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LISTING THOUGHT ARCHIVE

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 Listing July - 2022
 
  Wednesday
Jul-20
The following is another piece from the reflection called "What I've Learned". The author is unknown.

I've learned that credentials on the wall do not always make you a decent human being. I've learned that sometimes when I'm angry, I have a right to be angry but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel. I've learned that no matter how bad your heart is broken, the world doesn't stop for your grief. I've learned that you should never tell a child their dreams are unlikely or outlandish. Few things are more humiliating and what a tragedy it would be if they believed it. I've learned that just because two people argue, it doesn't mean they don't love each other. And just because they don't argue, it doesn't mean they do. I've learned that we don't have to change friends if we understand that friends change. I've learned that no matter how you try to protect your children, they will eventually get hurt and you will get hurt in the process. I've learned that even when you think you have no more to give, you will find the strength.
 
 
 
  Friday
Jul-15
'Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself.' St.Francis de Sales

There is a lovely Jewish story from ancient times about an old man who was in his hundredth year and who wandered into Abraham's camp just before nightfall. Abraham being a good Jew welcomed the man and offered him hospitality. While the food was cooking Abraham suggested that they pray together. Abraham raised his hands and his eyes towards heaven and began the evening prayer. After a while he saw the old man worshipping the campfire. Stopping for a moment he corrected the old man and asked him to direct his prayers to the Almighty.

But the old man went back to worshiping the fire. This went on a few times and Abraham lost his patience and threw the old man out of the camp. He went back to prayer "See Lord, how much I love you." There was silence and then he heard the Lord say, "Abraham, I have put up with that old man and his unusual ways for the past 100 years and you cannot put up with him even for five minutes!"

Sometimes we need patience and lots of patience. We need to be patient with life, with family, with nature, with love, with our hopes and dreams and with all we are doing right now. But we can never be patient with anybody else unless we are first patient with ourselves. We often want everything to happen today. There is no tomorrow or next week. We also expect others to be almost perfect, to have everything right and to have it ready the way we want. That is so unfair and unrealistic. They can only do their best and work at their pace. So to be patient with ourselves means being more gentle with ourselves, lowering our expectations, going more with the flow and being more flexible.

It is being ourselves more and not pretending to be somebody else. There is a lovely old saying: "Patience is not the ability to wait, but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting".
 
 
 
  Thursday
Jul-14
'Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself.' St.Francis de Sales

There is a lovely Jewish story from ancient times about an old man who was in his hundredth year and who wandered into Abraham's camp just before nightfall. Abraham being a good Jew welcomed the man and offered him hospitality. While the food was cooking Abraham suggested that they pray together. Abraham raised his hands and his eyes towards heaven and began the evening prayer. After a while he saw the old man worshipping the campfire. Stopping for a moment he corrected the old man and asked him to direct his prayers to the Almighty.

But the old man went back to worshiping the fire. This went on a few times and Abraham lost his patience and threw the old man out of the camp. He went back to prayer "See Lord, how much I love you." There was silence and then he heard the Lord say, "Abraham, I have put up with that old man and his unusual ways for the past 100 years and you cannot put up with him even for five minutes!"

Sometimes we need patience and lots of patience. We need to be patient with life, with family, with nature, with love, with our hopes and dreams and with all we are doing right now. But we can never be patient with anybody else unless we are first patient with ourselves. We often want everything to happen today. There is no tomorrow or next week. We also expect others to be almost perfect, to have everything right and to have it ready the way we want. That is so unfair and unrealistic. They can only do their best and work at their pace. So to be patient with ourselves means being more gentle with ourselves, lowering our expectations, going more with the flow and being more flexible.

It is being ourselves more and not pretending to be somebody else. There is a lovely old saying: "Patience is not the ability to wait, but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting".
 
 
 
  Wednesday
Jul-13
'Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself.' St.Francis de Sales

There is a lovely Jewish story from ancient times about an old man who was in his hundredth year and who wandered into Abraham's camp just before nightfall. Abraham being a good Jew welcomed the man and offered him hospitality. While the food was cooking Abraham suggested that they pray together. Abraham raised his hands and his eyes towards heaven and began the evening prayer. After a while he saw the old man worshipping the campfire. Stopping for a moment he corrected the old man and asked him to direct his prayers to the Almighty.

But the old man went back to worshiping the fire. This went on a few times and Abraham lost his patience and threw the old man out of the camp. He went back to prayer "See Lord, how much I love you." There was silence and then he heard the Lord say, "Abraham, I have put up with that old man and his unusual ways for the past 100 years and you cannot put up with him even for five minutes!"

Sometimes we need patience and lots of patience. We need to be patient with life, with family, with nature, with love, with our hopes and dreams and with all we are doing right now. But we can never be patient with anybody else unless we are first patient with ourselves. We often want everything to happen today. There is no tomorrow or next week. We also expect others to be almost perfect, to have everything right and to have it ready the way we want. That is so unfair and unrealistic. They can only do their best and work at their pace. So to be patient with ourselves means being more gentle with ourselves, lowering our expectations, going more with the flow and being more flexible.

It is being ourselves more and not pretending to be somebody else. There is a lovely old saying: "Patience is not the ability to wait, but the ability to keep a good attitude while waiting".
 
 
 
  Tuesday
Jul-12
'Being created anew is a desire of many of us. We want to start fresh, do it better, transform our lives and live more deeply. But we get stuck and lose our way. We yearn for more meaningful lives but we get co-opted by the superficial values of our society.' ~Edward L.Beck

A new and fresh start can be liberating. It can open up a whole new set of horizons for us. But our initial enthusiasm is not always followed through by a consistent plan. We tend to stumble and lose our way. It's like the effects of a big magnet and we get pulled back into our old ways and old habits. We then loose confidence and eventually give up. It is even truer of all things spiritual. How many times have we made an effort to prioritise our spiritual lives, only to find our best plans pushed aside by busyness and other priorities? Making a fresh start is something we should not give up on. Perhaps more manageable and realistic goals is the way to go. Any new path requires effort, commitment and enthusiasm. We pray to God today to help us make it happen.
 
 
 
  Sunday
Jul-10
The following reflection is by Triona Doherty

'Rest satisfied with doing well, and leave others to talk of you as they will' ~Pythagoras

Gossiping is part of human nature. The more we know we really shouldn't tell a secret, the more we are itching to pass it on to just that one person. Of course we know gossip can be destructive, but that doesn't always stop us giving in to the temptation to spread a story around. But isn't it nice when it is a positive story that is doing the rounds; when we hear about a person's goodness or generosity even though they do not want any recognition, or when we are dying to pass on an experience of kindness that has been shown to us? Every so often on radio programmes we will hear the story of a 'good Samaritan' who returned a lost wallet or went out of their way to be helpful. We like to spread good news as well as bad or scandalous.

The people in today's Gospel want to spread the good news about Jesus. Even though he orders them to tell no one of the wonders he has worked, they are so filled with awe that they cannot help but publicise it. 'Their admiration was unbounded'. What a wonderful description of their experience of the healing they had witnessed, and their enthusiasm to pass it on.
 
 
 
  Friday
Jul-08
"Do you ever notice that there are 'happy people' peppered throughout the world whom, I have no doubt, are put here for the purpose of lifting spirits as they go about their daily lives? They could be the tea lady in the office, the rural postman on his daily rounds or indeed a DJ on the radio. I like to think I have been blessed by them." ~Francis Brennan

 We know well that not everyone is happy as we start this month of July and we know some who find it hard to put a smile on their face for many different reasons. We heard over the past few days that inflation is now at 9.6% across Ireland and many families have to deal with a dramatic increase in the cost of everything. If the pinch is being felt now, it will be a sharp bite when autumn returns. Let's be honest our weather has also been very poor and not great for holiday makers. The Covid story just won't go away either. It is important that we balance some of this bad news with some good news as well.

Thankfully we are blessed to know many people who touch our lives by their smile, their bubbly character, their sense of fun and energy and their positive upbeat approach to life. These people often don't realise what they bring to our lives and our world. But what they do bring is special and our lives would be all the darker without what they bring to us. They are in ways an outreach of God's care and love in our world. In a world where negativity so often dominates, we must all make a determined effort to bring some balance back in.

Are you one of these people? If you are thank you and keep doing what you do naturally. Do you know someone in your life who brings you a smile, keeps you going, gives you a lift when you need it and is someone who makes the world of a difference in your life? If you do count your blessings and if appropriate thank them and tell them so. We say a prayer for them too and ask God to bless the people in our lives who make today special. May they be blessed in their own lives and in everything they do. This week could also be an opportunity for you to be a blessing to someone else as well. It can be done quietly and without fuss. But your smile, your word of encouragement, your word of thanks, your call or text or you reaching out to help will be a beautiful blessing to someone else too.
 
 
 
  Monday
Jul-04
"Do you ever notice that there are 'happy people' peppered throughout the world whom, I have no doubt, are put here for the purpose of lifting spirits as they go about their daily lives? They could be the tea lady in the office, the rural postman on his daily rounds or indeed a DJ on the radio. I like to think I have been blessed by them." ~Francis Brennan

 We know well that not everyone is happy as we start this month of July and we know some who find it hard to put a smile on their face for many different reasons. We heard over the past few days that inflation is now at 9.6% across Ireland and many families have to deal with a dramatic increase in the cost of everything. If the pinch is being felt now, it will be a sharp bite when autumn returns. Let's be honest our weather has also been very poor and not great for holiday makers. The Covid story just won't go away either. It is important that we balance some of this bad news with some good news as well.

Thankfully we are blessed to know many people who touch our lives by their smile, their bubbly character, their sense of fun and energy and their positive upbeat approach to life. These people often don't realise what they bring to our lives and our world. But what they do bring is special and our lives would be all the darker without what they bring to us. They are in ways an outreach of God's care and love in our world. In a world where negativity so often dominates, we must all make a determined effort to bring some balance back in.

Are you one of these people? If you are thank you and keep doing what you do naturally. Do you know someone in your life who brings you a smile, keeps you going, gives you a lift when you need it and is someone who makes the world of a difference in your life? If you do count your blessings and if appropriate thank them and tell them so. We say a prayer for them too and ask God to bless the people in our lives who make today special. May they be blessed in their own lives and in everything they do. This week could also be an opportunity for you to be a blessing to someone else as well. It can be done quietly and without fuss. But your smile, your word of encouragement, your word of thanks, your call or text or you reaching out to help will be a beautiful blessing to someone else too.
 
 
 
  Sunday
Jul-03
'Let go of the desire to control. Let go of anger. Let go of shame. Let go of guilt. Let go of worries. Let go and let things follow their natural course. Let go of the need to use every second to the full. Let go of fear. Let go of tension. Let go of the need to be right. Let go of the need to be successful. Let go of the need to seem strong or know it all. Let go of the future you had charted out for yourself. Let go of the need to be the best. Let go of self rejection. Let go of the impulse to do more than can reasonably be done in the time available. Let go of regrets and disappointments. Let go of trying to change others. Let go of criticism. Let go of being harsh on yourselves and others. Let go of prejudices and biases. Let go of interfering.' ~Joe Armstrong (from Reality Magazine)

What a powerful reflection. Don't we carry so many unnecessary burdens with us each day. What can I let go of today?
 
 
 
  Saturday
Jul-02
'There's a disappointment and anger inside every one of us and unless we find it in ourselves to forgive, we will be bitter.' ~Ronald Rolheiser

The constant invitation throughout the Gospel stories is to allow life help us to become a better person and not a bitter person. It would seem that as we become older we increasingly become more resentful. That is why Jesus said we must become like little children. They have no hidden agendas and do not carry the resentments and hurts we tend to carry.

At times a needle of resentment can get stuck in the record of our lives and it keeps churning out the same old story. This story is always negative, critical and sarcastic. It drains us of vital energy and long term it is never good for our health. All the good and positive moments that make up our day simply get lost in this. Joan Chittister described it as an "acid that is poured on our souls eating away our peace within."

Forgiveness sees the wrong done but does not condone or brush it away. It has often been said God loves the sinner and but not the sin. Forgiveness allows us to let go of the resentment and begin to get on with our lives. What do you need to let go of in your life? Can you begin to let go of some resentment?
 
 

 
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