If you can look at the sunset and smile, then you still have hope.
If you can find beauty in the colors of a small flower, then you still have hope.
If you can find pleasure in the movement of a butterfly, then you still have hope.
If the smile of a child can still warm your heart, then you still have hope.
If you can see the good in other people, then you still have hope.
If the rain breaking on a roof top can still lull you to sleep, then you still have hope.
If the sight of a rainbow still makes you stop and stare in wonder, then you still have hope.
If the soft fur of a favored pet still feels pleasant under your fingertips, then you still have hope.
If you meet new people with a trace of excitement and optimism, then you still have hope.
If you give people the benefit of a doubt, then you still have hope.
If you still offer your hand in friendship to others that have touched your life, then you still have hope.
If receiving an unexpected card or letter still brings a pleasant surprise, then you still have hope.
If the suffering of others still fills you with pain and frustration, then you still have hope.
If you refuse to let a friendship die, or accept that it must end, then you still have hope.
If you look forward to a time or place of quiet and reflection, then you still have hope.
If you still buy the ornaments, put up the Christmas tree or cook the turkey, then you still have hope.
If you still watch love stories or want the endings to be happy, then you still have hope.
If you can look to the past and smile, then you still have hope.
If, when faced with the bad, when told everything is futile, you can still look up and end the conversation with the phrase...."yeah....BUT.." then you still have hope.
Hope is such a marvelous thing. It bends, it twists, it sometimes hides, but rarely does it break. It sustains us when nothing else can. It gives us reason to continue and courage to move ahead, when we tell ourselves we'd rather give in.
Hope puts a smile on our face when the heart cannot manage.
Hope puts our feet on the path when our eyes cannot see it.
Hope moves us to act when our souls are confused of the direction.
Hope is a wonderful thing, something to be cherished and nurtured, and something that will refresh us in return. And it can be found in each of us, and it can bring light into the darkest of places.
NEVER LOSE HOPE!
Author Unknown
The Sermon Walking
One afternoon in 1953, reporters and officials gathered at a Chicago
railroad station to await the arrival of the 1952 Nobel Prize winner.
He stepped off the train- a giant of a man, six-feet-four, with bushy hair
and a long moustache. As cameras flashed, city officials approached with
hands outstretched and began telling him how honored they were to meet him.
He thanked them politely and then, looking over their heads, asked if he
could be excused for a moment. He walked through the crowd with quick
strides until he reached the side of an elderly black woman who was
struggling as she tried to carry two large suitcases.
He picked up the bags in his big hands and, smiling, escorted the woman to a
bus. As he helped her aboard, he wished her a safe journey. Meanwhile, the
crowd tagged along behind him. He turned to them and said, "Sorry to have
kept you waiting."
The man was Dr. Albert Schweitzer, the famous missionary-doctor who had
spent his life helping the poorest of the poor in Africa. A member of the
reception committee said to one of the reporters, "That's the first time I
ever saw a sermon walking."
A Prayer to Our Blessed Lady
for those who are growing old
Take my hand, O Blessed Mother,
Hold me firmly lest I fall,
I am nervous when I am walking
and to thee I humbly call.
Guide me over every crossing
watch me when I´m on the stairs
Let me know you are beside me,
Listening to my fervent prayers.
Bring me to my destination,
walk beside me every day,
Help me with each undertaking,
As my hours they pass away.
And when the evening falls upon me,
And I fear to be alone,
Take my hand O Blessed Mother
Please stay with me in my home.
Jesus Calling
June 15
When you approach Me in stillness and in trust, you are strengthened. You need a buffer zone of silence around you in order to focus on things that are unseen. Since I am invisible, you must not let your senses dominate your thinking. The curse of this age is overstimulation of the senses, which blocks out awareness of the unseen world.
The tangible world still reflects My Glory, to those who have eyes that see and ears that hear. Spending time alone with Me is the best way to develop seeing eyes and hearing ears. The goal is to be aware of unseen things even as you live out your life in the visible world.
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.
—2 Corinthians 4:18
And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”
—Isaiah 6:3
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I put my hope.
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