The power of ONE

I like calendars where you can turn the page every month. There is something sort of a ritual as I turn one page to another and see the number one. It means a new beginning, a possibility to change, to get out of a rut. It is like God telling me "hey, enough with the self-pity and self-recrimination, see, I am making something new. I am renewing you".

Infinite presence

A new month, a new beginning. Every day is a new beginning, but there is something special about the beginning of each month. For one, you turn over a page in your calendar; for some, it might even be necessary to tear the page of the old month. So it is like a ritual that tells you that, indeed, you have a new horizon ahead of you.
As I write new pages in my life's story, I realize that I am not alone. There is a Presence that is infinitely other than me, beyond me. And it is in this infinite Ocean that I am able to accept my mistakes, my limitations, and my failure when I see how little I have accomplished and how much I have wasted.
But is anything ever wasted? I think not, I hope not. I believe that every experience, even the ones that may seem like a backward step, has something to offer: a deeper capacity for empathy, the realization that I cannot control everything, a call to be patient and to trust the process.
God's presence in my life and in history is much, much more than what I can see and evaluate.

Compassion

I have a blog. I've had it for a few years now and its title is "Everyday Compassion".
Compassion is an attitude that has always fascinated me. It is one of the most moving traits of Jesus.
Compassion indicates an abundance of goodness in one's heart,and this cannot be but a gift of God. If I only rely on my own natural traits, they get drained and exhausted. I can only give so much, if I rely on my own.
Hence, I am called to be humble; to realize how much my everyday life is filled with God's goodness, with God's compassion. If God forgets me for an instant, I come to nothing. And the thing is, God just does it as pure grace, out of the abundance of His mercy,
Yes, indeed, I am called to show compassion everyday. We have a lot of hurting people; we have a lot of fragile situations.
The beginning and end of my mission is compassion.
The end of my mission is to be moved and to act with compassion in the face of a hurting world.
The beginning is God, my everyday compassion.

At the end of the year

The end of anything is always a call to look back; looking back always provokes sentiments.
Today, as I look back at the year 2015, I feel amazed at how I manage to be serene despite the fact that so much has happened.
I also feel grateful because more and more I see that my life is really in God's hands. I have lost count of the times I have acted in a very positive way, when all the while I was ready with an angry retort. I know all the more that it is Christ living and acting in me.
Lastly, I feel in awe of God's mercy. I have so many limitations. There are many times I don't give to God what He deserves. But God is kind and merciful. God always leads me to a new beginning.

Tears

Tears heal.
They heal us of our false invincibility.
They heal us of our superficial calm.
They heal us of our pretenses.
They heal us of many illusions.
Tears clean us.
Tears clean our eyes.
Tears clean our bottled and pent up emotions.
Tears clean our hearts of rancor.
Tears cleanse our heart and soul.
Tears open us up to new beginnings.