01 January 2011
12 life lessons
From Fr. James Martin at the Huffington Post, who marked his 50th birthday by tweeting these life lessons to his friends:
1. First up: Stop worrying so much! It’s useless. (I.e. Jesus was right.)
2. Being a saint means being yourself. Stop trying to be someone else and just be your best self. Saves you heartache.
3. There’s no right way to pray, any more than there’s a right way to be a friend. What’s “best” is what works best for you.
4. Remember three things and save yourself lots of unneeded heartache: You’re not God. This ain’t heaven. Don’t act like a jerk.
5. Your deepest, most heartfelt desires are God’s desires for you. And vice versa. Listen. And follow them.
6. Within you is the idea of your best self. Act as if you were that person and you will become that person, with God’s grace.
7. Don’t worry too much about the worst that can happen. Even if it happens, God is with you, and you can handle it. Really.
8. You can’t force people to approve of you, agree with you, be impressed with you, love you or even like you. Stop trying.
9. When we compare, we are usually imagining someone else’s life falsely. So our real-life loses out. I.e. Compare and despair.
10. Even when you finally realized the right thing, or the Christian thing, to do, it can still be hard to do. Do it anyway.
11. Seven things to say frequently: I love you. Thank you. Thank you, God. Forgive me. I’m so happy for you! Why not? Yes.
12. Peace and joy come after asking God to free you — from anything that keeps you from being loving and compassionate.
1. First up: Stop worrying so much! It’s useless. (I.e. Jesus was right.)
2. Being a saint means being yourself. Stop trying to be someone else and just be your best self. Saves you heartache.
3. There’s no right way to pray, any more than there’s a right way to be a friend. What’s “best” is what works best for you.
4. Remember three things and save yourself lots of unneeded heartache: You’re not God. This ain’t heaven. Don’t act like a jerk.
5. Your deepest, most heartfelt desires are God’s desires for you. And vice versa. Listen. And follow them.
6. Within you is the idea of your best self. Act as if you were that person and you will become that person, with God’s grace.
7. Don’t worry too much about the worst that can happen. Even if it happens, God is with you, and you can handle it. Really.
8. You can’t force people to approve of you, agree with you, be impressed with you, love you or even like you. Stop trying.
9. When we compare, we are usually imagining someone else’s life falsely. So our real-life loses out. I.e. Compare and despair.
10. Even when you finally realized the right thing, or the Christian thing, to do, it can still be hard to do. Do it anyway.
11. Seven things to say frequently: I love you. Thank you. Thank you, God. Forgive me. I’m so happy for you! Why not? Yes.
12. Peace and joy come after asking God to free you — from anything that keeps you from being loving and compassionate.
2011 Motto
We are the shepherds.
We are keeping watch over our flock the best we can.
And the angel of the Lord says to us:
"Do not be afraid..."
via WR
We are keeping watch over our flock the best we can.
And the angel of the Lord says to us:
"Do not be afraid..."
via WR
24 December 2010
Christmas
May the spirit of Christmas bring you peace,
The gladness of Christmas give you hope,
The warmth of Christmas grant you love.
~Author Unknown
The gladness of Christmas give you hope,
The warmth of Christmas grant you love.
~Author Unknown
02 December 2010
bigger... and better...
"Yes, dear brothers and sisters, God's promises are always greater than our hopes," Benedict XVI
23 November 2010
22 November 2010
i guess i'm learning a lot about myself today
Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves. - Carl Jung
20 November 2010
and loved by the unmoved mover as well
We are not the same persons this year as last; nor are those we love. It is a happy chance if we, changing, continue to love a changed person. -William Somerset Maugham
13 November 2010
you have put salt in our mouths
All that we call human history - money, poverty, ambition, war,
prostitution, classes, empires, slavery - [is] the long terrible story
of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.
- CS Lewis
prostitution, classes, empires, slavery - [is] the long terrible story
of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy.
- CS Lewis
08 November 2010
02 November 2010
Ten things you wish you could say to ten different people right now
1. I have always and will always have this inexplicable soft spot in my heart for you. Even when you insult me and mock me and are rude to me. I think it’s because I know you’re just pushing me to see if I’ll leave. But I won’t. I’m here, for good, and even though everyone else has given up on you and written you off, I haven’t. So you can keep kicking me to the ground, but I’m going to keep waiting for you to pick me back up. Because you always do.
2. You loved me more than I loved you. I’m sorry for that. But I think this will be good for you, and for me, too. You can’t make one person the center of your world.
3. I’m glad our friendship has morphed into what it is. I’m so much more comfortable talking about things with you now. Even though you’re far away, you’re still my best friend.
4. I will always be in love with you, and you will always be in love with me, but it will never work out. I’m glad we figured the last part out early on, it makes everything easier.
5. I am so unbelievably proud of you. Just thinking about the amazing young man you’ve grown into makes me tear up. And the fact that you attribute who you are now in part to me makes me feel so unworthy to be your older sister. You are a better person than I will ever be, and even though you’re younger than me, I will always look up to you. I love you so much, and I miss you more than I ever thought I could now that I’m up here. I hope you make all the right choices that I never did, and I also hope you fuck up a lot of them. I will never try to teach you a lesson before you’ve had the chance to learn it yourself, I promise. But I’m always here for you, buddy. Always, always, always.
6. Thank you for letting me talk to you about everything and anything at any time. You are always understanding and never judgmental and I appreciate that so much. If you ever need me, I’m here.
7. I look up to you so much. You are directly responsible for any sense of responsibility, leadership, and integrity that I have now. You always pushed me to be my very best, and I cannot thank you enough for that. You were the best coach I have ever had, and I am so grateful that you are still a part of my life. I hope everything works out for you, you deserve the very best.
8. I’m sorry that I ever thought poorly of you. You have a good heart, and you are the best friend a girl could ask for. You’re always there for me, and being able to rely on that is really nice. I can’t wait to see you in a few weeks!
9. You don’t know how much shit you’ve put me through. You destroyed my self-esteem and made me question everything and hide everything and hate myself. I never knew how to please you and you tortured me for that. But I forgive you. I’m glad we’re past that shitty part of our relationship and I’m glad I can be myself around you and I’m glad I love you.
10. I don’t regret it at all.
(via)
2. You loved me more than I loved you. I’m sorry for that. But I think this will be good for you, and for me, too. You can’t make one person the center of your world.
3. I’m glad our friendship has morphed into what it is. I’m so much more comfortable talking about things with you now. Even though you’re far away, you’re still my best friend.
4. I will always be in love with you, and you will always be in love with me, but it will never work out. I’m glad we figured the last part out early on, it makes everything easier.
5. I am so unbelievably proud of you. Just thinking about the amazing young man you’ve grown into makes me tear up. And the fact that you attribute who you are now in part to me makes me feel so unworthy to be your older sister. You are a better person than I will ever be, and even though you’re younger than me, I will always look up to you. I love you so much, and I miss you more than I ever thought I could now that I’m up here. I hope you make all the right choices that I never did, and I also hope you fuck up a lot of them. I will never try to teach you a lesson before you’ve had the chance to learn it yourself, I promise. But I’m always here for you, buddy. Always, always, always.
6. Thank you for letting me talk to you about everything and anything at any time. You are always understanding and never judgmental and I appreciate that so much. If you ever need me, I’m here.
7. I look up to you so much. You are directly responsible for any sense of responsibility, leadership, and integrity that I have now. You always pushed me to be my very best, and I cannot thank you enough for that. You were the best coach I have ever had, and I am so grateful that you are still a part of my life. I hope everything works out for you, you deserve the very best.
8. I’m sorry that I ever thought poorly of you. You have a good heart, and you are the best friend a girl could ask for. You’re always there for me, and being able to rely on that is really nice. I can’t wait to see you in a few weeks!
9. You don’t know how much shit you’ve put me through. You destroyed my self-esteem and made me question everything and hide everything and hate myself. I never knew how to please you and you tortured me for that. But I forgive you. I’m glad we’re past that shitty part of our relationship and I’m glad I can be myself around you and I’m glad I love you.
10. I don’t regret it at all.
(via)
01 November 2010
Keeping things in perspective
World Press Photo of the Year: 1980 Mike Wells, United Kingdom. Karamoja district, Uganda, April 1980. Starving boy and a missionary.
About the image: Wells felt indignant that the same publication that sat on his picture for five months without publishing it, while people were dying, entered it into a competition. He was embarrassed to win as he never entered the competition himself, and was against winning prizes with pictures of people starving to death.
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