God, Our Companion On the Journey

A gift to me, I have tried to adapt this into my prayer life, some days more successfully than others. It's a wonderful text that calls one into prayer, guiding and affirming.

Today as he left for work, Ron, for the first time, voiced his concerns about his workplace. A BIG meeting is scheduled for day after tomorrow and he is anxious. Let it be known that The Kellers have been tested and survived. Certainly not as painfully as some, but tested none-the-less. God has ALWAYS provided us with the grace and courage to succeed in answering his call. Though anxious, we have every reason to be sure that whatever the outcome we will be provided for. In our life together there has never been a time when he has not guided us along the next step of our journey.

And so it was, when I opened my prayers this morning with this source, that I was led to Tobit 13: 1B-8. I just want to share with you the verses that comforted me.

If you turn to him with all your
heart and with all your soul,
to do what is true before him
then he will turn to you
and will no longer hide his
face from you.
So now see what he has done
for you;
acknowledge him at the top
of your voice.
Bless the Lord of righteousness
and exalt the King of the ages.

Tobit 13: 6

I take comfort in these words. For:

O God, you search me and you
know me. all my thoughts lie
open to your gaze. When I walk or
lie down you are before me ever
the maker and keeper of my days.

Bernadettte Farrell
Text based on Psalm 139

Comforted by this I go out today, knowing that, indeed, he cares about us and we can rely on his justice and mercy. Wishing all a joy filled day!

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!

The Quiet Man Film Locations, Cong, Mayo. Ireland

Tis the season...Yes, it is. Today in preparation for the Academy Awards TCM is showing The Quiet Man. Long has this movie been a favorite of mine. So visit with me the site of it's filming. Please enjoy!

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!
And will no doubt be watching it
on the feast of Feast of St. Patrick. It's a tradition...

Beauty and the Beast

I usually don't have the date on my photos...I really think it makes managing them very difficult. Sometimes the date causes an editing nightmare and many times the best part of the picture is under the date. We activated the "date" on the camera to take pictures of meteorites Ron was going to be showing at the Tucson Rock and Mineral Show. So it is with mixed feelings that these pictures are so embellished. The date is there for histories sake but detracts at the same time.


The storm was strange because it started with freezing rain, followed by only about 2 inches of snow. The kicker was the return of freezing rain that covered the top of the snow with about half an inch of ice. That's when everything literally collapsed.

Trees and branches snapped. Power lines down.

Yet the sun made an effort to shine through all this white and ice.

Even in all its destruction the ice was a beautiful as finest crystal.

And then there was the glow of the magnificent kerosene heater that would heat my water for tea. In all this we were without electricity from our provider for 5 days. Had Ron and Roy not been courageous enough to travel to Terre Haute in this to get the generator we might have had a quite different "adventure." We were fortunate. And we are grateful to God that there were no deaths here as a result of the storm.

I would ask you to pray for the people of Western Kentucky as even now there is an entire county without power. They have to replace 125 poles that were snapped before electricity can be restored.

Wishing you all a grand weekend. As COLD and miserable as it was last weekend here, today the temperatures are supposed to be in the 50's. We''ll be cleaning up here.

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!
I hear birds chirping outside my window!

Bad Haiku Friday

"When you're at a loss,
Don't know where you are going.
Give me a call"...God

It's funny how things come together. He gives you the words and then sends you to the instruction. And so He did this day. I was just going to post this and that would be that. Then I picked up Archabbot Lambert Reilly's book Latin Sayings For Spiritual Growth.

Here is where I was led:

Pedibus compensunda est memoria
("A forgetful head makes a weary pair of heels")
Traditional
~~~

The cook who has her ingredients ready before she turns on the stove has a much easier time of it than the one who must bustle about the kitchen, opening boxes, measuring, chopping; and cleaning all at once. The teacher who doesn't plan spends more time on discipline than instruction. The shopper who heads to the mall without a list on the day before Christmas is bound to lose his holiday spirit by dusk.

We can waset a lot of time vainly spinning our wheels, not only in the practicalities of life but to our spiritual lives as well.

We think that because we are unique and our sense of God is so personal and lies so deep within, that we are completely on our own when it comes to prayer. We flounder and wander, thinking that no one else can help, that no one else can understand our particular challenges.

It's just not so. Not one of us is the first person alive to seek intimacy with God. Millions have gone before us, and innumerable others have written about their journeys. Fellow friends of the Lord in our own parishes and homes surround us. Their stories, their experiences with prayer, can be of great value to us. In forgetting the gifts our fellow Christians have to offer, we make our solitary journeys all the more weary.

Archabbot Lambert Reilly, O.S. B.
St. Meinrad Archabby
St . Meinrad, IN

~~~

And so, my companions-on-the-journey I offer this as reflection today. I, too, will contemplate these words. My thought, as I read this, was "How gracious God is to lead me to the gentle lesson of the Archabbot and how wonderful it is to be reminded that I am not alone on this journey and that you all have a great deal to teach me. What a comfort that is and it makes me less "weary."

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!

Prayer for Strength

One of the books I use most for reflection is A Catholic Woman's Book of Days by Amy Welborn. Finding that her husband, Michael Dubriel, had died unexpectedly has left me saddened as it has many. So I went to her reflection for today. This I offer as a testament to her wisdom and courage.

Even though you intended to do harm to me
God intended it for good, in order to preserve
a numerous people, as he is doing today.

Genesis 50:20
**+**

This ends the story of Joseph, who was sold into slavery by his brothers. The harm they intended him was turned by God into a great good as the people of both Egypt and Israel were rescued from famine by Joseph's gifts.

God's ways among us are mysterious, but one thing we do know is that turning misfortune or weakness into good is just what he does. I've seen it countless times in my own life, and there are probably just as many times i haven't because I wasn't looking.

***

Loving God, today I'll pay attention to what you
have to show me about the painful parts of my life.

As she has offered me hope through her words, I offer my prayers to her and her children. If you wish you may offer your condolences at Fr. Z's Blog.

~~~^j^~~~

Thanks be to God!