Something to Ponder • Remaining Faithful with Reverend Mary White
Confucius said, “No matter where you go, there you are.” This rings so true for those of us who have moved from place to place looking for something different, hoping to find an improved life. With great enthusiasm, we believe that our lives will change for the better and all is bliss until reality sets in. No matter how intensely we try, where we go, we just can’t get away from ourselves. I wonder what the fear is of self-discovery. Introspection is a gift we can give to the self. We may uncover negative qualities, but we can shift those traits so that we display more acceptable positive values that will make living with ourselves more pleasant.
Stay safe. Stay connected.
Blessings and the strength of Love be with you.
Rev. Mary,
revmjwhite@hotmail.ca
Reading by Diana Butler Bass
Excerpt from “Christianity After Religion: The End of Church and the Birth of a New Spiritual Awakening”
In his prison cell in 1944, Dietrich Bonhoeffer began a pilgrimage he never wished to take. He had been jailed by the Nazis, torn from family and friends and all he loved. An exile, really. And there, where in a place so different from all he had ever known, he found that he had not really known himself:
Who am I? They often tell me I stepped from my cell’s confinement
Calmly, cheerfully, firmly,
Like a squire from his country-house.
Who am I?…
Am I then really all that which other men tell of myself?…
Or am I only what I myself know of
Who am I? This or the other?…
Whoever I am,
Thou knowest,
O God, I am thine!
Prayer
Spirit God,
Your presence within opens our desire to live our lives to the fullest. When we cling to old ways, some of us have difficulty accepting our true self and living expansively. Help us to give up that which we clutch close to our chest, to let go, and be accepting of changes that are necessary to live openly and freely.
Help us to understand that we are now given an opportunity to broaden our knowledge, to learn new skills and be creative.
With grateful hearts we pray in the name of the One responsible for all life.
Amen