Showing posts with label praise here?. Show all posts
Showing posts with label praise here?. Show all posts
Friday, February 17, 2017
Friday, August 5, 2016
What if I'm Hit by a Truck?
Cloister of the heart is nothing if not portable. Our hearts can be cloistered in airplanes or subways, on beaches and in cars. Or, as our friend Rose experienced several years ago, when we're being hit by a truck.
"As I was crossing the street," Rose wrote in a letter, "a big red truck rounded the corner and hit me. The impact sounded like a terrible explosion, and I was thrown to the ground. The police and ambulance came, they strapped me onto the stretcher, and we were off to the hospital.
It was frightening, but I felt very calm. The fact that I was alive just overwhelmed me. As I lay flat on my back in the emergency room, just staring at the ceiling, I had time to think. My first thoughts were that if I had died - what were my last words? I thought back. I was in a restaurant. I had gone up to the counter and thanked the owner for the nice lunch. This made me feel good, to realize that my last words would have been nice ones. For some reason, that was very important to me.
Then I began to ask myself that if I had died, would I have been prepared to meet God for judgment. I thought of my many failings and imperfections that need correcting. I thought of things I can do better in my life. But then: I thought of my morning Mass and Holy Communion. I thought of the time I'd just spent being present to my God only hours before. Would it be terrible for me to admit that at that moment I felt a disappointment that I hadn't died? That I was loving God so much that I really would have liked to have been with Him that very morning?
As these thoughts were going through my head, my husband came over and took my hand. I looked into his eyes and saw so much love and concern. Then I knew that God knows my husband and children need me and this just wasn't the time for me to leave them. God must have more work for me to do on this earth before He calls me home.
My sister asked me if this incident has changed my perspective on life any. No, it hasn't. I have always realized that death could come at any time and I have always tried to live my life in this light. It just confirms all that I have always thought and felt.
One consolation for me was to realize that when faced with the idea that I could have been killed, I was not scared for my soul. I honestly felt that I could have accepted it, embraced it, willingly and with joy.
I don't know why that truck hit me. I don't know what God has planned for me. I feel a peace and a joy that are unexplainable.
I want to sing alleluias all day long."
from a letter by Rose (used with her permission)
This is not the first time we've shared something from Rose here. Click the following titles for more...
Squeezing Through the Crack
When We Feel the Grillwork Crumbling
______________________________________________
thecloisteredheart.org
Thursday, June 9, 2016
Wednesday, June 8, 2016
Praying in My Portable Choir Stall
'O you who fear the Lord, praise Him in the places where you are now. Change of place does not affect any drawing nearer to God, but wherever you may be, God will come to you.' (Gregory of Nyssa)."
Re-reading the above quote, I ask myself: "where can God come to me?"
The answer: wherever I may be.
If I praise Him in the place where I am now, says St. Gregory, God WILL come to me. I can draw nearer to Him. Which means that right here, as I sit plunking away at a keyboard, I can draw near to God. Looking out my window, gazing at a sky of purest blue, I can offer prayer. I can praise God as much and as "thoroughly" as if I were sitting in a choir stall.
And when I get up from my chair, I can continue offering my actions and my prayer. Mine is a "choir stall" that can go with me to kitchen, car, dentist's office, mall.
"Opportunities are offered hourly for us to perform with great love seemingly unimportant works. Gentleness and patience toward others, overcoming our own moods and inclinations, acknowledging within ourselves our own imperfections, and persevering effort to keep ourselves tranquil and at peace: this faithfulness is greater than we can imagine." (from In the Midst of the World by Sister Joanne Marie Wenzel VHM, Brooklyn Visitation Monastery, 1985, p. 9)
I think I hear, from another part of my house, opportunity knocking. Like a monastery bell, it calls out to me. There are desks to be straightened, letters to sort, there's a kitchen in need of help. Change of place does not affect my drawing nearer to God.
So I shall pick up my choir stall and go scrub a sink.
Monday, June 6, 2016
In Places of Praise
"They are happy who dwell in Your house! Continually they praise You." (Psalm 84:5)
Imagine living where we could praise God all day long. Imagine being where just a few footsteps would bring us into His Presence, and we could come before Him in adoration.
'O you who fear the Lord, praise Him in the places where you are now. Change of place does not affect any drawing nearer to God, but wherever you may be, God will come to you.' (Gregory of Nyssa)."
Praise Him in the place where I am now? Wherever I may be, He will come to me? Now, that is a beautifully 'cloistered heart' idea, and a striking promise, and I know it is the truth.
I do, however, need lots of reminding. So with this in mind, I hope to spend the next few days here visiting some of the places where God can meet with me. Would you like to come along?
The truth is: we live precisely where we can praise God all day long. Just a word of prayer can bring us into His Presence.
We can come to Him in adoration, wherever we may be.
Photo © C Wells
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)