Photo was taken last Sunday at Altamount, Millstreet, Co.Cork (Irl)

A drop of water tumbles with gravity as soon as a thaw began at the weekend

Thought on Thursday – March – 07/03/2019

Thought For The Week

‘All the goodness, love, value and tenderness we experience in life fall short precisely because we already know something deeper. When we feel frustrated, angry, betrayed, violated or enraged, it is in fact because our outside experience is so different from what we already hold dear inside.’ ~Ronald Rolheiser

Life as we know has a unique ability to uplift and energise us. But just as quick it can shatter and bring us back down to reality in the blink of an eye. Our expectations in life are often not met, particularly values that are precious to us such as love, trust, honesty, goodness and so on. What we hold dear and precious to us is not always reflected back to us in how people relate to us.

We need to begin to understand that this is not our fault. No one can take away our own sense of worth, our identity, our fingerprint, our energy, our gifts and talents and all those things that are precious to us. Others may not understand us but we are assured that God understands us, loves us and will always stand by our side.

We began our journey through Lent with Ash Wednesday yesterday. The journey through Lent can be a time of personal reflection. In the past Lent was often seen as a penance, difficult and at times severe. But putting all the emphasis on hardship may not always have been the best approach. Look at sport; for many years when you trained the emphasis was on tough hard physical training. Unless you went home exhausted you really hadn’t trained. Today the emphasis has changed, with a realisation in how important a more balanced approach is, to avoid burnout.

A balanced spiritual approach to Lent is always a good start. Lent can be a time to reflect on God’s love for us, a time to reflect that we are unique and special and that our contribution to life is valued and cherished. Lent is also so much more. I hope your journey through Lent, will be personal and special for you.

Thought For The Week is updated each Monday