Lord, That I May See

Only two classes of people found the Babe: the shepherds and the Wise Men: the simple and the learned; those who knew that they knew nothing, and those who knew that they did not know everything.  He is never seen by the man of one book: never by the man who thinks he knows.  Not even God can tell the proud anything!  Only the humble can find God! ~Bishop Fulton Sheen

#1.  Merry 12th Day of Christmas!  Or Happy Epiphany!  Well, we are waiting till Sunday to celebrate it, but it really is too bad.  I am not a follower of the old calendar in most instances, but Epiphany should really be today, okay, people?  There seems to be to be no point to the "12 days of Christmas" when the 12th day is a random Friday of no significance and not the Epiphany.   #2.   We have been so busy this Advent and Christmas season,  making gingerbread houses  reading Christmas books  working with Nativity sets  decorating our house  painting Christmas doorknob hangers  having a Christmas Eve hot chocolate picnic  singing Happy Birthday to Jesus  and opening gifts. Our days have been happy and blessed and full.  Yet, I felt like I took a deep breath yesterday, realizing that it was the first day in three weeks that I could look at the calendar and see blank spaces.  The busyness has slo...

One of the biggest obstacles to forgiving is the feeling that the other party's behavior has deprived us of something important, even vital.  This confused feeling nourishes resentment.  The thing in question may be material, or affective or moral (not getting the love I had a right to, or the esteem, etc.), or even spiritual . . . To live at peace, even when it is the people around us who are causing us suffering, we must take a fresh, radical look at our frustration.  It does not correspond to reality.  Other people's faults do not deprive us of anything.   We have no valid reason for resenting them or their actions.  On the material plane, of course, other people can deprive us of many things.  But not of what is essential, the only true and lasting good:  God's love for us and the love we can have for him, with the inner growth it produces.  Nobody can prevent us from believing in God, hoping in him, and loving him, everywhere...