay.

But I have lost that breath within the gale,
That light to which the daylight was a veil,
The star-shine pale.

Still all the summer with its songs is filled,
But that delicious undertone they held—
Why is it stilled?

Then I took heart that I would find again
The voices that had long in silence lain,
Nor live in vain.

I stood at noonday in the hollow wind,
Listened at midnight, straining heart and mind
If I might find!

But all in vain I sought, at eve and morn,
On sunny seas, in dripping woods forlorn,
Till tired and worn,

One day I left my solitary tent
And down into the world's bright garden went,
On labor bent.

The dew stars and the buds about my feet
Began their old bright message to repeat,
In odors sweet;

And as I worked at weed and root in glee,
Now humming and now whistling cheerily,
It came to me,—

The secret of the glory that was fled
Shone like a sweep of sun all overhead,
And something said,—

"The blessing came because it was not sought;
There was no care if thou wert blest or not:
The beauty and the wonder all thy thought,—
Thyself forgot."

The Vantage Point-Robert Frost

The Vantage Point
If tires of trees I seek again mankind,
Well I know where to hie me—in the dawn,
To a slope where the cattle keep the lawn.
There amid loggin juniper reclined,
Myself unseen, I see in white defined
Far off the homes of men, and farther still,
The graves of men on an opposing hill,
Living or dead, whichever are to mind.

And if by noon I have too much of these,
I have but to turn on my arm, and lo,
The sun-burned hillside sets my face aglow,
My breathing shakes the bluet like a breeze,
I smell the earth, I smell the bruisèd plant,
I look into the crater of the ant.

The Road Not Taken -Robert Frost

The Road Not Taken
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;
Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,
And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.
I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Trust in the Lord

Ruth showed herself as worthy to be one of His progenitors as the Virgin Mary was to be His mother. See the notes on Matt. i. 1-16 2.

We should carefully attend to the leadings and to the workings of God's providence; it is our duty and our interest to do both, for the path of duty is ever the way of safety.

Had not Ruth acted thus, how dreary and uncomfortable must her life have been! but she followed God fully, and in a path apparently dangerous, and yet, not only sustained no injury, but succeeded well in all things: from this, as well as from innumerable other circumstances.

Acknowledge him in all thy ways, and he will direct thy steps; and with this we may ever connect, Trust in the Lord with thy whole heart, and lean not to thy own understanding.

Adam Clarke Bible Commentary on Ruth
http://www.godrules.net/library/clarke/clarkerut2.htm

Whosoever follows God in simplicity of heart, will most assuredly be guided into all truth.

ADAM CLARKE

A Methodist Theologian from Britain.1760-1832
Now an infinite happiness cannot be purchased by any price less than that which is infinite in value; and infinity of merit can only result from a nature that is infinitely divine or perfect.

Prayer requires more of the heart than of the tongue. Adam Clarke

Pride works frequently under a dense mask, and will often assume the garb of humility. Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke |

He who prays every day

"He who prays every day, and all the day...may rest assured that the Lord will hear him in the day of his need. If we cried sometimes to man, or other false confidences, we might expect to be referred to them in the hour of our calamity, but if in all former time we have looked to the Lord alone, we may be sure that he will not desert us now."

"When our prayers are lowly by reason of our humility, or feeble by reason of our sickness, or without wing by reason of our despondency, the Lord will bow down to them...."


Charles spurgeon

Meditation

"Meditation is a duty that ought to be attended to by all who wish well to their spiritual interests. It should be deliberate, close, and continuous. The subjects that ought more especially to engage the Christian mind are: the works of creation; the perfections of God; the character, office, and work of Christ; the office and operations of the Holy Spirit; the dispensations of Providence; the precepts and promises of God's words; the value, powers, and immortality of the soul; the depravity of our nature, and the grace of God in our salvation."

New Unger’s Bible Dictionary, electronic version © 1988, Moody Press

comfortless soul

I cry aloud to God, aloud to God, that he may hear me. In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my soul refuses to be comforted.
I think of God, and I moan; I meditate, and my spirit faints. Selah
Thou dost hold my eyelids from closing; I am so troubled that I cannot speak.
I consider the days of old, I remember the years long ago.
I commune with my heart in the night; I meditate and search my spirit.
psalm771-6

Isaac Watt hymn

My God, my everlasting hope,
I live upon thy truth;
Thine hands have held my childhood up,
And strengthened all my youth.
My flesh was fashioned by thy power,
With all these limbs of mine;
And from my mother's painful hour,
I've been entirely thine.
Still has my life new wonders seen
Repeated every year;
Behold, my days that yet remain,
I trust them to thy care.
Cast me not off when strength declines,
When hoary hairs arise;
And round me let thy glory shine,
Whene'er thy servant dies.
Then in the hist'ry of my age,
When men review my days,
They'll read thy love in every page,
In every line thy praise.

Lamentations

Lamentations 2:21-24
21 But here is something else I remember. And it gives me hope.
22 The Lord loves us very much. So we haven't been completely

destroyed. His loving concern never fails.
23 His great love is new every morning. Lord, how faithful you are!
24 I say to myself, "The Lord is everything I will ever need.
So I will put my hope in him."


Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Love Quotes

"There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear ... "

~1 John 4:18

"For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another."

~1 John 3:11~

"Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God and knoweth God ... Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another, God dwelleth in us, and his love is perfected in us."

~1 John 4:7, 11-12~
*

"Keep the joy of loving God in your heart and share this joy with all you meet, especially your family. Be holy--let us pray."

*

"There is no greater sickness in the world today than the lack of love."

*

"We can do no great things; only small things with great love."

"People who love each other fully and truly are the happiest people in the world. They may have little, they may have nothing, but they are happy people. Everything depends on how we love one another."

"Faith in action is love, and love in action is service. By transforming that faith into living acts of love, we put ourselves in contact with God Himself, with Jesus our Lord."
"You who have received so much love, share it with others. Love others the way that God has loved you, with tenderness."

number your days

So teach us to number our days,
That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.
(Psalm 90:12)

Wisdom comes privately from God as a by-product of right decisions, godly reactions, and the application of scriptural principles to daily circumstances. Wisdom comes, for example, not from seeking after a ministry . . . but more from anticipating the fruit of a disciplined life. Not from trying to do great things for God . . . but more from being faithful to the small, obscure tasks few people ever see.

Stop and reflect. Are you just growing old . . . or are you also growing up? As you "number your days" do you count just years—the grinding measurement of minutes—or can you find marks of wisdom . . . character traits that were not there when you were younger?
Lifelines
by Charles R. Swindoll ,www.crosswalk.com

Hopeless and helpless

Oh how God delights in seeing us coming hopeless and helpless to Him. A brother once asked me,

"What is the condition for the working of the Spirit?" To which I replied that . . . the Holy Spirit must first bring us to a place where we can do nothing by ourselves.
The apostle Paul understood that it was not his ability to deliver eloquent sermons that changed people. It was the power of God working through him. If God's power comes through our work, that brings glory to the Father.
From www.marketplaceleaders.org

Will of God

"The life of the believer is a conducted tour, and the skillful Guide was Abraham's guide and ours. He knows the end of the journey which is in view, and He knows the best way to arrive there."
Fred Mitchell
"Nothing lies beyond the power of man (or woman) if it is within the will of God."
James E. Crowther

"To understand the will of God is my problem; to undertake the will of God is my privilege; to undercut the will of God is my peril."
Paul rees
Fro Transformationgarden.com

Bonhoeffer-costly grace

"cheap grace is the preaching of forgiveness without requiring repentance, baptism without church discipline. Communion without confession. Cheap grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ."
costly grace confronts us as a gracious call to follow Jesus, it comes as a word of forgiveness to the broken spirit and the contrite heart. It is costly because it compels a man to submit to the yoke of Christ and follow him; it is grace because Jesus says: "My yoke is easy and my burden is light." "

Bonhoeffer

Jesus chose us

God is the one who calls people into relationship with Himself and to their calling in life. It is for His purposes, not ours. Jesus chose each of his disciples from the workplace instead of the rabbinical schools. They did not choose Jesus, Jesus chose them and it was deemed a great honor in their culture to be chosen by such a rabbi (Jn 15:16).
Taken from marketplace devotions

Adelaide A. Procter

A Woman’s Question




BEFORE I trust my fate to thee,
Or place my hand in thine,
Before I let thy future give
Color and form to mine,
Before I peril all for thee, question thy soul to-night for me.

I break all slighter bonds, nor feel
A shadow of regret:
Is there one link within the Past
That holds thy spirit yet?
Or is thy faith as clear and free as that which I can pledge to thee?

Does there within thy dimmest dreams
A possible future shine,
Wherein thy life could henceforth breathe,
Untouch’d, unshar’d by mine?
If so, at any pain or cost, O, tell me before all is lost.

Look deeper still. If thou canst feel,
Within thy inmost soul,
That thou hast kept a portion back,
While I have stak’d the whole;
Let no false pity spare the blow, but in true mercy tell me so.

Is there within thy heart a need
That mine cannot fulfil?
One chord that any other hand
Could better wake or still?
Speak now—lest at some future day my whole life wither and decay.

Lives there within thy nature hid
The demon-spirit Change,
Shedding a passing glory still
On all things new and strange?
It may not be thy fault alone—but shield my heart against thy own.

Couldst thou withdraw thy hand one day
And answer to my claim,
That Fate, and that to-day’s mistake—
Not thou—had been to blame?
Some soothe their conscience thus; but thou wilt surely warn and save me now.

Nay, answer not,—I dare not hear,
The words would come too late;
Yet I would spare thee all remorse,
So, comfort thee, my fate—
Whatever on my heart may fall—remember, I would risk it all!

Adelaide A. Procter
http://www.poemhunter.com

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening-Robert Frost

Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening

Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.

My little horse must think it queer
To stop without a farmhouse near
Between the woods and frozen lake
The darkest evening of the year.

He gives his harness bells a shake
To ask if there is some mistake.
The only other sound's the sweep
Of easy wind and downy flake.

The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.

consolation

"even though I am a sinner and deserving of death and hell, this shall nonetheless be my consolation and my victory that my Lord Jesus lives and has risen so that He, in the end, might rescue me from sin, death, and hell."—Luther

St Francis and the birds

One day he came to a town called Alviano to preach the word of God. Ascending to w here he could be seen by all, he asked for silence. The people became quiet and waited reverently, but a flock of swallows building nests in that place continued to chatter away, making it impossible for the people to hear. Francis spoke to them, "My sisters the swallows, it's my turn to speak now, because you've already said enough. Listen to the word of God. Stay still and be quiet until it 's over." To the people's amazement, the little birds immediately stopped chattering and did not move until Francis had finished preaching. Those who witnessed this sign were filled with wonder and said, "truly this man is holy and a friend of the Most High." Praising and blessing God, they devoutly hurried at least to touch his clothing. And it is marvelous how those irrational creatures recognized his affection for them and sensed his love.

Saint Therese of Lisieux:

Christmas Eve in 1886 was a major turning point in the life of Therese, often called her "conversion night" at fourteen. Years later she stated that on that night she overcame the pressures she had faced since the death of her mother and said that "God worked a little miracle to make me grow up in an instant" on that night. Years later she said: "On that blessed night...Jesus who saw it fit to make Himself a child out of love for me, saw it fit to have me come forth from the swaddling clothes and imperfections of childhood."[16]

Before she was fourteen, when she started to experience a period of calm, Thérèse started to read The Imitation of Christ. She read the Imitation intently, as if the author traced each sentence for her: "The Kingdom of God is within you... Turn thee with thy whole heart unto the Lord; and forsake this wretched world: and thy soul shall find rest."[21] She kept the book with her constantly and wrote later that this book, and a book of a very different character, lectures by an Abbé Arminjon on The End of This World, and the Mysteries of the World to Come, nourished her during this critical period.[22] Thereafter she began to read other books, mostly on history and science.[23]
Jesus, Your ineffable image is the star which guides my steps. Ah, You know, Your sweet Face is for me Heaven on earth. My love discovers the charms of Your Face adorned with tears. I smile through my own tears when I contemplate Your sorrows"

"Love proves itself by deeds, so how am I to show my love? Great deeds are forbidden me. The only way I can prove my love is by scattering flowers and these flowers are every little sacrifice, every glance and word, and the doing of the least actions for love."
I see that it is enough to recognize one's nothingness and to abandon oneself, like a child, into God's arms. Leaving to great souls, to great minds, the beautiful books I cannot understand, I rejoice to be little because 'only children, and those who are like them, will be admitted to the heavenly banquet'."
"For me, prayer is a movement of the heart; it is a simple glance toward Heaven; it is a cry of gratitude and love in times of trial as well as in times of joy; finally, it is something great, supernatural, which expands my soul and unites me to Jesus. . . . I have not the courage to look through books for beautiful prayers.... I do like a child who does not know how to read; I say very simply to God what I want to say, and He always understands me."

Plato

Plato describes the four cardinal virtues in The Republic to be:[1]

* Wisdom (calculative) - see the whole
* Courage (spirited) - preserve the whole
* Moderation (appetitive) - serve the whole
* Justice (founding/preserving virtue) - "mind your own business" ie "tend to your soul"/"know yourself"

Plato defines how an individual can attain these virtues: Wisdom comes from exercising reason; Courage from exercising emotions or spirit; Moderation (sometimes "temperance") from allowing reason to overrule desires; and from these Justice ensues, a state in which all elements of the mind are in concord with one another.[2]

four cardinal virtues:

four cardinal virtues:

* Prudence - able to judge between actions with regard to appropriate actions at a given time
* Justice - proper moderation between self-interest and the rights and needs of others
* Restraint or Temperance - practicing self-control, abstention, and moderation
* Courage or Fortitude - forbearance, endurance, and ability to confront fear and uncertainty, or intimidation
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardinal_virtues

Dark night of the soul

It should be known, then, that God nurtures and caresses the soul, after it has been resolutely converted to his service, like a loving mother who warms her child with the heat of her bosom, nurses it with good milk and tender food, and carries and caresses it in her arms. But as the child grows older, the mother withholds her caresses and hides her tender love; she rubs bitter aloes on her sweet breast and sets the child down from her arms, letting it walk on its own feet so that it may put aside the habits of childhood and grow accustomed to greater and more important things. The grace of God acts just as a loving mother by re-engendering in the soul new enthusiasm and fervor in the service of God. With no effort on the soul's part, this grace causes it to taste sweet and delectable milk and to experience intense satisfaction in the performance of spiritual exercises, because God is handing the breast of his tender love to the soul, just as if it were a delicate child [1 Pt. 2:2-3].1

3. The soul finds its joy, therefore, in spending lengthy periods at prayer, perhaps even entire nights; its penances are pleasures; its fasts, happiness; and the sacraments and spiritual conversations are its consolations.

Christian Universalism

Christian Universalists often point to the following Biblical teachings as evidence of Universalism:

* Jesus' prophecy that he will "draw all men" to himself (John 12:32)
* Jesus' teaching that God is "Our Father in heaven" (Matthew 6:9)
* Jesus' teaching that all things will be renewed. (Matthew 19:28)
* Jesus' teaching that the unforgiving servant will be turned "over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed." (Matthew 18:34)
* Jesus' statement that human beings are "gods" (John 10:34, quoting Psalm 82:6)
* Paul's teaching that human beings are God's "offspring" (Acts 17:28)
* Paul's teaching that there is "one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all" (Ephesians 4:6)
* Paul's teaching that "from [God] and through him and to him are all things" (Romans 11:36)
* Paul's prophecy that "as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive" (1 Corinthians 15:22)
* Paul's teaching that "just as the result of one trespass [by Adam] was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness [by Christ] was justification that brings life for all men. ... through the obedience of the one man the many will be made righteous" (Romans 5:18-19)
* Paul's teaching that "God was pleased (...)to reconcile to himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through his blood, shed on the cross" (Colossians 1:19-20)
* Paul's statement that God "is the Saviour of all men, specially of them that believe." (1 Timothy 4:10)
* Paul's teaching that "God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them" (2 Corinthians 5:19)
* Paul's prophecy that "every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:10-11)
* Peter's teaching that Jesus "died for sins once for all" and "went and preached to the spirits in prison who disobeyed long ago" (1 Peter 3:18-20), so that they may "live according to God in regard to the spirit" (1 Peter 4:6)
* John's teaching that "[Jesus Christ] is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world" (1 John 2:2)
* Old Testament teaching that men and women are created "in the image of God" (Genesis 1:27)
* Old Testament teaching that "[God's] anger lasts only a moment" (Psalm 30:5)
* Old Testament teaching that "[God] is good; his love endures forever" (Psalm 106:1, 107:1)
* Old Testament teaching that "The LORD is good to all; he has compassion on all he has made. / All you have made will praise you, O LORD" (Psalm 145:9-10)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_universalism

Quakers witness to truth and integrity

Quakers examples to witness to truth and integrity include such practices as:

* making sure that one's words and actions flow from one's beliefs
* speaking the truth, even when it is difficult
* paying people fair wages for their work
* giving one's employer the right amount of labor for one's pay
* saying difficult things with grace and tact
* receiving difficult sayings gracefully
* guarding one's reputation for honesty, fairness, and fidelity
* taking responsibility for one's actions and their results
* fulfilling one's commitments
* taking care of items entrusted to one
* being open to the ideas of others but not being too easily swayed by them
* confronting lapses in integrity in oneself and in others
* giving credit to others for their contributions
* assessing people and situations fairly and accurately
* avoiding spending beyond one's means through the use of credit
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Testimony_of_Integrity

Testimony to integrity and truth

Testimony to integrity and truth, refers to the way many members of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) testify or bear witness to their belief that one should live a life that is true to God, true to oneself, and true to others. To Friends, the concept of integrity includes personal wholeness and consistency as well as honesty and fair dealings. From personal and inward integrity flow the outward signs of integrity, which include honesty and fairness. It is not only about telling the truth - it is applying ultimate truth to each situation.

Proverbs

Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make your paths straight (Prov. 3:5-6)

Hudson Taylor quotes

* All God's giants have been weak men, who did great things for God because they reckoned on His being with them

* A little thing is a little thing, but faithfulness in little things is a great thing.

At home you can never know what it is to be alone – absolutely alone, amidst thousands, as you can in a Chinese city, without one friend, one companion, everyone looking on you with curiosity, with contempt, with suspicion or with dislike. Thus to learn what it is to be despised and rejected of men – of those you wish to benefit, your motives not understood . . . and then to have the love of Jesus applied to your heart by the Holy Spirit . . . this is worth coming for.

Robert Morrison and transformation experience

It was about five years ago [1798] that I was much awakened to a sense of sin … and I was brought to a serious concern about my soul. I felt the dread of eternal condemnation. The fear of death compassed me about and I was led nightly to cry to God that he would pardon my sin, that he would grant me an interest in the Savior, and that he would renew me in the spirit of my mind. Sin became a burden. It was then that I experienced a change of life, and, I trust, a change of heart, too. I broke off from my former careless company, and gave myself to reading, meditation and prayer. It pleased God to reveal his Son in me, and at that time I experienced much of the “kindness of youth and the love of espousals.” And though the first flash of affection wore off, I trust my love to and knowledge of the Savior have increased. ”

Mother Teresa's conversations with Lord Jesus

[Jesus:] Wilt thou refuse to do this for me? ... You have become my Spouse for my love — you have come to India for Me. The thirst you had for souls brought you so far — Are you afraid to take one more step for Your Spouse — for me — for souls? Is your generosity grown cold? Am I a second to you?
[Teresa:] Jesus, my own Jesus — I am only Thine — I am so stupid — I do not know what to say but do with me whatever You wish — as You wish — as long as you wish. [But] why can't I be a perfect Loreto Nun — here — why can't I be like everybody else.
[Jesus:] I want Indian Nuns, Missionaries of Charity, who would be my fire of love amongst the poor, the sick, the dying and the little children ... You are I know the most incapable person — weak and sinful but just because you are that — I want to use You for My glory. Wilt thou refuse?
— in a prayer dialogue recounted to Archbishop Ferdinand Perier, January 1947
Lord, my God, who am I that You should forsake me? The Child of your Love — and now become as the most hated one — the one — You have thrown away as unwanted — unloved. I call, I cling, I want — and there is no One to answer — no One on Whom I can cling — no, No One. — Alone ... Where is my Faith — even deep down right in there is nothing, but emptiness & darkness — My God — how painful is this unknown pain — I have no Faith — I dare not utter the words & thoughts that crowd in my heart — & make me suffer untold agony.

So many unanswered questions live within me afraid to uncover them — because of the blasphemy — If there be God — please forgive me — When I try to raise my thoughts to Heaven — there is such convicting emptiness that those very thoughts return like sharp knives & hurt my very soul. — I am told God loves me — and yet the reality of darkness & coldness & emptiness is so great that nothing touches my soul. Did I make a mistake in surrendering blindly to the Call of the Sacred Heart?
— addressed to Jesus, at the suggestion of a confessor, undated

Mother Teresa's Nobel prize acceptance speech

"It is not enough for us to say, 'I love God, but I do not love my neighbor,'" she said, since in dying on the Cross, God had "[made] himself the hungry one — the naked one — the homeless one." Jesus' hunger, she said, is what "you and I must find" and alleviate "Christ in our hearts, Christ in the poor we meet, Christ in the smile we give and in the smile that we receive."

crying facts

According to a study of over 300 adults, on average, men cry once every month, and women cry at least five times per month,[2] especially before and during the menstrual cycle, when crying can increase up to 5 times the normal rate, often without obvious reasons (such as depression or sadness).
from
wikipedia

John wesley sermon excerpt- working out our salvation

The Prophet Isaiah gives us a general answer, touching the first steps which we are to take: "Cease to do evil; learn to do well." If ever you desire that God should work in you that faith whereof cometh both present and eternal salvation, by the grace already given, fly from all sin as from the face of a serpent; carefully avoid every evil word and work; yea, abstain from all appearance of evil. And "learn to do well:" Be zealous of good works, of works of piety, as well as works of mercy; family prayer, and crying to God in secret. Fast in secret, and "your Father which seeth in secret, he will reward you openly." "Search the Scriptures:" Hear them in public, read them in private, and meditate therein. At every opportunity, be a partaker of the Lord's Supper. "Do this in remembrance of him: and he will meet you at his own table. Let your conversation be with the children of God; and see that it "be in grace, seasoned with salt." As ye have time, do good unto all men; to their souls and to their bodies. And herein "be ye steadfast, unmovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord." It then only remains that ye deny yourselves and take up your cross daily. Deny yourselves every pleasure which does not prepare you for taking pleasure in God, and willingly embrace every means of drawing near to God, though it be a cross, though it be grievous to flesh and blood. Thus when you have redemption in the blood of Christ, you will "go on to perfection;" till "walking in the light as he is in the light," you are enabled to testify, that "he is faithful and just," not only to "forgive" your "sins," but to "cleanse" you from all unrighteousness." [1 John 1:9]
http://new.gbgm-umc.org/umhistory/wesley/sermons/85/

scripture

Ezekiel 34:11, 16 (ESV): "For thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out...I will seek the lost, and I will bring back the strayed, and I will bind up the injured, and I will strengthen the weak..."
Luke 19:10: "For the Son of Man is come to seek and to save that which was lost."

It is the injured , the lost, the weak , the forsaken, who need the Lord most.When all our wills power is gone , when we have lost hope then he comes in to rescue and deliver us, He lifts us up and binds us up and gives us hope.

Robert Frost Poem

A Prayer in Spring
by: Robert Frost (1874-1963)




OH, give us pleasure in the flowers to-day;
And give us not to think so far away
As the uncertain harvest; keep us here
All simply in the springing of the year.
Oh, give us pleasure in the orchard white,
Like nothing else by day, like ghosts by night;
And make us happy in the happy bees,
The swarm dilating round the perfect trees.
And make us happy in the darting bird
That suddenly above the bees is heard,
The meteor that thrusts in with needle bill,
And off a blossom in mid air stands still.
For this is love and nothing else is love,
The which it is reserved for God above
To sanctify to what far ends He will,
But which it only needs that we fulfil.

http://www.blackcatpoems.com/f/a_prayer_in_spring.html

J.I. Packer

“‘Sometimes a soul thinks or hopes that it may through grace be utterly freed from this troublesome inmate. Upon some sweet enjoyment of God, some full supply of grace, some return from wandering, some deep affliction, some thorough humiliation, the soul begins to hope that it shall now be freed from the law of sin. But after a while ... sin acts again, makes good its old station,’ and the fight has to be resumed. No one ‘gets out of Romans 7’ in this world.”J.I. Packer Theologian

“I nowadays think that the way to deal with temptation is at once to say no, and with that to ask the Lord for strength to keep saying no and actually to mortify — that is, do to death, squelch, and enervate — the sinful urge.”

"The unceasing activity of the Creator, whereby in overflowing bounty and goodwill, He upholds His creatures in ordered existence, guides and governs all events, circumstances, and free acts of angels and men, and directs everything to its appointed goal, for His own glory".

Christ -our ultimate model

Certain portions of an article on penn lewis by Richard Fisher was very revealing.Truly bible tells of varied experiences by various people , no two saints in bible share the same experience


The emotional roller coaster of David in the Psalms may at times help us in our struggles but we cannot match David exactly, experience by experience, nor do we have to. No one is exactly like anyone else and that the Bible makes amply clear. Varied accounts of believers’ lives are given to us by God in Scripture to show His diversity with us. The vast variety in life and nature tell us the same thing.
Jesus, in John 21:17-23, rebuked Peter for making these kinds of carnal comparisons and stressed our individuality and individual calling. Though we may learn from others, we are not to be clones (1 Corinthians 12:4-12). Christ is our ultimate model (1 Peter 2:21-25).

Saint Dominic-1170 – August 6, 1221

The founder of the Friars Preachers, popularly called the Dominicans or Order of Preachers (OP).He preached against heresy.Soon his order spread throughout Spain and then to other parts of the World.Throughout his life, Dominic is said to have zealously practiced rigorous self-denial. He abstained from meat and observed stated fasts and periods of silence. He selected the worst accommodations and the meanest clothes, and never allowed himself the luxury of a bed. When traveling, he beguiled the journey with spiritual instruction and prayers. As soon as he passed the limits of towns and villages, he took off his shoes, and, however sharp the stones or thorns, he trudged on his way barefooted. Rain and other discomforts elicited from his lips nothing but praises to God.Death came at the age of fifty-one and found him exhausted with the austerities and labors of his eventful career. Before death he exhorted his followers to have charity, to guard their humility, and to make their treasure out of poverty. He died at noon on 6 August 1221.He was canonized in 1234 and is the patron saint of astronomers.His Feast day is celebrated on Aug. 8.

The Dominicans were founded as part of the mendicant movement: not monks tied to a monastery but called to go out into the world carrying the Gospel while retaining the roots of monastic prayer. In Dominican spirituality, common prayer and apostolic activity are mutually nourishing. Like the apostles who were sent out to preach but were also exhorted by Jesus to pray constantly, our preaching is a prayer, an encounter with God in the people with whom and to whom we preach, and our time spent in silence before God orients us more surely to our apostolic mission.http://curia.op.org/en/

When I survey the wondrous cross

This hymn is written by Isaac Watts considered as father of English Hymnody.
Charles Wesley , a Methodist reformer, loved this hymn the most , more than all the hymns that he had written himself.

When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See from His head, His hands, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down!
Did e’er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

His dying crimson, like a robe,
Spreads o’er His body on the tree;
Then I am dead to all the globe,
And all the globe is dead to me.

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were a present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.

[Added by the compilers of Hymns An­cient and Mo­dern]

To Christ, who won for sinners grace
By bitter grief and anguish sore,
Be praise from all the ransomed race
Forever and forevermore.

Being in control

Worry enters in my mind, and before i realise , it has already begun a whirlwind.Past week had been full of many unexpected events, especially fathers sickness and pain.I found myself dragged to the feet of the Lord, pleading for relief and healing, i found myself praising Him for His many a favours and graces that i took for granted.Now sitting quietly , pondering over many things i realised the whirlwind that was forming.I reminded myself of the Lord being in control and the need for praise that is due to Him.

As the Lord teaches us not to worry about tomorrow in the bible, we need to ask for help to keep this habit in check.Following devotional excerpt by Charles swindoll, was found useful by me.
A healthy, happy life requires being in control of ourselves. To be punctual, we must control the use of our time. To be prepared and ready, we must be in control of our schedule. To be a good listener, our minds and tongue must be controlled. To get a project completed, our tendency to procrastinate must be under the firm control of our determination.

This means, then, that we need to be in firm control of ourselves . . . but not controlling of others. Our example? Christ, of course. He got the job done. Without wasted effort, personal panic, or extreme demands, He accomplished the objective. Right on schedule, He went to that cross. When He sighed, "It is finished," it was. Absolutely and completely.
http://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/Day_by_Day/

Dominique_Lapierre--City of Joy

Human dignity could flourish under what most people would think of as impossible conditions.Dominique_Lapierre

"Nowhere did I understand better what was life, with a big L, than in some of the most rotten places in Calcutta," ''When I arrived in Calcutta in 1981, I had no intention of writing anything,'' Mr. Lapierre said during a recent visit to New York. ''My wife and I adopted a home for 150 children of lepers in northern Calcutta. Mother Teresa took us to one of the slums in a small area that translates as City of Joy. The people live there on less than 10 cents a day. And yet I saw more joy, more compassion, more God-loving than anywhere in my 30 years as a writer. It was an inspiration.''So one day I went to a bookshop and bought 10 notebooks and 12 ball point pens and stayed in Calcutta for two years. I knew I had to tell this epic of hope and love and joy. Half the royalties from 'City of Joy' are going back to Calcutta in the form of mobile medical units and other aid to the gallant people working and living there.''

'The City of Joy'' is about suffering, sorrow, cruelty and deprivation; about practices so hideous as almost to suspend belief, though they are shockingly true. It is about filth, rags, wounds, disease, even leprosy. Repulsive words. Yet even more, the book is about other words that wonderfully leaven the whole: loyalty, kindness, tolerance, generosity, patience, endurance, acceptance, faith, even holiness. And it is about such love that we cannot pass by on the other side. In any case, it is too fascinating to allow us to do that."
Far more important than such quibbles, the book is, in a way, too overwhelming. It tells so much that the mind becomes numbed, as happens in a famine or cyclone - I have known both - when compassion ceases simply because the heart can take no more
http://www.nytimes.com/1985/11/03/books

Evening Prayer and Examination of Conscience.

I read this from the book on devout life by saint Francis de sales and the orderliness and the depth of meaning conveyed in it , made me to pause for few minutes .How many times have i really reflected upon the Lord's providence and protection.

Evening Prayer and Examination of Conscience.

AS I have counseled you before your material dinner to make a spiritual repast in meditation, so before your evening meal you should make at least a devout spiritual collation. Make sure of some brief leisure before suppertime, and then prostrating yourself before God, and recollecting yourself in the Presence of Christ Crucified, setting Him before your mind with a stedfast inward glance, renew the warmth of your morning’s meditation by some hearty 86 aspirations and humble upliftings of your soul to your Blessed Saviour, either repeating those points of your meditation which helped you most, or kindling your heart with anything else you will.

As to the examination of conscience, which we all should make before going to bed, you know the rules:

1. Thank God for having preserved you through the day past.

2. Examine how you have conducted yourself through the day, in order to which recall where and with whom you have been, and what you have done.

3. If you have done anything good, offer thanks to God; if you have done amiss in thought, word, or deed, ask forgiveness of His Divine Majesty, resolving to confess the fault when opportunity offers, and to be diligent in doing better.

4. Then commend your body and soul, the Church, your relations and friends, to God. Ask that the Saints and Angels may keep watch over you, and with God’s Blessing go to the rest He has appointed for you. Neither this practice nor that of the morning should ever be omitted

http://www.ccel.org/ccel/desales/devout_life.iv.xi.html

Underhill, Evelyn (1875-1941)Practical Mysticism

All human personality was thus two-fold: thus capable of correspondence with two orders of existence. The “higher life” was always tending toward union with Reality; towards the gathering of itself up into One. The “lower life,” framed for correspondence with the outward world of multiplicity, was always tending to fall downwards, and fritter the powers of the self among external things. This is but a restatement, in terms of practical existence, of the fact which Recollection brought home to us: that the human self is transitional, neither angel nor animal, capable of living towards either Eternity or Time. But it is one thing to frame beautiful theories on these subjects: another when the unresolved dualism of your own personality (though you may not give it this high-sounding name) becomes the main fact of consciousness, perpetually reasserts itself as a vital problem, and refuses to take academic rank.

This state of things means the acute discomfort which ensues on being pulled two ways at once. The uneasy swaying of attention between two incompatible ideals, the alternating conviction that there is something wrong, perverse, poisonous, about life as you have always lived it, and something hopelessly ethereal about the life which your innermost inhabitant wants to live—these disagreeable sensations grow stronger and stronger. First one and then the other asserts itself. You fluctuate miserably between their attractions and their claims; and will have no peace until these claims have been met, and the apparent opposition between them resolved. You are sure now that there is another, more durable and more “reasonable,” life possible to the human consciousness than that on which it usually spends itself. But it is also clear to you that you must yourself be something more, or other, than you are now, if you are to achieve this life, dwell in it, and breathe its air. You have had in your brief spells of recollection a first quick vision of that plane of being which Augustine called “the land of peace,” the “beauty old and new.” You know for evermore that it exists: that the real thing within yourself belongs to it, might live in it, is being all the time invited and enticed to it. You begin, in fact, to feel and know in every fibre of your being the mystical need of “union with Reality”; and to realise that the natural scene which you have accepted so trustfully cannot provide the correspondences toward which you are stretching out.