A Long Afternoon Walk

Fresh and delicious thoughts and daydreams. A long afternoon walk. Thinking of dogwood and magnolia trees in the spring. A moment of reflection as I walk on the sidewalk away from my house. The sky is vague
preparing for night. My mind silently says little prayers; my mind is fringed with hope. There is something dazzling about Mass before dinner. Spiritual hunger can lead us to exquisite insights into love, charity, obedience; questions about virtue and goodness can lead to delicate revelations about how to be a humble servant of the Lord’s. Honest, simple prayer is necessary. Morality is necessary; decency is necessary. How wonderful some of the lawns with their hedges do appear. How wonderful it is to have the leisure to offer prayer to the Lord! How peaceful prayer can make us feel once we learn how to pray, how to meditate, how to be patient. Learn to avoid anxiety. Learn to pray with the simplicity and enthusiasm of faithful children. Contentment may follow such prayers when both the mind and soul are open and when both are clean and pure. God’s love for each one of us is boundless. Because of our own private individual sins we must simply confront our unworthiness and beg for forgiveness; no matter how good or holy we may believe we are, there is always some little stray thought or comment which keeps us human, keeps sin alive in all of us. We must pray for the wisdom to discover and understand this subtle obstacle to loving ourselves, our neighbors and our God. My mind remembers fields stretching for miles in each, fields on gently rolling hills, fields with wooden fences, fields alive and green. Sometimes our lives contain a hidden softness. And we can share delightful anecdotes about warm donuts, cold orange juice, missing buttons on wool coats. And we can always find time to pray to God. There is always work to be done; always volunteer work to be done. God’s love for us is boundless. In our hearts there is a desire to please God, to find our true vocation, to be a humble servant for God. All humans need a moment of silence, to reflect and to pray. How peaceful the moment is. The weather cold and crisp pleases me. And are you willing to proclaim your love for God. This January morning my mind allows me to see verdant meadows and blossoming orchards; to rest my eyes on the Gospels written on the clouds in the blue sky; to have Jesus Christ with me; to listen to his preaching, his parables; to be filled with a calm goodness. How wonderful the grass and trees are! How much gratitude and love I do feel, I do have. The days of trouble and uncertainty are too frequent but prayer teaches how to calmly accept each moment of chaos and difficulty. Prayer sometimes provides a second of blissful presentiment when we imagine the world to be peaceful, loving and fair. We must remember that it is our actions, our thoughts, our words which can create our happiness and peace. There is much goodness and innocence in the world to enchant and inspire our humility and charity. There is much grief in the world that needs our compassion, love, and prayers. We must not hide the miserable or ignoble things which life does present to us. We must accept them and offer them to God.