People who don't really know God fully often coast thru in life spiritually. They often talk a big talk about Him, but are empty when it comes to prayer, spending time with Him, learning to hear His Still Small Voice that prompts us forward to do extraordinary things in every day life that appear insignificant to others. The world will only change when i start with me! Something happened the other day and i will share it for the value of the lesson. i had a meeting, bought some groceries and got in my car. i then saw a woman in a eskimo jacket pushing a 90 yr old woman in a wheelchair. She was well dressed but appeared heavy hearted and serious. A thought entered my mind, "angie, go and greet this woman!" For a second i fought with the idea hearing the thoughts of so many in my life who always tried to stop me from being me. Teachers, parents, siblings, friends....lots of people who would say "You don't even know them", "Who do you think you are?", "Don't do that", "What are you crazy?", "What will you say?"..etc. Oh how i used to be affected by these ignorant statements. Thank God i have outgrown the need to please another and approval....So although i was tired and was on a schedule i thought about it. After that thought , i said, "OK God i will act on this...it is nice, kind ....and any good and wholesome thing always is an inspiration from You!" i did know they could reject me, but it did not stop me from proceeding to greet them. So i shut the car off, got out and went over to them. i asked the lady pushing the wheelchair if it would be okay to greet the elderly woman. She said surely. i then asked this elder how she was, and she started to weep. She was Turkish so the young woman translated for me....Here's what i said,"You are special...i respect you ....courage...God hasn't made a mistake having you here.....Your life has meaning and the world counts on your prayers...and your example and passing on to us your values of old."....i hugged her...and she wept. The woman caretaking for her was her daughter and she asked me if i could hug her too. i did and whispered in her ear,"You are extraordinary. What you do in caring for your Mom is the most important work on the face of the earth!" How she wept....and the elder touched my heart and said to her daughter in Turkish,"This heart was given to her by God! Get her phone number." What a compliment! But the compliment is God's and His Alone for any good thing we do comes only from The Source, God Himself! The funny thing is i spoke English and she spoke Turkish but we communicated in the Spirit soul to soul. i left changed again. Every time i reach out and do what that still small voice tells me, i am changed and experience the Living God Alive and Well in my life and the life of others. They took my phone number, we promised each other prayers and went on our different ways. i met two sisters that day i did not know i had and they are Muslim and i am Catholic. A meeting of hearts scheduled by God Himself.
Why do i share this?...surely not to bring any attention to me....but to God Who speaks things to us on a daily basis. If we will only chase Him to experience His Glance of Love, things in our lives will shift. It is a foreign way to live, no one teaches us these things, but they are learned at the Feet of the Living God. At every thought, stop for just a second and in that pause question yourself, is this holy, good, kind...something that will be helpful?....If so, God may be speaking to you and you have nothing to lose and much to gain in going forward with it. Bring out the child in you this Christmas Season...forget the lists....forget the haste...forget the stress....find Jesus. for the first time...or find Him again....Conversion is a life long process....it is constant and ongoing....Listen for His Still Small Voice....Listen and you will hear as the First Reading at Mass today says..(see it below)....So, offer to sit and eat with a homeless person you see at Dunkin Donuts, pick up garbage on your street even though you did not put it there, help an elder having trouble carrying groceries, leave a cart that requires a quarter out in the parking lot for someone else to be able to use for free, spend time with the least in your family especially the mentally ill and those limited in abilities, find ways to enjoy weekly visits with your parents and grandparents, and great grandparents accepting and loving them just as they are, find a widow/divorcee who could use some company, a parent who has lost a child who needs some kindness, or the fatherless who ache from the rejection or loss of either parent, say hello to those you run in to even if you do not know them, and greet the children in the store or on the street with a kind smile and happy word...GO AND MAKE YOUR IMPACT ON YOUR WORLD!!!....And if this blog speaks to you in any way, pass it forward. Send the link out to all your email and phone contacts. Who knows? Someone in that list may be desperate for God's Glance and something as simple as a blog may bring them healing. It is the purpose for which it was started. ....Blessed Third Week in Advent to all....Fruitful Advent to all of us (may we be changed by our Advent practices)....Until next time...Is 35:3-6a
Strengthen the hands that are feeble,
make firm the knees that are weak,
say to those whose hearts are frightened:
Be strong, fear not!
Here is your God,
he comes with vindication;
with divine recompense
he comes to save you.
Then will the eyes of the blind be opened,
the ears of the deaf be cleared;
then will the lame leap like a stag,
then the tongue of the mute will sing.
ps: in order to be able to write more often as requested, i will not proof my writings so forgive any grammatical errors....i don't have the time at this moment in my life to devote to perfecting everything i write...God bless!
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