Daily
Thoughts:
"Today I have set before you, life and prosperity, death and doom...I have
set before you, life and death, the blessing and the curse. Choose
life..." Moses in the Book of Deuteronomy presents to the people, presents
to us two roads for the taking and suggests to us that we choose the road of
life.
Many
years ago as I was entering religious life my sister gave me a gift; I think it
was for Christmas. It was a picture of a road sign, with an arrow pointing in
two directions. It is the kind of sign that you find as a road comes to an end
and as a driver you have to make a choice to go either right or left. Beneath
the picture were the last three lines of Robert Frost's poem The Road Not
Taken.
"Two
roads diverged in the woods, and I -
I took
the one less traveled by,
And that
has made all the difference."
The
picture has hung on my wall wherever I have lived over the years and has been
an inspiration; it has been a reminder that the journey that I have traveled
even though difficult at times has been the right journey.
We might
say that Moses is presenting to us two roads that diverge in the living of
life. That we stand before those two roads that Moses calls Life and Death,
blessing and curse, prosperity and doom. There are no signs just the choice of
two roads, two ways to live life and we have to choose. Moses suggests that we
choose life. In many ways this suggestion is the road less traveled because it
is not always comfortable, it is not always self-gratifying, it is not always
easy and it is not always the road everyone else is traveling. The road of life
can be filled with crosses, struggles, challenges, steep hills and selfless
responses.
The road
of life has none of the allurements that you often find on the other road,
power, wealth, instant gratification, self-importance, status and greatness in
the eyes of the world. Yet, on the road of life you also do not find
loneliness, judgmentalness, selfishness, greed, anger and death. On the road of
life, you will find a community. It is a community ready to help, ready to walk
with you. It is a community with a vision, a purpose beyond this life. It is a
community of faith, of hope and of love. On the road of life faith will be
strengthened, hope will be enlivened and love will be the order of the day!
Yes, as
we begin Lent we are presented with two roads diverging in front of us. There
is a great crowd walking down the one, no so many on the other. Which road are
we going to choose? My hope is that we choose the road less traveled, my hope
is we choose life because that will make all the difference!
Have a
great Thursday everyone!
Daily
Prayer:
O God of Life, as we stand before the roads that this day presents to us,
enliven us with the wisdom to choose the road of life. As we walk this road
less travel keep us ever mindful that we are not alone that you walk with us.
Strengthen us for the crosses, the challenges of this road. Grace us with the
hope that we will always find your presence, your forgiveness, your mercy, your
truth and your love as we make this journey. May we choose the road of life
today and let it make all the difference in our life and in the lives of all we
meet! Amen!
A
Runner's Thoughts: Perhaps as we run today we too should choose the road less
traveled: the road of awareness as we run, the road of revelation as we run,
the road of intention as we run, the road of mindfulness as we run, the road of
imagination as we run, the road of prayer as we run. Today let's pick a road we
have not traveled lately and let it make a difference in our life today!
Daily
Blessing:
Thursday greetings and blessings to all. I trust you made it through Ash
Wednesday and are now ready to set sail through Lent. I cannot yet tell what
kind of day it is going to be here in Pelham though I do know it is going to be
a cold one. We are headed for the deep freeze over the next few days but I don’t
think we will have any more snow just wind and cold. I hope the weather is a
little better wherever you are. We all live in the hopefulness that spring is
not too far away.
Today
will be a busy day as I prepare for our monthly taping day for the Sunday Mass
tomorrow. I am also headed to the Wartburg Home for mass at 11 am this morning.
I will be offering the Sacrament of the Sick during mass on this memorial of
Our Lady of Lourdes. Many things to do today with another mission on the
horizon for the weekend and next week.
My prayer
of blessing for today is that God will bless us with the energy to be joyful
people today. That we will see the gift of the road that we have chosen and
celebrate that gift with all we meet. May we choose life and blessing all day
today, through the strength of our faith, the energy of our hope and the
richness of our love! Blessing to all today. Peace in Christ’s Passion…Fr. Paul
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