Monday evening I walked to my church. And spurred on by a friend, who thought it wasn't a "great" story to say the least; and a friend, who had never heard it... I let loose into story telling mode. It is my best mode by far and I laughed out loud as we explored scripture.
Before I had walked to the church, I pulled a bright orange/yellow piece of paper out of my Bible to mark a page. After the laughter, I slowed down and with some pausing read...
Dear Jesus, help us to spread your fragrance everywhere we go.
Flood our souls with your spirit and life.
Penetrate and possess our whole being so utterly that our lives may only be a radiance of yours.
Shine through us, and be so in us, that every soul we come
in contact with may feel your presence in our soul.
Let them look up and see no longer us but only Jesus!
Stay with us, and then we shall begin to shine as you shine;
so to shine as to be a light to others; the light O Jesus,
will be all from you, none of it will be ours;
it will be you, shining on others through us.
Let us thus praise you in the way you love best by
shining on those around us.
Let us preach you without preaching, not by words
but by our example, by the catching force, the
sympathetic influence of what we do.
The evident fullness of the love our hearts bear to you.
Amen
That is what was hiding in my Bible, a prayer by Cardinal John Henry Newman, which is read daily by Mother Theresa's Missionary of Charity. This prayer resonates with my belief in God. I want to shine. I have read it every day this week.
Two hours later, I sat to Examen my day and I wrote "Where are your righteous deeds?" into my journal. I decided then that I would focus on teaching science and gardening and let my job be what it is and what it will hopefully be. Basically to live with uncertainty. I decided that I would bake bread with my students the next day as they came back and heard the news. And I would sell none of it. It would all flow into my students, well, I did eat my share.
Then after examining my day, I picked up "Inviting God In" by Joyce Rupp, and the random meditation included a quote from the above prayer.
Then I went to Flickr and found someone had commented on a photo which I had posted six months ago. I looked at the title, and I had no memory as to why I called it SHINE... then I read the comments below, and I saw a Flickr friend had given name to it. I hope to one day shine like this:
peace
...
Prayers for your future, and that you can keep doing what you love.
ReplyDelete"Shine" is what you do, Wayne; and, yet, for me it is but the reflection of Christ within you. I lived, basically the last ten years of my employment with the railroad with no certainty of what the future might holod. Transfer and a requirement to move away from my kids and grandkids? Loss of my pension? Rumors flew and almost every week things changed, people left, our work force was cut from about 500 in the beginning to no more than 27, a mere 11 in my department which had been "split" into a separate entity wherein we weren't even made aware of such reality until two years into the event! They owed me $1200 backpay in a contract settlement and then simply told me I no longer worked for them and the debt was null and void. God, however, kept me on the job, bringing in a paycheck, able to remain here in this area, and eventually able to retire at the age of 60 with no loss in pension. What ever the future holds, my friend, I can tell you that God is in it and will be there for you....
ReplyDeleteKievas--- thanks... I am hopeful
ReplyDeleteJim--- I was once told my job would last for 6 months only to be told a month later I had worked my last day. I am hopeful but lack certainty. but yes, God will travel the journey with me.
Great story as for me. It would be great to read something more concerning that theme. Thank you for sharing that material.
ReplyDeleteJoan Stepsen
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