Photo was taken across the weekend at Tooreenbawn, Millstreet, Co.Cork (Irl)

A fly works a thistle flower as weather continues to improve and settle over Ireland.

Thought on Tuesday – September – 04/09/2012

‘Assess yourselves to check that you are living in the faith. Test yourselves to make sure.’ ~2 Corinthians 13:5

‘Taking Stock’ or ‘Counting Stock’ is not a job that many like doing. It smells of lots of hard tedious work, counting and recounting, checking records and loads of numbers. Some shops and stores even close down while the job takes place. But it is a job that has to be done especially in business. For them it is vital to check if stock is missing and to see what is selling well and what is struggling.

In terms of spirituality taking stock is a good and healthy thing to do. Even Jesus himself used to go off into quiet and lonely spots to be by himself to pray, to gather his thoughts together and to take stock of how life was going for him. Taking stock can take a minute at the end of the day, a few minutes at the weekend looking back on a week and sometimes much longer if the need to take time out is important. Taking stock while so beneficial can also be difficult. We can often see areas where we have slipped or are slipping. But at least we can do something about a slip in our lives and put some small effective positive change in its path. It is always good to pray for help in seeing ourselves as we really are, rather than what we imagine ourselves to be. Such honesty means ‘taking stock’ becomes an important thing to do rather than a burden to be avoided.