It is the Lord

     “There is not a moment in which God does not present Himself under the cover of some pain to be endured, of some consolation to be enjoyed, or of some duty to be performed. All that takes place within us, around us, or through us, contains and conceals His divine action. It is really and truly there present, but invisibly present, that we are always surprised and do not recognize His operation until it has ceased. If we could lift the veil, and if we were attentive and watchful God would continually reveal Himself to us, and we should see His divine action in everything that happened to us, and rejoice in it. At each successive occurrence, we should exclaim: ‘It is the Lord,’ and we should accept every fresh circumstance as a gift from God. We should look upon creatures as feeble tools in the hands of an able workman, and should discover easily that nothing was wanting to us, and that the constant providence of God disposed Him to bestow upon us every moment whatever we        required.”                                                                                                                                                                        
                                                                                                Jean-Pierre de Caussade

     Recognizing God and His actions, always present in our lives, is very difficult for us. We expect or imagine just how He will show His face and often miss Him, because He comes in ways much different than we desired.

     Our plans, ideas and expectations of life, are etched so deeply in stone by our own hand, that when something appears other than we planned, we fail to see God’s hand in it.

Both Hands on the Wheel

     “Prayer is not a ‘spare wheel’ that you pull out when in trouble, but it is your ‘steering wheel’ that directs your path throughout life.”             
                                                                               Author Unknown

     Think about it. Who would plan a trip, get into the car, discover the steering wheel is missing and try to make the trip anyway? None of us would want to drive our cars without a steering wheel, since we would be unable to navigate to our desired destination. So why, when prayer is the steering wheel that directs our path throughout life, do we try to navigate without it, or think we don’t need it at all?

Stop! Read! Listen!

     “Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.”     
                                                                                        Hebrews 4:12

     God never ceases to amaze me, at the ways in which His Word in Holy Scripture, touches my heart, mind and life.

     As I journeyed through Advent, the richness of the liturgical readings was chock full of treasures, overwhelming me at times, with the generosity of our God!

Running With Complete Trust

     “Our present life is given only to gain the eternal one and if we don’t think about it, we build our affections on what belongs to this world, where our life is transitory. When we have to leave it we are afraid and become agitated. Believe me, to live happily in this pilgrimage, we have to aim at the hope of arriving at our Homeland, where we will stay eternally. Meanwhile we have to believe firmly that God calls us to Himself and follows us along the path towards Him. He will never permit anything to happen to us that is not for our greater good. He knows who we are and He will hold out his paternal hand to us during difficulties, so that nothing prevents us from running to Him swiftly. But to enjoy this grace we must have complete trust in Him.”                                                St. Padre Pio


     Keeping our eyes on our eternal destiny seems to be the theme that God is holding before us these days. We must look into our hearts to become aware of our attachments, so we can let go of them, and gently place them in the hands of our “Papa.” There He will take care of them for us. It is a difficult thing for us to do; because we are often tempted to possess who and what we love.

It's about my journey with Them

       I have journeyed for a little more than six decades with the Blessed Three, and although I know I am now living in the "autumn" of my life, I still feel a youthfulness within my being. I believe it is Their Life within me bursting forth, bringing about a freshness and newness that otherwise would be absent. They have found a home within my heart, and I humbly cherish Their Presence.

     My journey has a destination, and that destination is, hopefully, heaven. This has been an awareness that I've had all of my life, though at times, my decisions did not reflect that fact. But my God is a patient and loving God, and like a GPS, has redirected me when I have wandered off course.