Happy 2012: Where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light….

Dear Reader, welcome to a blog that I’ve been writing since January 2005, some years with more dedication than others.  I’m hoping that I’ll keep to a better writing schedule here this year than last, fingers crossed.   Did I make this as a New Year’s Resolution?  Not really. 

I did take the time to count my many blessings as one year passed into another, and thanked God for them.  The big and the small.  One of the things that I thanked God for blessing me with was this blog and the ability to write it, the simple life I’m living, and you, Dear Reader, who sometimes leave comments or sending emails to me.  The internet is amazing, isn’t it?  People connecting who would otherwise never meet.

I’m not Catholic.  However, I do appreciate a lot about the Catholic Church and one of those things is the Catholic observance of the New Year.  Here’s a discussion of how Catholic families all over the world celebrated New Year’s Day yesterday.  Thought I’d share this prayer from St. Francis of Assisi, which I find particularly beautiful.

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.

R. Amen. —St. Francis of Assisi

God bless you and yours, Dear Reader.

Bless the Animals Day is Here

For Catholics, St. Francis of Assisi is remembered each year in October, and as part of that remembrance, there is a traditional blessing of the animals.  However, over the years the idea of having one's animals, especially beloved pets, blessed has spread across the world, and across the denominations. 

October 4th is Feast Day for St. Francis of Assisi

The Catholic blessing of the animals occurs on the feast day for St. Francis, and is accompanied by this blessing by the priest:

“Blessed are you, Lord God, maker of all living creatures. You called forth fish in the sea, birds in the air and animals on the land. You inspired St. Francis to call all of them his brothers and sisters. We ask you to bless this pet. By the power of your love, enable it to live according to your plan. May we always praise you for all your beauty in creation. Blessed are you, Lord our God, in all your creatures! Amen.”

October 2 - 3 Other Blessings of the Animals Will Take Place

Non-Catholic events that provide a blessing of the animals - particularly pets - will be happening across the globe over this weekend.  For example, yesterday in Long Beach, California, there was the 9th Annual Interfaith Blessing of the Animals.  Another was held here in San Antonio, at a local United Methodist Church -- and because we like to be different, this year the 25th Annual Blessing of the Animals and Pets will occur in Market Square on December 11, 2010. 

Prayer Available for Animals Anytime at God, Bless the Animals Site

Of course, you can pray for your pets anytime, anywhere.  However, there's also a site with written prayers and the opportunity to send it prayer requests as well as ask for emergency prayers at the internet prayer ministry, God, Bless the Animals.

Joyce Meyer Talks Simplicity This Week

Joyce Meyer's televised broadcast this morning was the first of a two-parter dealing with Simple Living.  The title of the show today is "Simple Prayer and Simple Living, Part 1" and it's well worth your time.  (Her book, The Power of Simple Prayer, is being offered with a set of DVDs this week as a special offer, and you can read a sample chapter for free on her site.)

Today's show is very funny.  Joyce Meyer always makes me laugh.  Today, she talks about letting that load of clothes build up, and then when you carry it to the washer, you realize you've already left a load setting in there.  Except when she talks about doing this (I've done it, how about you?), it's hilarious.  She talks about the time that she started out with a simple invite to four friends after church, come over next week for hot dogs, and turning that into a steak BBQ for 32.  Again, it's really funny when you hear her telling stories on herself.

Really good thing here -- she makes an excellent example for how simplicity - simple living - isn't always the same as frugal living.  They aren't synonimous terms, and it's really clear here, in how she talks about taking the complications out of your daily life, for a higher quality of living.

Another really good thing -- her book on simplifying.  There's a separate post on that one, it's really good. 

Serenity Prayer - Long Version (It's Not Just for Alcoholic's Anonymous)

Written by Reinhold Niebuhr in the early 20th century, the Serenity Prayer has been adopted by many Twelve-Step programs - following the pattern established by Alcoholic's Anonymous, whose use of Niebuhr's short prayer has made it famous world-wide. 

The Serenity Prayer

God grant me the serenity

to accept the things I cannot change;

courage to change the things I can;

and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;

enjoying one moment at a time;

accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;

taking, as He did, this sinful world

as it is, not as I would have it;

trusting that He will make all things right

if I surrender to His Will;

that I may be reasonably happy in this life

and supremely happy with Him

forever in the next.

Amen.

May God bless your day, Dear Reader.

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Image: Aviation Machinist's Mate 2nd Class Robert Williams, from Chicago, prays in the ship's chapel aboard USS George Washington (CVN 73), Atlantic Ocean, November 13, 2003. U.S.Navy photograph released into the public domain.