Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Monday, January 11, 2010
Canticle of the Sun
The Canticle of the Sun (or The Canticle of the Creatures), known definitely to be by St. Francis, is at once the most sublime of all the lauds as well as the most original. The legend goes that when St. Francis was recovering from an illness in a hut outside the convent of St. Clare, the nuns heard from his lips this rapturous new song. The informality, even casualness, of its composition and its rambling rhythms and rhymes make it as simple and unaffected in its form as the Umbrian dialect in which it is written. G. K. Chesterton, in his reflections on the saint, wrote of this work: "It is a supremely characteristic work and much of Saint Francis could be reconstructed from that work alone." Song, music, and poetry were so deeply a part of the nature of Saint Francis that in times of sorrow and sickness as well as of joy and good health he spontaneously gave voice in song to his feelings, his inspirations, and his prayers. Praise God that he did!
Canticle of the Sun
Most high, all-powerful, all good, Lord!
All praise is yours, all glory, all honor
And all blessing.
To vou alone, Most High, do they belong.
No mortal lips are worthy
To pronounce your name.
All praise be yours, my Lord, through all that you have made,
And first my lord Brother Sun,
Who brings the day; and light you give to us through him.
How beautiful is he, how radiant in all his splendor!
Of you, Most High, he bears the likeness.
All praise be yours, my Lord, through Sister Moon and Stars;
In the heavens you have made them, bright
And precious and fair.
All praise be yours, my Lord, through Brothers Wind and Air,
And fair and stormy, all the weather's moods,
By which you cherish all that you have made.
All praise be yours, my Lord, through Sister Water,
So useful, lowly, precious, and pure.
All praise be yours, my Lord, through Brother Fire,
Through whom you brighten up the night.
How beautiful he is, how gayl Full of power and strength.
All praise be yours, my Lord, through Sister Earth, our mother,
Who feeds us in her sovereignty and produces
Various fruits and colored flowers and herbs.
All praise be yours, my Lord, through those who grant pardon
For love of you; through those who endure
Sickness and trial.
Happy those who endure in peace,
By you, Most High, they will be crowned.
All praise be yours, my Lord, through Sister Death,
From whose embrace no mortal can escape.
Woe to those who die in mortal sin
Happy those She finds doing your will!
The second death can do no harm to them.
Praise and bless my Lord, and give him thanks,
And serve him with great humility .
Sunday, January 10, 2010
no one thought they'd see you!!!
Upon entering heaven …
I was shocked, confused, bewildered as I entered Heaven’s door,Not by the beauty of it all, by the lights or its decor.
But it was the folks in Heaven who made me sputter and gasp –the thieves, the liars, the sinners, the alcoholics, the trash.
There stood the kid from seventh grade who swiped my lunch money twice.Next to him was my old neighbor who never said anything nice.
Herb, who I always thought was rotting away in hell,was sitting pretty on cloud nine, looking incredibly well.
I nudged the angel, “What’s the deal? I would love to hear Your take.How’d all these sinners get up here? God must’ve made a mistake.
And why’s everyone so quiet, so somber? Give me a clue.” “Hush, child,”said he. “They’re all in shock.
No one thought they’d see you.”
Author Unknown strikes again
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Hey, progress has been made!
This is one of those note to myself kind of things but I figured I'd share it if there are others who feel less than 100% today ... and maybe a touch down about stuff ...
One of the myths of Christianity that being a Christian means always being happy, confident, almost blissfully filled with the Holy Spirit. What I've seen from my experience is that those who don't struggle at times, do not ask the hard questions do not really get truly strong in the faith and have a more fragile faith when things get tough and challenging. For most Christians, conversion does not bring about drastic differences that you can perceive. Most of us still suffer from more-than-occasional doubts, discouragements, getting mad at God, and all-too-frequent sinning. It is a narrow road we walk.
Of course ... There are also lots of times we are graced with joy, and strength. Some real soaring Spiritual highs and growth! But alas, it takes a lot of living in faith to grow out of the negative things, and we never entirely leave them behind. It takes a long time to lay-down the blocks of the foundation. The building blocks include: faithfully attending worship, even when you feel down; praying regularly even when you'd rather spend the time doing something else, working at serving others, forgiving others even when you're really mad at them, and the many other Christian practices we know about.
When we do these things for month after month, year after year, and one day we look back and say 'hey, I've made a lot of progress! I don't suffer from doubts nearly as much as I used too! I don't lose my temper nearly as often as I used to, etc..."!!!!! Hey! Progress has been made!
Tim
1 Thess 5:16 Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
Antoine's Rockpile
An interesting quote I would like to share with you all ....
"A rock pile ceases to be a rock pile the moment a single man contemplates it, bearing within him the image of a cathedral."
~~Antoine de Saint-Exupery
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Inundation of Information
Where is the Life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?T.S. Eliot
How much time have I spent thinking of the inundation of information that is at my fingertips every day? That has been at my fingertips for years, starting with Myspace and now with Twittering? Do you remember when Facebook became the new Myspace, then Blogs gained over Facebook, then Twittering became the new Blogging, and now everybody’s Tweeting? What’s next?
What do I do with the eleventy-two ways I have to connect with 750 of my “best friends” these days? Do I really know 750 people?! And if I vaguely remember them from ten years ago, am I supposed to write on their wall? Or is accepting their friend request enough of a hello? How do I sift through all of the chatter and noise? How do I find the depth? The life? The human behind the 140 characters? How do I cull out what’s important and leave the rest? How do I flippin’ know when to stop reading?
And, seriously, how do I know when I need to stop chattering?
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