The Better Half

There is a danger to being enlightened, that is, to seeing clearer the strengths and flaws of oneself and others. Both involve a spiritual blindness. The first risk is having greater light to see only the neighbor's imperfections all the clearer and assume one's are fewer and one's own strengths an all encompassing coup de grace for oneself mistakenly. The second is to see one's own faults as so numerous and pernicious and insurmountable to any growth or change that one gives up out of hopelessness, causing one not to help the other improve upon their imperfections for fear of one's own imperfections despite being called to do so out of sweet charity.

Both of them cause a seizing up, a squelching of spirit and, therefore, quenching of light. The first clenches the heart to compassion given, and the second clenches the hand to mercy bestowed. Both must be avoided in the pursuit of one's high calling to holiness and any dispatch away from Love's sweet gifts ignored, for one, like Mary at the feet of of Jesus, "has chosen the better part, and it will not be taken away..." (cf. Luke 10:42).

The Married Philosopher

A good friend of mine has stated: "Men are either married or philosophers!"

What he fails to remember is that I know one married philosopher, and I very much think that both he and his wife will become saints because of it! 

But seriously... perhaps we ought to pray that they, like all married couples, will both understand better the philosophical beauty of Heaven as marriage consummated with God!

Ah! The objection of being only in the first stage! I am in the first stage still yet, trying to harmonize this philosophy to its proper pitch and timbre, too! But as the great composers know the notes before they are played or put to page, so too do we as lovers of an infinite God know that love must be harmonized both above and below for beauty to exist. And we do know that beauty exists because God exists and has so loved us (cf. 1 John 4:18-19)... So we love and must, therefore, strive to be perfect, "as [our] Heavenly Father is perfect!" (cf. Matthew 5:48)

Strike up the orchestra... Allow Him to show you the composition He has for you so beautiful that it quite literally is something you are willing to die for and offer your life for on behalf of your friends, of which there is no greater love (cf. John 15:13).

We must fight the good fight towards this perfection by God's grace in our lives through this high calling of life towards greater holiness in Him!

It is through all vocations that we are called to love both God and neighbor... selflessly. Marriage is but a focused magnifying glass that beams the light of Christ to another, so also is that vocation directed to compassionate procreation of a Domestic Church with Christ as her Head. It must be both above and below, for the sake of the children born below for Heaven above!

To Him be all honor and glory for ever and ever. Amen.

In Praise of Grace

Another day done and the rains have begun again...

The flowing waters of new birth, waters upon a thirsty earth.

Thunder rolls in the distance, but Faith below does not recoil...

Facet and fixture, noble and blistered... Your mark is made upon us!

Water from the Side, fill us...

Blood of the Heart of Him Who Is... Save us!

Love has come to rule both the night and the day...

Love has come to rule the day!

Alleluia!

"O Lord, you are good and forgiving,

full of love to all who call.

Give heed, O Lord, to my prayer

and attend to the sound of my voice." ~ Psalm 86

Through the Shadowlands

My Beloved can do no wrong.
He brings forth every good thing,
Every blessing of person or place.
His Promise is secure.
His Providence is assured.

What can I ask of my Beloved
That He hasn't already provided?
What love has He given!

Oh, the charity that covers a multitude of sins,
Of the many cuts and little lacerations!
He outpours every good gift,
The choicest gifts for an unworthy servant,
A servant with a past.
But what of the future bright and bountiful?
Where is is this land He has promised as an inheritance?

We are sojourners to be sure
But not to a land in our midst of these Shadowlands—
As we see imperfectly. No!
We are destined for a brighter land,
A Land of Light Himself.

The course is set,
Through the strong gales,
Through the stormy seas.
Our compass set, we traverse and travail In the tempest great.

Love, our compass, directs us onward,
Even when the Fog is great and our way seemingly lost.
Lost are not we!

With thick clouds we still know within our deepest
For what perfection and glory we are made.
We are made for Love!

Lead Kindly Light toward our Home
Through these Shadowlands, these lands not our own.
Lead our compass true toward our home
Not yet seen in this dense cover.

Let our hearts not dismay when blindness overcomes our sight
Or when we fall however briefly;
Remain with us when we lose our sight
Through our self-blinding acts and our closed-shut eyes.

Remain our compass true,
Guiding our hearts to You.
Love has revealed its Beauty.
Let us not close our eyes, our hearts to this.

Let us remain, compass fixed,
Moving toward the place where only Light exists,
Where Light does not cease and Love persists.
Let us follow Him.

Let us follow Him through these Shadowlands.
Let us follow His lead.
Lead on Love, Kindly Light.
Lead on.

Come, Beloved, let us be on our way.
Come, let us travel the Way...
Travel our Way to Him.
Let us be on our way!

The Little Way: Joy as a State of Mind

Joy is most certainly a state of mind... It is not a feeling of happiness. If everything is gift and one is not happy because some pleasure or other gift is taken away for whatever reason, how are we to respond but to look to the Giver Himself? If we get locked in on His gifts and not Him, how would you respond if you gave and gave and gave without even the slightest response let alone sight of gratitude? It rains on both the good and the bad, and He gives to both. We should too, not simply the looks of frustration we are oft to give when "enduring" a taxing moment on our senses, but we should also give like the Father gives, sacrifice like the Son has shown us, and be present like the Holy Spirit is in our lives always.

Everything we have is pure gift; our free will is the exercise of that profound gift. We shouldn't feel surprised or discouraged when the Lord trusts us enough to ask for some of those gifts in a specific way that prompts us to say "yes" to Him and not simply His gifts. We shouldn't fear what we cannot change or those things great and small He calls us to be present to throughout our day, whether monumental or minor, because all of it matters. We get the blessed choice to live in the moment spent doing good and forgiving not only one another but ourselves in the little accidents of life that turn into labors of love for the Lord. Choose the joy He wants to give and ignore every temptation to despair that love He gives so freely. Life isn't perfect until we rest in Him.

Lord, forgive our unbelief!