Oblate Program at Belmont Abbey, NC

Tag: compassion

Counterbalance

“Progress always involves risk;  you can’t steal second with your foot on first.” Mary R. It is so easy to cling to what is known, even if it is a situation that is painful and self destructive.  In relationships, there is a very peculiar situation that can develop, that is in reality very common. This… Read More ›

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The good Samaritan

Christ is the good Samaritan who rescues us as well as the physician who binds up our wounds: With what oil abounding was Christ anointed! From his bounty he poured oil into all our wounds! Yes, we are the wounded man who went down to Jericho, fell among brigands, was robbed, and wounded and left… Read More ›

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The Touch

In the world are many things, some pleasant, others very repulsive; There is human warmth, and demonic cold heartedness, and some who are indifferent; Empathy and compassion exist along side hearts and minds armored, dead to the pain of others. Those who flee from pain and then others who love to inflict it; Good mothers,… Read More ›

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To wake up

Trust is such a pleasant word.  It rolls off the tongue so gently and effortlessly; an invitation proffered, often said with a sincere smile.  “Trust me”, it can almost be something demanded, but in that demand (if perceived as such), trust dies or diminishes.  Weakened trust, is no trust at all, for fear and trust… Read More ›

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Spur us onward

Within the finite heart O Lord dwells the infinite, often hidden behind walls of fear and mistrust. As we stand, or kneel, or prostrate ourselves, trusting in your benevolence, our hearts expand, slowly becoming true to the image you have made us. We are backed Lord into many corners, trapped by our own cunning, the… Read More ›

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Angel of Life

My beauty is my openness, for I am without form, for how can compassion love and empathy be constrained. I am the one who calls you to embrace all that you are, your darkness is your pathway into deeper mystery, your path of light a dark one, placing one foot in front of the other,… Read More ›

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What has always been

I think most people get a jump start when little, projecting them out of the Garden of Eden, and suddenly finding themselves naked and vulnerable.  An event happens that colors the rest of life, either for good or ill.  Perhaps it is the first time we really wake up to the unfairness and cruelty that… Read More ›

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Peace Be With You

A commitment to peace, to being peaceful, to peacefulness draws from a very deep well. It is a source beyond the corruptions of either ambition or pride. It transcends addiction to either power or personality cults. Once peace comes to a person, the need for power simply disappears and goes to dust inside ourselves. We… Read More ›

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Partaking in the Sorrow of Christ

In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus told his disciples to wait while he went a little further to pray, for he said to them “my soul is sorrowful unto death”. I have often read over that statement without looking back, or even trying to even if for a moment to understand what that meant, or… Read More ›

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The Word is Compassionate and Impartial

The Word shows his compassion and impartiality through all the saints, revealing and adapting himself, like a skillful physician, to whatever is advantageous for us and understanding the weakness of our humanity. He attempts to teach the ignorant; he returns those who err to his own true way. He is easily found by those who… Read More ›

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