Look More, See Deeper

A life can change in an instant. One moment we are walking on our cosy, familiar ways, where we take everything for granted, the next we find ourselves in a strange and alien realm without even comprehending how we got there. We can never tell where life is going to take us. Our small universe can grow or become even smaller over night and we can get robbed of everything we hold dear.

What can we take with us over the threshold of pain, losses and fear? What can we cling to when the crazy waves tear us away from the comfortable shore and throw us into a world of chaos and distress? Where can we find our refuge when all our fortresses crumble to the ground?

The answer is not as far as we imagine. It is, in fact, very close to us. We live in a big world, in the middle of a huge universe, full of surprises and unexpected turns. Yet this universe has a Master. The one who created it knows every single corner and every single step. He can go as deep or as high as he wishes, he can see beyond time and space, through darkness or opacity. Nothing is hidden from his eyes and nothing will ever be. The huge waves don't make him hide nor the tough winds make him tremble.

The God in whom we trust and to whom we entrust ourselves is always there, eternal and true, unchanging and unaffraid, forever faithful to the ones who reach out to him. God is not bound by anything but by his own word. The same word that once said: "Let it be light." He created rules and boundaries but he also created the magic world "beyond". He created the "law" but he also gave an alternative to it, an alternative called "grace".

To God nothing is impossible. He put the mountains in their place and ordered them to stay still but he also created the faith that can move mountains. He created the cycle of life but he also created the spirit that can defy the shadows of death. He created everything and he re-created himself, the one who had never been created, in each of ourselves. And in everything he created, he put a little of the love that surrounds him, the love that defines him.

So how can we be oppressed by time when times bows down in front of our friend and our father? How can the circumstances of this life knock us down when we walk hand in hand with the one beyond life and circumstances? How can we be scared of death when the one stronger than death promised he'd be with us forever?

It is all a question of perspective. If we see only here and now, we let ourselves be swallowed by here and now. If we set our mind on earthly things, we cling to them and make them our treasure. And 'Where thy heart is, there shall thy treasure be also.'

So look above and seek beyond, and see God in all. Where there is trust, there is no worry. Where there is faith, there is no fear. Where there is love, there is no falling.

Helen Keller Quotes

You might have heard her extraordinary story. The story of an amazing woman who overcame the challenge of being deaf and blind and found the strength within herself to be a guide and an inspiration to many. Here are a few of her reflections.

Helen Keller Quotes - The Quotations Page

Don't save it all for Christmas Day

www.christianphotos.net

There isn't enough love in the world. As Victor Hugo said, we never pray and never love too much. One single smile could make miracles and yet sometimes we grudge even that. Let the lights and the magic of Christmas change your heart this year. Smile more, even to the people you don't know. Bring a smile on sad faces by a kind word. Touch the hand of a lonely man. Pray for those who have no hope. Visit someone who's dying. Give a piece of bread to a hungry person. Make a surprise to a sick child. Give a present to someone who's forgotten. Make a woman feel loved. Make a man feel special. If you do any one of these things, you make the world a better place and you honour Jesus, who's coming into the world once again as a little baby, to live and die for us, to comfort and counsel us, to give us a creed and a meaning, to be our our Lord, our friend and our brother.

YouTube - Celine Dion - Don't save it all for christmas Day

Improving Your Prayer Life

Here you can find a few ideas on improving your prayer life. If you feel that something is not working as it should, 
don't get discouraged and don't give up. 
God can see your struggles and his heart is always with you.
Wherever you go, whatever you do, keep that in mind and
turn to him like you would turn to a friend.

Prayer Central

Prayer For Protection

When I feel lonely in the night, I imagine your arms holding me and your voice giving me comfort. When all my friends abandon me, I can still feel your presence in every whisper of hope, in every breeze of faith that touches my soul. When life seems to make no sense, I can still hear your call, urging me to seek you again in prayer. When my heart seems empty, I can still recall every single miracle you’ve made for me. When I feel down, I still know you can lift me up. And it’s nothing I haven’t expected. All those moments when everything seems like a nightmare are not unpredictable. They can’t cause too much harm, because I am aware they will come sooner or later and I can pray for them in advance. I pray, oh, my dear Lord, for all those moments in the future when I feel lonely in the night, when all my friends abandon me, when life seems to make no sense, when my heart is empty… when I feel down and everything seems like a nightmare. Those are the moments when I need you most, when I most long for your loving presence. Stay with me in those moments. Give me strength and comfort. Hold my hand through the storm, so that my soul can praise you when the rainbow appears on the horizon. Never go away from me when my faith is weak, when my feet are stumbling on the way. Never go away from anyone in their moments of weakness, but turn their weakness into strength and their failure into victory.

AMEN

A verse a day to light your way

“You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. If you make the Most High your dwelling—even the LORD, who is my refuge- then no harm will befall you, no disaster will come near your tent.”

(Psalms 91:5-10)

My Lord, here I am, in front of you again, with all my heart and my soul. Teach me to be honest with myself and with you. Teach me not to hide behind words, behind polished phrases. Here I am, my soul all naked, ready to let you in. I have so many things to repent for. So many things I should have done and I haven’t. So many things I shouldn’t have done and I have. So many dark corners inside my heart where your light hasn’t reached yet. Forgive me for all those things and for many others that can’t be said here and now. You know each and every one of them. Purify my soul of all the rubbish, so that you can turn me into an instrument of your love. Clean all the places that need to be cleaned. Heal all the wounds that need to be healed. Light all the corners that are still in the dark. Hold my hand and guide my steps on the right path. Help me keep the candle burning. Show me the meaning of my life and your will for it. Let me find my strength in you, even when I feel that all in me is weakness and that all around me is crumbling to pieces. Be my comforter and my friend. Listen to my prayers and help me cry when the burden of restrained tears becomes too heavy within me. Cry with me. Let me feel your tears like a rain inside me, setting me free from all the tension, from all the negative energy. Let me feel your love touching my soul like a soft summer breeze, your tender care like a warm coat on a chilly day, your sweet presence like a long-wanted gift on a magic Christmas Eve. Teach me how to live and how to die. How to pray and how to forgive. All the things that could help my faith grow. Teach me all the little things no one has ever taught me. All that my soul longs to know. And don’t leave me. Stay with me forever and ever. Especially in the moments when I’m down and there’s no one else to lift me up. Especially in the moment of my death. Share it with me to make it easier. Make me feel then - like I felt all throughout my life - that everywhere is home, since home is wherever you are and you are everywhere.

AMEN

"The LORD upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food at the proper time. You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. The LORD is righteous in all his ways and loving toward all he has made. The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them."

My Lord, I want to pray for all those who are at the beginning of a new and ambitious project, especially for those who work for your glory, so that your holy name might be praised. You know all and each one of them by name. Protect them and encourage them. Give them strength to go on even when they feel like giving up. Make them come across the right people and opportunities. Give them comfort when they are discouraged, hold their hand when the journey is too exhausting. Teach them that everything happens at the right time for a reason, for their own good and for the good of all those who love your name. Teach them that this is their time and that it is your will that they don't give up.

AMEN

To The One Who Keeps Our Candle Burning

The night is long,
the air is cold,
the lost sheep go astray,
the wind is strong,
the time is old,
and home is far away.

And as we go,
towards that shore
on this cold winter night
the shadows grow
forever more
and darken our sight. 

But far away,
a light is born
to soothe our weary eyes,
and as we stray
we feel the morn
and hope that never dies.

And we may stumble, 
we may bend,  
lost, frozen to the bone
but that bright candle
gives us strength
to make it safely home.

Written by Eliza