Reflections
This page is a "rag-bag" of quotations and "snippets" picked up here and there. Maybe, in time, the page will become more organised and coherent.
I am a Roman Catholic. I regard myself as not being a particularly good one.
Probably I am a hypocrite and a bigot, and likely more, but, in admitting that, maybe not totally so.
I am not particularly religious but, at times of great personal crisis and trauma, I have sought guidance from God. I believe He has answered my prayers, not always in the way I had hoped or expected, but I believe He answered.
For now, this will have to suffice as a small token in "payback".I am 47 years old happily married with two children. I was 12 years old when my father died and my mother died 10 years later.
1999 was a very traumatic year for my family and I. During that year we endured many blows;
I had a bad fall, coming close to death and narrowly missing paralysis from the upper chest down. Thankfully I have made a remarkable recovery. I still have a good deal of pain and can't run as fast anymore, but I can walk!!! You don't appreciate what comes naturally until it's nearly snatched away.
During the year there were many other events, most less traumatic but nonetheless disturbing, but also several severely distressing ones, including death and severe illness.
Prayer and reflection, along with the support of many, many people including friends, acquaintances and even strangers. Many times I was stunned at the source of help and consolation, given spontaneously and unselfishly.
Last Spring, during a particularly difficult time, I attended a memorial service for the daughter of a good neighbour. A young mother, she had died of cancer, in Canada. I attended as a mark of respect both to her and my neighbour, her father.
During the eulogy, the Church of Ireland minister, speaking directly to Sam, spoke of the difficult times to come and said "Remember that Jesus stands beside you."
Those words lifted me instantly!! It is something that most of us forget isn't it?
Here was a Protestant minister reminding me of something I'd forgotten long ago, something that should have been as plain as the nose on my face!!!.
"The Lord moves in mysterious ways"
THOUGHTS
Sow integrity for yourselves, reap a harvest of kindness; break up your fallow ground, it is time to go seeking Yahweh.
Hosea, 10:12
Nelson Mandela's Inaugural Speech
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate;Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. We ask ourselves 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented and fabulous?'
Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. We are born to manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just within some of us: it's in everyone.
Healing
Healing comes when we acknowledge and yet move beyond the hurt. If the first step towards healing is acknowledging that we are in pain, the next step is being prepared to let go of our pain. To be healed we have to want to be healed. To be healed we must move beyond our pain, outside of it, in spite of it. Healing depends on our wanting to be well. We may not forget what we have suffered, but we must choose not to let it control us or imprison us, because we know that there is more to life than that.
Now is the Time Spiritual reflection By Sr. Stanislaus Kennedy
Published by Town House, Dublin ISBN 1-86059-087-X
Take Time
Take time to live -
It is what life is for;
Take time for justice -
It is the begining of peace;
Take time to look afresh -
It will fill you with surprise;
Take time to search -
It is the secret of perpetual youth;
Take time to laugh -
It is music to the soul;
Take time to pray -
It is the greatest power on earth;
Take time for solitude -
It revives the spirit;
Take time with the earth -
It speaks of harmony and balance;
Take time at home -
It renews the heart;
Take time to sow -
It gives perspective on life;
Take time to reap -
It brings gratitude;
Take time to heal -
It is full of hope;
Take time to love -
It is the reason for living;
Take time to die -
It is part of life
- Stanislaus Kennedy
Reflection
Lord, Make me an instrument of your peace,
where there is hatred let me sow peace,
where there is injury let me sow pardon,
where there is doubt let me sow faith,
where there is despair let me give hope,
where there is darkness let me give light,
where there is sadness let me give joy
Friendship
If nobody smiled and nobody cheered
And nobody helped us along;
If each, every minute, looked after himself
And the good things all went to the strong;
If nobody cared just a little for you
And nobody thought about me;
And we stood all alone in the Battle of Life
What a dreary old world it would be;
Life is sweet just because of the friends we have made
And the things in common we share;
We want to live on, not because of ourselves
But because of the people who care;
It's giving and doing for somebody else
On that all life's splendour depends;
And the joy of the world, when it's all added up
Is found in the making of friends
From the Douglas Parish Newsletter "The Fingerpost"
The Jesus Prayer
Jesus Christ,
son of the living God,
have mercy on me,
a sinner