SurvivingInfidelity.com^®

Amen

I pray for everyone in the path of Florence, including our own member anoldlion.

I'm praying for gmc94 and her family. Her husband especially. He tried to commit suicide last night. They don't know if he's going to pull through or not.

[This message edited by Wool94 at 11:26 AM, September 18th (Tuesday)]

I still lift up all of those struggling in the wake of this massive storm.

[This message edited by Wool94 at 5:44 AM, September 19th (Wednesday)]

Amen! As someone who lived through Katrina...and the aftermath of NO communication...NO food...NO utilities...and even limited ability to get our own money out of our bank...it will be a long way back to "normal". Thank You God for all of the volunteers...utility workers...and people of good will who are rushing in to HELP in any way they can .

The heartbreaking story of VirginiaRegret and her 18 year old son committing suicide.

I can't imagine the pain. I know a God who can though. He knows what it's like to lose a child.

God please be whatever they need.

Sending prayers for the individuals suffering because of the wild fires in California.

Prayers for all of you and may you feel loved this winter. Remember that the spirit of love is always with you even when you feel down. No one is too small or too ordinary. We are all loved and through kindness, we magnify its power.

This is a tough time for many. I pray all of us here find joy and peace during this special time. Many are travelling or have family travelling. I pray we all have safe travels, that God is a shield for us and our loved ones. Joy to the world and Peace to all.

I still pray for everyone who has a reason to be here.

Reactivating this topic by request.

For FF, who is mourning.

For Maia, who is troubled by the weight of concerns.

For VioletElle, who seems hopeless.

For everyone on SI, that they may find peace and hope.

Isaiah 30: 20-21

“And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity, and the water of affliction, yet shall not thy teachers be removed in a corner any more, but thine eyes shall see thy teachers. And thine ears shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left.”

Praying.

I arise today

Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,

Through a belief in the Threeness,

Through confession of the Oneness

Of the Creator of creation.

I arise today

Through the strength of Christ's birth and His baptism,

Through the strength of His crucifixion and His burial,

Through the strength of His resurrection and His ascension,

Through the strength of His descent for the judgment of doom.

I arise today

Through the strength of the love of cherubim,

In obedience of angels,

In service of archangels,

In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward,

In the prayers of patriarchs,

In preachings of the apostles,

In faiths of confessors,

In innocence of virgins,

In deeds of righteous men.

I arise today

Through the strength of heaven;

Light of the sun,

Splendor of fire,

Speed of lightning,

Swiftness of the wind,

Depth of the sea,

Stability of the earth,

Firmness of the rock.

I arise today

Through God's strength to pilot me;

God's might to uphold me,

God's wisdom to guide me,

God's eye to look before me,

God's ear to hear me,

God's word to speak for me,

God's hand to guard me,

God's way to lie before me,

God's shield to protect me,

God's hosts to save me

From snares of the devil,

From temptations of vices,

From every one who desires me ill,

Afar and anear,

Alone or in a mulitude.

I summon today all these powers between me and on behalf of those seeking, hurting, writhing souls here against evil,

Against every cruel merciless power that opposes our bodies and souls,

Against incantations of false prophets,

Against black laws of pagandom,

Against false laws of heretics,

Against craft of idolatry,

Against spells of witches and smiths and wizards,

Against every knowledge that corrupts man's body and soul.

Christ shield me today

Against poison, against burning,

Against drowning, against wounding,

So that reward may come to me in abundance.

Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me,

Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me,

Christ on my right, Christ on my left,

Christ when I lie down, Christ when I sit down,

Christ in the heart of every man who thinks of me,

Christ in the mouth of every man who speaks of me,

Christ in the eye that sees me,

Christ in the ear that hears me.

I arise today

Through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity,

Through a belief in the Threeness,

Through a confession of the Oneness

Of the Creator of creation

[This message edited by Maia at 11:46 AM, May 15th (Wednesday)]

Today, a prayer for humility, for myself and for all those who need it.

Luke 14:11

For all those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.

Proverbs 18:12

Before a downfall the heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor.

2 Corinthians 10:5

[Inasmuch as we] refute arguments and theories and reasonings and every proud and lofty thing that sets itself up against the [true] knowledge of God; and we lead every thought and purpose away captive into the obedience of Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed One)

Today, for wisdom, which I do not have, through honesty, which is always a daily prayer

James 3:17

But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere.

Praying for strength to do the right thing in the right way as I travel a difficult path.

[This message edited by Ripped62 at 12:52 PM, May 17th (Friday)]

I'm praying for all of you. I'm especially praying for you Ripped62.

I lift up everyone mentioned in this thread.

Thank you for bringing this back Pippin!

Thank you for opening this thread!

I wanted to share a reflection I received yesterday.

Peace everyone...

Needed: A New Maturity to Match Our Freedom

We are the freest people to ever walk this planet, at least in terms of opportunity. Our freedom is so great that, at times, it is almost a burden, an over-choice. We often find it difficult to commit ourselves to marriage, to a vocation, to a career, and to a friendship precisely because we are so free and have so many choices.

Freedom is a great gift. But it’s easily misused and easily becomes a destructive thing. We’ve all hurt others and ourselves through the misuse of our freedom.

But something doesn’t become bad just because it’s misused. Food remains a good thing, even when we over-eat. It’s the same with freedom. It remains always the greatest gift that God has given us, even though we don’t always use it maturely. Jesus came to bring us freedom. But it’s easy to lose that perspective and, today, it’s not uncommon to hear sincere, good-hearted, religious people speak out against freedom, as if it were an enemy, something that should be restricted in the name of God, church, and morality.

While that’s sincere, it’s also misguided. What’s needed today is not less freedom but more maturity. We don’t need to roll back freedom in the name of God and morality: we need raise the level of our maturity to match the level of our freedom. Simply put, we are often too immature to carry properly the great gift of freedom that God has given us. The answer to that is not to denigrate freedom in the name of God and morality, but to invite a deeper maturity so as to more properly honour the great gift that we have been given.

Our model here is Jesus, himself. Nobody has walked this earth as freely as he did. But he also had the maturity to carry such great freedom without ever misusing it. If we can believe the gospels, Jesus wasn’t afraid of anything – satan, temptation, tax-collectors, prostitutes, street people, rich people, poor people, church people, non-church people, moral people, and immoral people. He went into the singles’ bars of his time, but he didn’t sin.

And in that lies the challenge: To walk in freedom, but not compromise ourselves in doing so. Not an easy thing to do. There is always a double danger: On the one hand, we can be too timid and too frightened to use our freedom to take God’s presence and grace into places that are morally threatening, like Jesus did. That’s often where we, as church people, sell ourselves and our freedom short. We are so afraid of seemingly godless places that we simply stay away from them, fearing for our own safety. That’s sometimes a very prudent thing to do; it isn’t always an imitation of Jesus. He wasn’t afraid to go into godless places.

As well, there’s the opposite danger, namely, that we go into morally dangerous places and lose ourselves there. Like Jesus, we eat and drink with sinners, but, unlike him, we sin because we don’t have the maturity and moral strength to be in dangerous situations without falling.

But, dangers notwithstanding, the great challenge is to become mature enough to walk in the freedom of Jesus without compromising. Whenever we are able to do that, we become missionaries in the true sense, namely, we take God’s love and light into places that are devoid of them. But that’s not easy to do. We need models to help us.

Someone who can help mentor us on this, I believe, is Henri Nouwen. One of his great gifts was his honesty about his own moral and emotional struggles and the capacity to share that in a way that helps us in our own struggles.

Nouwen was searingly honest in admitting that he struggled. He shared that, even if you are sincere, prayerful, morally honest, and trying your best, it doesn’t mean that you won’t, at the same time, also be weak, complex, tempted, torn, discouraged, forever at war with certain parts of yourself, sinful, and subject to obsessions, addictions, and pathologies. Our desires are deep, complex, unyielding, wild horses, bent on their own path – and all of this co-exists with what’s healthy, good, and best in us. So it’s not easy to be whole, mature, and to walk into morally dangerous places and not sin.

Nouwen was so honest and humble about this that there were seasons in his life when he wouldn’t travel by himself, but always took along a companion, because he recognized that there are a lot more moral dangers travelling alone than there are when we have family, companions, and community along with us.

We aren’t all as mature and as strong as Jesus. Like Nouwen, we need to be honest and humble about our weaknesses, sometimes we simply don’t have the maturity to walk into dark places alone. We’re wise to take someone with us so that, in the strength given by family and community, our maturity can measure up to our freedom.

Fr. Ron Rohlheiser

Hopefull77, I'm saving that for a day with more time to read through. Thank you!

Wool94, Philippians 2:13 for it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure.

I just listened.

Ripped62, prayers for you on your difficult path. I hope you don't feel alone on it, so you get a greatest hit:

He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me.

For Maia, Leviticus 27:14 If anyone dedicates their house as something holy to the LORD, the priest will judge its quality as good or bad. Whatever value the priest then sets, so it will remain.

I think it works out of context and in context (with Christ as priest).

And for my husband, Proverbs 31:12. She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life.

[This message edited by Pippin at 5:39 PM, May 18th (Saturday)]