love moments

At the end of Jesus' life,

he was stripped naked,

scourged at the pillar,

dehydrated,

and so poor

neither the earth nor the wood of the cross

offered Him a place to lay His head.

God was homeless.

Christ had nowhere to rest His head except His own shoulder.

That's because Jesus was drunk with love.

Catherine of Siena

fog moment

I know a man who lives in Paris.
His wife has Alzheimer's.
He was an important businessman--his life was filled with busyness.
But he said that when his wife fell sick, "I just could not put her in an institution, so I keep her.
I feed her. I bathe her."
I went to Paris to visit them
and this businessman who had been very busy all his life said,
"I have changed. I have become more human."
I got a letter from him recently.
He said that in the middle of the night his wife woke him up.
She came out of the fog for a moment, and she said,
"Darling, I just want to thank you for all you're doing for me."
Then she fell back into the fog.
He said, "I wept and I wept."
Jean Vanier

church moment

during a time of prayer

with some friends

God was speaking with me about church

only

He did not call it

church

touch moment

Touch, yes, touch, speaks the wordless words of love.
We receive so much touch when we are babies and so little when we are adults.
Still, in friendship touch often gives more life than words.
A friend's hand stroking our back,
a friend's arms resting on our shoulder,
a friend's fingers wiping our tears away,
a friend's lips kissing our forehead ---
these are true consolation.
These moments of touch are truly sacred.
They restore,
they reconcile,
they reassure,
they forgive,
they heal.
Everyone who touched Jesus
and everyone whom Jesus touched
were healed.
God's love and power went out from him (see Luke 6:19).
When a friend touches us with free, nonpossessive love,
it is God's incarnate love that touches us
and God's power that heals us.
Henri Nouwen

take a moment
touch someone .........

today moment

Then there are the seasons of the body. Sooner or later, something will happen to me - an accident, sickness or disease will unfold, or I will just become weaker, slower and unable to read or write, unable to give talks.
To tell you the truth, I do not ponder too much on tomorrow. Live today well. Each season has its beauty. I have the strength for today and hopefuly too for tomorrow. Why waste time worrying or even questioning? Write me a letter when I am 86 - I'll tell you then what I feel!
Jean Vanier

80 moments

one of the persons who has had a huge impact on my spiritual life has just turned 80 ........
he is one whose dash between born and died is richly flavorful with Christ ........

Arriving at 80
I suppose arriving at 80 is more symbolic than anything else....
Of course, I'm taking care. I get up later, go to bed earlier, and sleep after lunch. So I feel pretty well. I feel happy. Yes happy to be alive, happy to be part of my community and happy to eat every day (when I am not travelling) in my home with Albert and Nathalie (who is blind), with Cariosa (from Pincher Creek, Alta.), with Monique (who speaks very little, but each word is a pearl) and with other people.
Jean Vanier

beautiful moment

I also believe that in each person
under all the hardness
the hate
the fear
and the anguish
there is a little child
waiting for the love he or she never had.
Human beings are truly beautiful
but so many do not know that they are beautiful.
-Jean Vanier

fallen moment

yet not one of them will fall to the ground

apart from the will of your Father

character moment

our character must be in front of our gifting

honest moment

Being with a friend in great pain is not easy.

It makes us uncomfortable.

We do not know what to do or what to say,

and we worry about how to respond to what we hear.

Our temptation is to say things that come more out of our own fear

than out of our care for the person in pain.

Sometimes we say things like

"Well, you're doing a lot better than yesterday,"

or

"You will soon be your old self again,"

or

"I'm sure you will get over this."

But often we know that what we're saying is not true,

and our friends know it too.
We do not have to play games with each other.

We can simply say:

"I am your friend, I am happy to be with you."

We can say that in words or with touch or with loving silence.

Sometimes it is good to say:

"You don't have to talk.

Just close your eyes.

I am here with you,

thinking of you,

praying for you,

loving you."

Henri Nouwen

present moment

when fully present with a friend

the lasting grace of our presence

will remain in our absence

thirsting moment

intil you know deep inside that Jesus thirsts for you

you can’t begin to know who He wants to be for you

or who He wants you to be for Him

Mother Teresa

today's moment

live gazing

growing moment

it has been proven to this limping pilgrim

that just as trees grow in silence

faith grows in the dark

penetrating moment

trees can grow well in rocky soil

but they only do this

by finding crevices in the rocks

where the roots are able to penetrate deeply

is it moment

when Jesus calmed the storm, did anyone think to offer Him a blanket
a warming bowl of soup

when He fed the 5000, did any one make sure He had a piece of the bread

when He washed the feet of His closest friends, did any one of them think to wash His feet

He never asked his friends asked for much ......... only to keep watch with Him

He is still asking today ......... is there any one who will simply keep watch with Him ......
simply be with him – not DO for him, simply BE with him ......

even this day, on the Sabbath day He has provided ........ is there any one who will quietly spend even a few hours
watching with the One who watches
beholding the One who beholds

is there any one who will wash His feet with their tears
anoint His head with their praise

is there any one who would dare to push through the throng of the religious
and simply lay their face upon His bloodied pierced feet

do you love Me?
one of you will betray Me

do you love Me?
before the cock crows three times, you will deny me

do you love Me?

is it I, Lord

am I awake

content moments

I am content to be still in this season

spending all my moments

with a man of sorrows

and acquainted with grief

words moment

critical

dangerous

life threatening

stroke

heart failure

enlarged chambers

medicate

investigate

complete bed rest

stop everything

avoid stress

irreversible

fragile

closely monitor

emergency

referral

critical cardiac care

learning to live within the parameters of a new language

without getting lost in the words

without losing the me of me

and being defined by this new language

it is a fight worth fighting ..........

time moment

this has been a very humbling time ............
a very beautiful tender time
a very powerful time
a very broken time
a time of being touched by the shadow in the valley
and a time of watching the shadow slowly dissipate into the light ........

a time of being touched
of being held
of being cared for by strangers and by friends

a time of strangers becoming friends through their care

a time of being still
and of a deep knowing in the stillness

a time of needing to say all the unsaid things

a time of being alone but not lonely

a time of tasting the fragility of life this side of heaven

a time of hearing my name being loudly called
in a whisper
and of embracing the whispered call

a time of worship
in a time of abject weakness

a time of being served
and of learning to welcome the service and the servers

a time of being completely dependent upon others
for absolutely everything

a time of letting go of all pride
of having all control fall away

a time of being willing to be seen helpless and bare by a community
and of being surrounded by a community willing to see me helpless and bare

there is no fear in this time
no anxiousness
no worry

there is a freedom in letting go
in receiving
in being touched
in being vulnerable
in asking for help

God is in this time
His Presence IS this time
His Son and Spirit indwell this time
in the secret place of His tent He has hidden me (ps 27:5)

there is an unheard song being birthed in this time
an untried melody

yet to be formed chords
words not yet spoken

and so I release my heart
my soul
my body
my spirit
to dance to the new rhythm of this time

and I wait ..........

in stillness
and in knowing

church moment

How baffling you are, oh church, and yet how I love you!
How you have made me suffer and yet how much I owe you!
I should like to see you destroyed and yet I need your presence.
You have given me so much scandal and yet you have made me understand sanctity.
I have seen nothing in the world more devoted to obscurity, more compromised, more false and I have touched nothing more pure, more generous, more beautiful.
How often I have wanted to shut the doors of my soul in your face and how often have I prayed to die in the safety of your arms.
No, I cannot free myself from you, because I am you, although not completely.
And, where should I go?
Carlo Carretto