Your Right Hand Saves Me, O Lord

Ps 138:1-2ab, 2cde-3, 7c-8
Your right hand saves me, O Lord.
 I will give thanks to you, O LORD, with all my heart,
for you have heard the words of my mouth;
in the presence of the angels I will sing your praise;
I will worship at your holy temple,
and give thanks to your name.
R. Your right hand saves me, O Lord.
Because of your kindness and your truth,
you have made great above all things
your name and your promise.
When I called, you answered me;
you built up strength within me.
R. Your right hand saves me, O Lord.
Your right hand saves me.
The LORD will complete what he has done for me;
your kindness, O LORD, endures forever;
forsake not the work of your hands.
R. Alleluia.

Thank you all for your kind, helpful, wise words of comfort.

You helped me immensely yesterday.

When I read one of my devotionals for today, it said this:

"As for trials, the more the better...What does anyone know who doesn't know how to suffer for Christ?" - "Sayings of Light and Love," by St. John of the Cross

I am not there yet (where I can honestly feel, The more trials, the better). But it was a good reminder of the work God has done in my character through suffering in this life. Perhaps He is doing more work in this area right now. I have hope.

Another of the daily devotionals said this:

"Let us not pray to be sheltered from dangers but to be fearless when facing them." - Rabindranath Tagore

So with God's love, your encouragement and loving words, I will face whatever is in front of me.

When I was riding the ferry over to Seattle on Mother's Day, I was praying and asking God for help. As the boat was leaving the island, I sat in the sun by the window, and faced the Olympic Mountains across the harbor. The sky was blue, and there were puffy white clouds dotting the sky. The mountains were covered with snow, radiating white-blue-purple splendor. The green of the trees was reflected in the water below, and I saw people enjoying their boats and the beach.

As I prayed and took in this beautiful scene, I realized that I needed to feel more loved and supported, and that I needed to look for that love and support in God. Then I realized, "I know You love me, God. You have made this gorgeous vista, and I get to look at it and enjoy it. I am going to this concert today, which I dreamed of attending. You are extravagently loving. I just need to remember to come to You when I feel empty and need love."

Richard Rohr posted this, recently:

"Once a woman has held her baby inside of her body for nine months and brought it forth in pain into the world, this woman knows the mystery of transformation in her body. She knows it intuitively, yet she cannot verbalize it. She just holds it in a deeper level of consciousness. She knows something about mystery, about miracles and about transformation that men will never know...

"The feminine body can be seen as a cauldron of transformation. Her body turns things into other things — her body turns a love act into a perfect little child. Yet, in her heart, she knows SHE did not do it. All she had to do was to wait and eat well, to believe and to hope for nine months. This gives a woman a very special access to understanding spirituality as transformation, if she listens."  - Adapted from The Maternal Face of God (CD)

(part of On Transformation: Collected Talks, Vol. 1)

"If she listens." I am trying to listen more attentively now. Thank you all for helping me to hear.