ARE YOU TOO COOL TO BE SYMPATHETIC TO THE PAIN OF OTHERS?

"Rejoice with them that rejoice;

weep with them that weep."

Romans 12:15

I have many happy days in my retirement, despite painful disabilities, and if you ask me, "how are you?" on any given day, I will usually say that I am "great" or something similar, but there are days, like this one, when I wake up to excruciating pain and can barely walk, but walk I must. Anyone who lives in an apartment with a dog knows what I am talking about. We are in service to the animals - especially first thing in the morning when they just have to get outside to accomplish their ablutions.

So, there I am, with little doggy bag in hand, and a neighbor asks me how I am and I tell him that today I woke in horrible pain - that the change in weather got to my bones.

Instead of expressing sympathy, the guy completely ignored what I had said and started talking about what a great day he was having.

I have seen various iterations of this type of thing. The men tend to ignore the comment about pain and will pretend they haven't heard it. Or perhaps they DON'T hear it. I am not quite sure about that. The women, especially if the conversation is on Facebook, will usually give some unsolicited advice, laden with criticism for daring to "complain" about pain. (I often say that THIS is why men are in charge of the world. Women are too busy criticizing one another and flapping their lips around rumors and gossip.)

Sometimes, I am gifted with some cosmic poo poo armchair philosophy that demands that I not mention the pain when asked, but that I should be "grateful" instead, and I should "count my blessings." This is a nasty thing to do to someone. What it communicates is a negative assessment of one's character.

I have my own unsolicited advice for these people. If you do not care about the well-being of the person, don't ask. If you DO care, and you hear that the person is in agony of pain, then be sympathetic.

First of all, sympathy is healing and peace-inducing. Read the chapter of the quote above and consider why Saint Paul recommends it. I would also like to point out that sympathy is free. It doesn't cost you anything to be sympathetic to the sufferings of others, so why not be sympathetic?

If your reaction to someone else's expression of pain or unhappiness is irritation, what does that say about YOU? Perhaps you think your precious time is being wasted, or perhaps you do not know what to say. In that case, let me tell you. Use some version of this:

"I am so sorry to hear that! I hope it gets better soon."

Put some warmth in your voice and add a smile, if you can manage it and if you haven't given out your daily allotment of smiles.

I find it odd that I have to write a blog post like this one. It seems a no-brainer to me. I try to always be sympathetic and, if I am close to the person, I might ask if there is anything I can do to help alleviate whatever the complaint happens to be. I don't consider it my right to "train" the person in the art of pretending there is nothing wrong. It is not healthy to make other people erect a false front of blissful, uncomplaining perfection because it is a big fat lie.

Life is messy and sometimes painful. For those of us with chronic illnesses and disabilities, it is QUITE painful at times. Pretending otherwise is a waste of time. Now, if you want to pretend that your life is perfect and if you have a personal philosophy that requires you to never admit to a pain or difficulty, that's your business. Go ahead! Pretend the day away, but don't burden the rest of the world with your criteria.

To be fair, I have to visit the other side of this troubling coin, and that is the fact that there are people in the world who do nothing BUT complain. I had a person like this in my life for some time. The woman complained to me constantly, despite the fact that her life is much more advantaged than mine. She's been married to the same man her whole adult life. They have a bunch of great children. They own a large home in a really good part of town. Her husband makes good money, and they frequently travel overseas on vacation.

This woman did nothing but complain about her blessings. Example: She would complain that a specially formulated medicine cost $500.00. She had the money to pay for it. She was complaining that it was expensive. Or was she bragging? I was never sure. The fact that she was complaining about spending $500.00 on medicine to a woman who goes WITHOUT many things she needs felt like abuse to me.

There is no reason to entertain people like this - people who complain about their blessings. That is a different kind of pretense entirely. After trying to get this person to understand that she was punching down on me by complaining about her blessings to someone who had so much less than she, I finally had to stop talking to her on the phone. She didn't try to draw me back in or to modulate her inconsiderate behavior. She just stepped up her litany of complaints to other people.

Even THIS person got my sympathy when she wasn't complaining about her advantages.

My bottom line is that, unless you're dealing with a person who complains about her good fortune, please just try to be a little sympathetic.

Silver Rose

(Sannyasini Kaliprana)

Silver Cottage Ashram Hermitage

Albuquerque, New Mexico

Copyright © 2019

All rights reserved.

WHAT DOES THE BIBLE SAY ABOUT IMMIGRANTS?

Lady of Shalott

By Waterhouse

The Lady of Shalott is a ballad by Tennyson that tells the story of Elaine of Astolat, a young noble woman kept prisoner in a tower on an island near Camelot. She is the victim of some curse that forces her to watch life pass her by in the glass of a mirror because if she looks at it directly, she will die. At some point, she sees the exceedingly handsome Lancelot in that mirror, falls in love and decides to leave her prison tower. She finds a boat and commandeers it, but she is dead by the time she reaches shore.

This is how I feel about the admirers of the current administration. They cannot look at it directly, with the clarity of direct vision. Instead, they have to view it from a magically altered mirror. If they admitted how deadly was their Lancelot, they wouldn't get in the boat.

It takes a remarkable number of mental machinations to quell the obvious cognitive dissonance inherent in the problems of our current administration. What must it be like to hold diametrically opposed realities in one's consciousness at the same time! On the one hand, supporters claim he is "Christian" and that "it's nice to have a Christian in the White House, for a change" (Despite having MANY Christians in the White House over the years!)  On the other hand, Trump and his entourage are obviously and specifically behaving like people who are HOSTILE to Christian values. One only has to measure the various bills and campaigns against the expectations of Christ.

From the moment he started campaigning, Trump has demonstrated hostility toward minorities, immigrants, the disabled, the poor, the old, and basically anyone who is vulnerable and disadvantaged, by kicking them while they're down. From the Muslim ban of his first year in office, to the ancient-style great wall (for which he swore Mexico was paying!), to saying that the Nazis of Charlottesville were "fine people,"  he has been unrelentingly blatant and obvious in his hatred of "the stranger." While he is unapologetic about his cruelty, I actually consider him just a figurehead. He did not start this trend. He is only benefiting from it, financially and psychologically.

The name "Trump" has become synonymous with fascism, misogyny, xenophobia, prejudice, gay bashing, cruelty toward the poor, the aged and the infirm, but there is a foul wind blowing all over the world just now. Every country has its version of Trump and the Trump party. I can hardly be expected to really do it justice in my little blog, but I just want to encourage my Christian brothers and sisters to continue to choose Christ. If you stop choosing Christ and start choosing against him, you are choosing Satan. It is as simple as that, because you cannot be, at the same time, a Christian as well as an advocate for policies that contradict Christian values. You would need a magic mirror to keep from keeling over in a dead faint from the hypocrisy.

Take one topic at a time and compare it to our faith.  Decide your opinion based on your faith, and not on what some political party tells you.

On the topic of the treatment of immigrants, all I am going to do is to offer you a few quotes from the Bible. Let them sit with you for a while, and then decide how you feel about DACA or Trump's wall or the Muslim ban. Meditate on it for a while. Seek God's guidance.

"You shall allot it as an inheritance for yourselves and

for the sojourners who reside among you and have had

children among you. They shall be to you as native-born

children of Israel. In whatever tribe the sojourner resides,

there you shall assign him his inheritance, declares the Lord

God."

~ Ezekiel 47:22-23 ~

Now, think for a moment about the DACA program for the children who were brought here by their parents.

"Show hospitality to one another without grumbling."

~ 1 Peter 4:9 ~

Here's another, along those lines:

"Let strangers feast on your wealth and your toil

enrich the house of another."

~Proverbs 5:10~

Still thinking about immigrants, what's your take on this quote:

"But no stranger had to spend the night in the

street, for my door was always open to the 

traveler."

~ Job 31:32

How about that pesky Leviticus that so many "Christians" are keen to use against the gays?

"You shall have the same rule for the sojourner and for

the native, for I am the Lord your God."

` Leviticus 24:22 ~

I hasten to point out, especially with this next quote, that the Biblical writers are encouraging us to be as kind to the sojourner as we are to ourselves. The purpose is egalitarianism - not an admonishment to make sure that strangers obey earthly laws. God doesn't care if the immigrant's papers are in order. He cares that we treat them equally among us, as evidenced by the other quotes.

"There shall be one law for the native and for the stranger

who sojourns among you."

~ Exodus 12:49 ~

Notice in the next quote that God expects us to welcome the stranger:

"For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty

and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed

me."

~ Matthew 25:35 ~

I could provide many more quotes in support of what I have provided here. From the Old Testament to the New, it has been made clear to us that the Lord expects us to be kind to the strangers among us. We are to help them and welcome them.

Does this comport with ripping children out of the arms of their mothers and storing them in cages, where they sleep on the floor and may never see their parents again? Does this match the vision of a wall from one end of our country to the other? Does it anticipate anti-immigrant activists dumping out the containers of water left in the desert for the thirsty stranger?

The Trump campaign mechanism continues to make claims that he is Christian and that his policies are Christian, and there are plenty of Christian radio show hosts, pastors, priests and the like singing his praises, though God alone knows why.

I hope YOU are clear on why.

God bless us all.

Silver Rose

(Sannyasini Kaliprana)

Silver Cottage Ashram Hermitage

Albuquerque, New Mexico

What are you doing for Lent?

I have cut back on writing this blog, so that I have more time for the book, but I will write a little something every now and then when I feel particularly inspired or I want to touch base with you.

What are you doing for Lent? Many people I know are doing some thoughtful and creative Lenten disciplines. I find it inspiring to hear about the different methods that some are adopting in order to get closer to the Lord.

Those of us over the age of 59, and others who are ill, are not required to adhere to the acetic discipline of fasting from types of food. Personally, I do tighten my diet during this time and, at the least, stay very mindful about how much and how often I am eating. The participation of the mind AND the body are an important aspect of the spiritual self-governance that we practice as religious people because, contrary to the beliefs of many in the Western world, we are not spirits stuck inside a skin sack. That is heresy. Human beings are both body and soul, therefore the physical acts we commit are every bit as important at the spiritual drills. One of the hosts of a Catholic radio program I heard today emphasized the necessity of including at least some physical mortification in our Lenten routine.

I find it interesting that most religious traditions in the world have some concept of the need for physical self-denial, to one extent or another. Evidently, this practice is basic to the life of the soul. The Hindu-based Vedanta monastics, with whom I spent a few years, are much more keenly aware of the need for this sort of discipline than the Catholics I know. In India, there are a lot of independent sadhus on the road to enlightenment, and we would be hard pressed to live as they do, many of whom beg every meal from the side of the road, wear little more than a loin cloth, and never see a doctor or a shopping mall.

This year, I am going mostly vegetarian, with the occasional anchovy or canned kipper for the sake of the omega III's. I try to treat food as medicine as a general rule anyway, for the spiritual benefit as well as the physical. My little nods in the direction of asceticism are really just tokens, since my body is already forcing a great deal of discomfort upon me every hour of every day.

Other practices include a more purposeful application of disciplines I try to do throughout the year anyway. "Fasting" from impatience is one of those practices that is a challenge for me. Deliberately practicing kindness to as many people every day as possible is a bit easier.

Keeping quiet about the particular things I may do out of the practice of kindness is absolutely required. My efforts to restrain myself from snapping at the stupid and the lazy are not exactly a credit to me, as I would hope that, by this age, I would have gotten a handle on that by now. So let's none of us get too chatty with our little "inspiring" stories about how practicing kindness has made us so great. We're just trying to catch up to where we SHOULD be already established, dontcha think?

Sometimes it is all I can do to smile at the rude and disinterested customer service person whose job it is to help me but who clearly has no interest in doing so. "Breathe and smile," I remind myself. Breathe and smile.

After I breathe and smile, which is fairly passive, I gift the person with a kind or friendly few words, even if my smile has disgusted them, which it appears to do, half the time. The rude and stupid are often fairly immune to kindness for some reason. It's not my job to understand it. I just breathe and smile.

Often I am not successful in maintaining this kind disposition of soul, and I walk away grumbling (or worse.) Lent is my opportunity to get a better grip on this sort of interaction with my fellow human beings and to end up with fewer episodes of snappishness than I would typically have at the end of each day. It is amazing how hard won are these few and paltry accomplishments.

In any case, I am interested in the sort of fasting that each of you has decided to practice during this time and I hope you will gift us all with a discussion of your methods and their intended outcomes in the comments below.

God bless us all!

Silver Rose

Contemplating Ananias and Saphira in the light of Epiphany

The Adoration of the Magi

by

Sir Edward Burne-Jones

I am writing this on Epiphany,which celebrates the revelation of Jesus as "the" Christ and the visit of the Magi (the three kings from foreign lands) who came to worship the Christ Child. There are various stories and traditions about the observance of this day, but it has to do with the announcement of Christ to the world, including to the gentiles (which the kings represent, since they are not Jewish.)

So, here I am, a gentile, an adopted daughter of Christ, the Jewish Messiah, looking back upon that time when Jesus was first "announced" to me. I was a nun in a Hindu convent and happened to read works by and about numerous Catholic and Orthodox mystics. At that time, I imagined that Catholics would naturally aspire to the love embodied in Jesus, but in the ensuing years, I have learned that, instead of being holy reminders of Him, some very public Catholics are unholy reminders of what happens when people allow wealthy political animals to manipulate their beliefs and values.

While I have met and do know many beautiful Christians; Catholic, Orthodox, and every other sort, the public persona of the typical Christian is vile because a large segment misrepresent our faith on the national stage and in social media. If we were to believe their version of Christianity, then their Jesus was a mean dude who wanted us to take food away from hungry people and lock up migrant children as a means of disincentivizing the stranger from finding safe harbor among us.

Their Jesus is a liar who spouts constant falsehoods, misrepresentations and misleading comments as a means to an end because he teaches that the ends justify the means.

Their Jesus values money and wealth above all else. Rich people are the good people, in his scenario, and they are the ones that are entitled to all the help - lots of lovely tax breaks and the removal of every obstacle that stands between them and their greed, because greed is a good thing for this jesus.

"You shall give generously to [your poor brother], and your

heart shall not be grieved when you give to him, because for

this thing, the Lord your God will bless you in all your work

and in all your undertakings."

Deut. 15:10

Since every end justifies every means, it is perfectly acceptable to this jesus that the planet, its flora and its fauna, and even other people should suffer and die so that a few people with gold plated toilets can have control of all the money and enslave the rest of us.  Those few wealthy men at the top of the heap are the chosen ones of the god of that disgraceful jesus.

Jesus and the Wealthy Young Man

"One thing is wanting unto thee: Go, sell whatever thou hast,

and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven;

and come, follow me."
Mark 10

Their jesus mocks and despises people of color, disabled people, unattractive women, and old people.  Their jesus only cares about the American economy. The rest of the world sucks.

An odd feature of this counterfeit "Jesus", is a stiff-necked obsession about abortion. The cult that worships this fabricated jesus decided that the only solution to the vast number of abortions being performed was to make it illegal, while at the same time refusing to give assistance to poor mothers and babies, putting poor women and their babies in an impossible bind: kill the babies slowly, through poverty, hunger and disease or kill them quickly in abortion and save everyone the agony.

Bogus Jesus believes that bending people to his will by painful coercion is preferable to any other method of conversion because this sham Jesus enjoys tormenting people who are already suffering. Their Jesus would not consider supporting poor moms and babies as a deterrent to abortion because he wants to punish poor people who have sex outside of marriage.

Jesus at the door of the heart

Fake Jesus doesn't want good, comfortable white Americans to have to sacrifice their hard earned dough for stupid women who don't keep their legs closed or the brats that are born from her. Their Jesus believes that poor women will stop having sex and won't get pregnant to begin with if they just hold the line and make everything as painful as possible.

I don't recognize their Jesus because he sounds an awful lot like Satan to me.

Donald Trump

The fake Christian

Worshipers of Bogus Jesus have gotten behind a contemptible, appalling "political" figure whose personal values and public positions are right in line with their Jesus, and it is horrifying to the rest of us who do not adore the wolf in sheep's clothing.

"He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to

the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he

speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father

of lies."

John 8:44

I have been in an agony of disappointment, fear, rage and apprehension since becoming exposed to the bogus jesus and his lovers.  I've been wringing my hands and my heart daily, in fear that "Christian" supporters of the deceitful, autocratic dictator-wanna-be will aid him and cheer him on, as he throws America into some war or that the turmoil in our culture will reach some tipping point that tumbles us headlong into an even more fascist government than we currently have.

But today, while reflecting on the latest horror from that freak show called the Trump Administration and the public "Christians" that support him, I was suddenly reminded of the story of Ananias and Saphira.

Ananias dies after lying about the money

Among the apostles and their followers, Christians held all things in common. They sold their land and possessions and gave the money over to the community. Funds were distributed according to the need of each person. Ananias and Saphira decided they would hold back some for themselves. They lied about the money and each was struck dead on the spot.

This stark, cautionary tale from the earliest Christian era gives me much comfort because, although an antichrist is currently being worshiped in the public square, our God is not oblivious. While He may not strike down the evildoers on the spot, there WILL be a reckoning of some sort. I am sure of it.

Jesus and the Money Changers

I received a telephone call, in the midst of these ruminations about this faux jesus and his cult. The manager of the grocery store where an employee had claimed I am not disabled because Trump doesn't think I am, called to bring me up to date on the disciplinary action they took. He has been suspended without pay. If there is another problem with him, he will be fired. It seemed a good omen, though on a very small scale. I felt encouraged to relax a little, nonetheless.

While I will not stop protesting and objecting to the harm being done by this spurious Jesus and his mesmerized devotees, my confidence in the oversight of our Good Lord has been restored. We can't get complacent, though. Much prayer and sacrifice are needed. It is necessary to fight evil with Good.

Bless us all.

Silver Rose

ALL HELL HAS BROKEN LOOSE - updated

UPDATE: I used my FOOD MONEY to purchase a refurbished HP computer from Internet Essentials (CVI Computers in Canada, as it turns out) for $150.00 - It took WEEKS to arrive, and was malfunctioning out of the box. After 3 days of constant problems, I am sending it back.

I simply must get a decent computer that meets my needs and works properly. My food budget isn't big enough to cut out enough to purchase a decent computer (which will cost at least $600, according to my research.) It's the last week of the month, and I am eating beans and tortillas as it is.

Can you help?

If so, please click the yellow 'DONATE' button to the right, underneath my photo. I will dedicate the novel to YOU!
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PREVIOUS ENTRY:

My computer has been shattered to bits and i am pecking this out on my itty bitty kindle, so I will get to the point.

While I am physically disabled, (further hampered due to PTSD resulting from violent assault), and always open to donations via Pay Pal, every few years  I have a perfect storm and really need extra help most urgently. One cannot live on the razor's edge of penury without getting cut now and then.

My computer is in the junk heap, and I need a printer and some ink cartridges.

I am squinting to read as I need new eyeglasses AND sunglasses (very expensive for my particular eye disease. I will be completely blind if I live long enough.)

I haven't had any dental work in 15 years & need a surgical procedure for which I have no insurance.

My ancient car's power steering no longer works, I need new tires and an oil change, one of my little side windows is missing,  and did I mention the car is old?

As I calculate it, I need at least $3,000 to pull my life out of the emergency category but I am disabled & cannot work, so now is the time to beg for donations. It is humiliating, after a lifetime of hard work and self support, but it must be done. I have no choice.

i am most concerned about the computer, as I am writing a book and matching screenplay. I worked as a writer in my 20's and, while nothing is certain, I am at least equipped with experience in the television industry.

Please consider donating via PayPal, so I can pull myself out of the hole by working at the only thing I know how to do. Every little bit helps.

God Bless you all.

Silver

INTERNET SERVICE IS DEGRADING - BLOGGING WILL BE LIMITED

The internet service I have been using is the cheapest available, but it is no longer working most of the time. It takes me HOURS to get the simplest task accomplished online. The connection gets lost hundreds of times every day, and I have to do the same functions over and over again.

The telephone lines are 30 years old and were not meant to carry internet.  Telephone company repairmen have all told me that, if I was living in a house, rather than a large apartment complex, it would be a simple matter to get the internet directly to the outside wall and bypass the old wires, but I am not allowed to do that in the large apartment complex where I live.

I am not able to afford better service. Comcast pretty much has the monopoly on THAT.

Many years ago, I had responded to a "special" that Comcast was running. I had to subscribe to television service in order to get the internet. It is one of the arbitrary rules that they impose in order to sucker the consumer into purchasing things they do not need.

After the technician installed the equipment, I could not get it to work properly. I could not get very many channels. The internet was slow. The voice remote was not working.

I assumed that it was "operator error" since I am not technologically savvy, in many ways. It was a few months before I finally gave up trying to "learn" how to work the equipment and I called them and had them send out ANOTHER technician. That technician advised me that I had been set up with the wrong equipment, the wrong channels, the wrong service. I had been paying top dollar for what we affectionately call "ghetto cable" here in poor town.

I cancelled Comcast service because of all this mess, and now they claim I OWE THEM $211 ! They owe ME, but it is impossible to get through to them.

I refuse to pay these con artists a single cent for "services" I did not receive. I tried to talk to them about it this morning, but, of course, the woman barely spoke English and just kept repeating that her "system" is telling her that I owe them money. She refused to acknowledge anything I said to her about the previous experience, and just kept repeating the same thing, like a machine. Perhaps I WAS speaking to a machine. I do not know.

Something in the back of my mind also tells me that committing myself to another big bill, even if I were to get enough donations to cover the expenses, is NOT a good idea for an independent religious person.

Being disabled, it is almost impossible to live without cable, but I CAN live with and struggle with the horrible service that I have now, which is at least half as cheap as Comcast. It takes me ten times as long to shop or do anything else on the internet with this horrible service, so I will have to give up some things that are not necessary. Perhaps God wants me to pray more and compute less?

In any case, what this means for the blog is that blogging will be very limited. Do not be alarmed if I do not post for some time. The page is still active. The donation button works. I am still reachable. Feel free to comment. That is the easiest way to communicate with me. Otherwise, you can look me up on Facebook, where I have a presence.

God bless you all. I shall continue to pray for you.

Silver Rose

CONSIDER "THE LITTLE WAY" OF ST. THERESE

"The splendor of the rose and the whiteness

of the lily do not rob the little violet of its scent

nor the daisy of its simple charm.  If every tiny

flower wanted to be a rose, spring would lose

its loveliness." ~ Therese de Lisieux

I have known many people in my life who dream about big accomplishments in their Christian mission.  We love God so much that we want to do big things for Him, doing many good works for the poor people "out there" somewhere, and ignoring the little old lady sitting in the pew next to us who perhaps has neither husband nor family to care for her and who is lonely and in need.

Saint Therese, during her final illness.

Therese of Lisieux was ill and enclosed in a convent and, while she certainly prayed for the masses of people outside her convent who needed prayer, she found a way to holiness through the "little way" for which she had the means and ability.  She turned to her most immediate neighbors, her fellow sisters. and served them with love.  She practiced a multitude of little kindnesses to the sisters, especially those who had been cruel to her.

I used to know an elderly disabled woman who many times would plaintively complain, "I just wish I knew what Ministry Jesus wants me to do!  I keep asking him and He doesn't tell me."  She looked beyond her neighbors, many of whom were needy and/or lonely.  She had big dreams.  She wanted to be a big deal and do big things for the faith by bringing lots of people to Jesus, yet she barely understood the faith herself and did not have the health to do much of anything except take care of herself.

I used to have a dream of starting a religious order for retired and disabled women - women who were not wanted by convents because they are not able to withstand the rigors of convent life.  Nuns do not float around, six inches from the ground, hands clasped, and singing to the Lord all day. Being a nun in a typical contemplative convent is extremely taxing, both physically and mentally. All of the physical work of the maintenance of the premises is done by the nuns, as well as care of elderly sisters, cooking for the community, suffering lack of sleep and comforts, etc. The schedule can be relentless. It is not like a job, it is a 24/7 proposition

I still think that to create a contemplative order for disabled nuns is a good idea, and I think there is need for it, but I do not have the wherewithal to do it. Obviously, if the Lord intended me to be the person to bring this dream to fruition, He would have ensured that I had the requisite health and resources to accomplish a goal of this magnitude. Obviously, He had other ideas in mind.

Saint Therese, in the courtyard, getting some

fresh air during her final illness

Clearly, I need to avail myself of a good dose of humility and be content with the tiny little contributions that I can make for Jesus.

It is my impression that, if we wish to follow Jesus and we wonder what ministry He would have us do, we should look at the person sitting next to us in church, the lady in front of us in line at the supermarket, the widow living in the house down the street. The poor, the needy, the marginalized, the lonely, the abandoned are all sitting next to us. They are right in front of our faces, but we don't see them.

You could invite a lonely person out to lunch; smile at all the customer service people who take your money at the dry cleaners or the drug store or the supermarket; have a few single ladies over for tea; or have a conversation with someone who is odd, a little strange or repellent.  Make friends with the friendless. Take care of His sheep.

"I applied myself above all to practice quite hidden, 

little acts of virtue; thus I liked to fold the mantles

forgotten by the Sisters, and sought a thousand

opportunities of rendering them service."

~ Saint Therese of Lisieus ~

I have learned that Jesus wants us to follow Him, but we don't have to do it with a marching band, an army of converts, or a convent full of disabled sisters.  I am learning that a handful of kind gestures and a bucket full of smiles may be his most treasured gift.

God bless us all.

Silver Rose Parnell
Copyright (c) 2015
All rights reserved.