For a printable version, Daily Reflections - August
August 1
For all the history
of love:
A nursing mother
and a star above.
- From "Remembrance, Renewal" by Joe Wessling, XU English Department faculty emeritus
August 2
"Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work." - Aristotle
What part of my job is most pleasurable?
August 3
"There is always one moment in childhood when the door opens and lets the future in." - Deepak Chopra
When was that moment in my life?
August 4
"I call on you, O God, for you will answer me;
give ear to me and hear my prayer." - Psalm 17:6
August 5
"Animals are such agreeable friends - they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms." - George Eliot
What role have animals played in my life?
August 6
"See, I am doing something new! Now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? In the desert I make a way, in the wasteland, rivers."
- Isiah 43:19
August 7
"Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is." - German Proverb
What are my fears?
August 8
"I am open to the guidance of synchronicity, and do not let expectations hinder my path." - Dalai Lama
What propels me through my path?
August 9
"What is a friend? A single soul dwelling in two bodies." - Aristotle
I think a friend is ______.
August 10
"The most satisfying thing in life is to have been able to give a large part of one's self to others." - Pierre Teilhard de Chardin
What large part of myself have I given to others?
August 11
"I will sing a new song to You, O God; Upon a harp of ten strings I will sings praises to You." - Psalm 144
August 12
"Everything can be taken... but one thing; the last of the human freedoms is to choose one's attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one's own way." - Viktor Frankl
What attitudes have I chosen today?
August 13
"Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also." - John 14:1-3
August 14
"[S]o let us always meet each other with a smile, for the smile is the beginning of love, and once we begin to love each other naturally we want to do something." - Mother Teresa
Who can I meet today with a smile and the beginning of love?
August 15
"Doubt is not the opposite of faith; it is an element of faith." - Paul Tillich
In what way is doubt an element of my faith?
August 16
"Nothing here below is profane for those who know how to see."
- Teilhard de Chardin, S.J.
Do I recognize the Divine in my common surroundings?
August 17
"Oh earth, you are too wonderful for anybody to realize you. Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it? every, every minute? The saints and poets, maybe they do some." - Thornton Wilder, 'Our Town'
How wonder-filled is my life at this very moment?
August 18
"Seek ye first the kingdom of God
And his righteousness
And all these things shall be added unto you."
- Shaker hymn based on Matthew 6:33
August 19
"O God, my God, the night has values that the day has never dreamed of."
- Thomas Merton
Do I find hope/beauty in dark moments?
August 20
"Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men." - Matthew 14:19
August 21
"If we wish to dwell in the tent of this kingdom, we will never arrive unless we run there by doing good deeds." - St. Benedict
What is the last good deed I quietly performed?
August 22
"For all that has been? Thanks!
For all that will be? Yes!" - Dag Hammarskjold
Does my gratitude for the past give me trust for the future?
August 23
"How far have I to go to find You in Whom I have already arrived!"
- Thomas Merton
Do I see God here? Now?
August 24
"Joy is the echo of God's life in us." - Abbot Marmion
Does God's presence make me smile?
August 25
"The greatest strength is gentleness." - Iroquois Tribe Proverb
When am I strong enough to respond gently?
August 26
"Nativity"
Light enfolds
the light-enfolding
darkness.
God shines
through the human
in an infant's smile.
- From "Remembrance, Renewal" by Joe Wessling, XU English Department faculty emeritus
August 27
"Earth's crammed with heaven
And every common bush afire with God
But only s/he who sees takes off his shoes
The rest sit 'round and pluck blackberries." - Elizabeth B. Browning
Do I respond to God's presence or simply eat the blackberries?
August 28
"For where two or three are gathered in my name, I am there in the midst of them." - Matthew 18:20
August 29
"There is only one desire:
To find the promised land and the freedom of a pure love
that is without concern for anything else but love." - Thomas Merton
Is love alone reward enough?
August 30
"The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands but seeing with new eyes." - Marcel Proust
Will I take a moment and look again?
August 31
"Someday after mastering winds, waves, tides, and gravity, we shall harness the energies of love. And then, for the second time in the history of the world, man (we) will discover fire." - Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, S.J.
How would my world be different if we harnessed "the energies of love"?
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