Brokenness

"I have pondered over my ways and returned to your will" -Ps. 119

Do you ever feel like you are a failure at being a Christian?  You try to change, commit to change, resolve to change, and run out of ways to make the same promises over and over again.  You are not alone.  Consider these words from the psalmist, who was probably writing from a place of brokenness.  "I can't do this on my own anymore, Lord!"  He cries. "It's up to you, now."  This is not an end, it is a beginning.  Now we are ready to grow in Christ.  As long as we are the ones making the decisions to change in ways that we feel we should (I need to do more of this or I should be doing that...), we are not allowing God to overwhelm and overshadow us with his presence.  But when we are broken, we let go of our illusions of control, and that is when the Holy Spirit truly begins to work in our lives.

Listening for God

"The beauty of listening for God in ordinary daily life is that each day can become a vibrant creation when we trust that God is always present, when we look for God in every aspect of our lives, especially in the commonplace and the ordinary.  We see God as we listen to our life and recognize that each of us is precious to God.  Life itself is a gift and holds endless promise when we open ourselves to living with the Holy One, our Creator.  Only God knows the treasures that are in store for us.  Only God can foresee the grace that we can be for others when our eyes are on God." - Jane Tomain, St. Benedict's Toolbox: The Nuts and Bolts of Everyday Living, p. 11.

"Listen carefully my son (and daughter), to the master's instructions, and attend to them with the ear of your heart."  - from the Rule of St. Benedict, Prologue.