Words of Light and Hope from Sue Page LLM

Words of Light and Hope Sunday July 28th 2024  Trinity 9 

Today’s Thought from Iona                                                                                                                                                                                             I sense You at my soul’s door. But how can I open to You, dare to come close to You, when Your self-giving so outweighs anything I can ever give? What relationship can grow from such stark indebtedness? Only one where self has died – yet I still wrestle with my pride. But while You wait, the wooden door itself creaks, speaks with the sound of rushing wind through sunlit branches, the resonant voice of living heartwood, resin-rich redolence of dark pine needles; and my hand reaches for the latch as the whole forest whispers, Open to your love.’ Amen                                                                                                                                                                    Annie Heppenstall, from The Healer’s Tree

Readiness to Change                                                                                                                                                                                                       All true Christian life must begin with a deep yearning to become a “new self” in Christ, and an inner readiness to “put off the old self” – a readiness to become something   fundamentally different. Saint or sinner, all of us must be changed by Christ.¡                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          Dietrich von Hilerbrand

How Not to Live a Boring Life                                                                                                                                                                                           Without the Spirit, our upwardly mobile lives remain full but unfulfilled lives in which our many stories compete with each other for attention. Without the Spirit, our busy lives remain boring lives in which the many events of each day remain a series of      random incidents and accidents. Without the Spirit, our lives remain truly uneventful. But with the Spirit, all that takes place from day to day, week to week, and year to year, can be known and experienced as the concrete manifestations of the Christ-event in time and space. We can only know the true events of our time in and through the story of Christ.                                                                                                                           Henri Nouwen

Readiness to Change                                                                                                                                                                                                        All true Christian life must begin with a deep yearning to become a “new self” in Christ, and an inner readiness to “put off the old self” – a readiness to  become something fundamentally different. Saint or sinner, all of us must be changed by Christ.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              Dietrich von Hilerbrand

Shining                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    There is a beautiful light forever present Which can shine into our l,ives In times of   sadness bringing Joy…. In times of despair offering Hope, In times of Anxiety, breathing Peace. May we always look to This Light Which can shine in and through  All the Situations of Life                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 Elizabeth Mill