
A Fragment Of The Sky Is Enough 
An outlaw got lost in the desert and was
very glad to find shelter in a hermit's
cave.
The hermit welcomed him, gave him his
bed
to sleep on, and the next day invited
the
outlaw to stay with him.
"How can you cope living here
all your
life? Don't you get bored?" asked
the
outlaw.
"Yes, I do in difficult moments,
but
then I go and look out that window.
Go and
look yourself and tell me what you
see."
The window was a small hole in the
roof of
the cave.
"I can see nothing," answered
the
outlaw dryly as he arched his head
up towards
this small 'window'.
"How is it, nothing?!" asserted
the hermit.
"Nothing, I tell you! The only
thing
I can see is a fragment of the sky."
"That is all! That fragment of
the sky
is enough for me."
Because in that fragment of sky lives
the
Beloved. And so life becomes a love-adventure.
And a love-adventure is never stuffy!
Simple logic!
Beauty is indeed in the eye of the beholder.
Especially if the beholder is a lover...
During her last illness, Sister Therese
of
the Child Jesus was in the garden looking
at a hen who was scratching up insects
for
her chicks. At once Therese's mind
was turned
toward the tender love of God, and
she started
reciting under her breath the Our Father.
Suddenly she started sobbing!
"What's wrong, Sister? Are you
in pain?"
asked her companion.
"No, but I was looking at the
chicken
and I was reminded of Psalm 17 which
says,
'Keep me as the apple of your eye,
hide me
under the shadow of your wings.' Is
it not
beautiful to know that we are under
the shadow
of His wings? Similarly Psalm 57 says,
'Have
mercy on me, O God, have mercy on me,
for
in your my soul takes refuge. I will
take
refuge in the shadow of your wings
until
the disaster has passed.'"
An interesting plan for life .... to
live
in the shadow of His wings.
Exciting, no?!
On the eve of the profession of her
vows,
Therese told Jesus that she wished
to have
a white mantle on the ground. She loved
snow
and she wished that on the day of her
wedding
with Jesus it would snow in Lisieux.
Before
the ceremony began in Church, she looked
out the window. There were dark clouds
but
no snow. When the ceremony was over
she looked
out again - she was sure that Jesus
would
grant her wish. And so it was, the
garden
of the convent was covered in newly
fallen
snow.
God grants the wishes of His beloved.
Because He cherishes them.
Faced with a world which constantly
preaches
that man cannot exist without money,
power,
and sex, it is important that people
exist
who show in their very flesh that the
only
one, man cannot live without is God!
(c) Fr. Pius Sammut, OCD. Permission is hereby
granted for any non-commercial use, provided
that the content is unaltered from its original
state, if this copyright notice is included.
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