. How can we be sure of someone’s love for us? God is unchanging and His love is certain, but how can we not doubt the love of people who are ever changing and prone to sin and deception?2. St. Francis mentions that we are only to live this life in order to attain eternal life. Why “put us to the test” like this? Why doesn’t God create things so that we are in heaven without the risk of sin, fear, lies, punishment, and suffering?3. In order to get through this life, we frail human beings need to trust God
Jan 16, 10:07 AM
SrSusan (Guest): utterly (as St. Francis says). How do we learn to trust God in a world full of broken promises, cruelty, and sufferings at the hand of others and of nature?4. When we are told to “not think about what is going to happen tomorrow,” does that mean we shouldn’t make any future planning or getting insurance and have a savings account?5. How can we gain a more “childlike” faith such as St. Francis describes in the last paragraph?6. How important is it to look back and acknowledge when God has rescued us from cal
Jan 16, 10:08 AM
SrSusan (Guest): from calamity? Or healed us from a certain sin or from the injury of another?
Jan 16, 10:08 AM
SrSusan (Guest): Sun chat Jan 16 730pm est
Jan 16, 10:08 AM
SrSusan (Guest): newsletter for chat: http://www.icontact-archive.com/archive?c=1029793&f=1988&s=2046&m=630386&t=44f0d18c19339967b1be43b205c1596fa07d3b2574e5f4560987969cb886fdda
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SrSusan (Guest): I think with people’s love, which might possibly change, the way it is expressed in kindness and charity shows its authenticity
Jan 16, 7:34 PM
Brian Bunny (Guest): Hope Your Feeling Better Soon Carol !!!!
Jan 16, 7:34 PM
Simone (Guest): there is also a time component. The longer someone shows “love” towards us – the easier it is to accept it that this person might love us. But I think, we honestly never can be fully sure. And the question is. How much shall we long for being loved by others?
Jan 16, 7:34 PM
Carol (Guest): I have trouble with trust in situations where words do not reflect actions
Jan 16, 7:34 PM
Simone (Guest): agree Carol
Jan 16, 7:34 PM
Simone (Guest): Hi Ruth!
Jan 16, 7:34 PM
Carol (Guest): Hi Ruth
Jan 16, 7:35 PM
Simone (Guest): or better said.. how much shall we be attached to this love?
Jan 16, 7:35 PM
Brian Bunny (Guest): Hi Ruth !!!! God Bless You !!!
Jan 16, 7:36 PM
Simone (Guest): I think it is great to be able to trust that someone loves me – without overly needing this love.
6, 7:37 PM
Carol (Guest): Because we must nit rely on it more than God’s love
Jan 16, 7:37 PM
Simone (Guest): not saying that I fully achieved that in my life
:37 PM
Simone (Guest): yes Carol, but it is so tempting I find, to rely on worldly love – special in times, when God seems distance8 PM
Carol (Guest): We are made to need that love too
Jan 16, 7:38 PM
Brian Bunny (Guest): I think it’s Soo important for us too unconditionally love others even very difficult people God has loved us as difficult as I know I have been !!!!
38 PM
Brian Bunny (Guest): I think it’s Soo important for us too unconditionally love others even very difficult people God has loved us as difficult as I know I have been !!!!
Jan 16, 7:39 PM
Ruth (Guest): My oncologist noted early on that I have trouble with trust — especially of doctors. With good reason! But thanks be to God, I think, through it all, I am beginning to trust God a lot more. I like StFdS’s letter.
Jan 16, 7:39 PM
Simone (Guest): I do not mean to be flippant.. but I honestly do not believe that people can love unconditionally. I think this is beyond our capacity
Jan 16, 7:40 PM
Simone (Guest): that’s wonderful Ruth. Growing in trust is such a major spiritual “achievement”
Jan 16, 7:40 PM
HMiller (Guest): When earthly lov
Jan 16, 7:40 PM
Carol (Guest): I would agree with that Simone. It is a mark if saintly hokiness
Jan 16, 7:41 PM
HMiller (Guest): love has been far from unconditional it’s hard to trust again.
2 PM
Ruth (Guest): A gift, more than an achievement, I think. And it is people who teach trust in the first place. If I trusted like the child I was, I’d be much worse off than I am.
Jan 16, 7:42 PM
SrSusan (Guest): I find that going to Jesus often helps to put human loves in perspective
Jan 16, 7:42 PM
Simone (Guest): It is HMiller. But the more we learn to know God’s love, the more we grow in the ability to love and to trust – cause we know we will never be destroyed by anyone. We are save.
:43 PM
Simone (Guest): I like that. “puts human love in perspective”
Jan 16, 7:44 PM
Elena (Guest): Sr. Susan, I agree with that statement. I ask Him to take the imperfect loves of all of us and perfect it in His Heart. And to help me forgive when love doesn’t seem unconditional from others, and to forgive me when my love is tainted by selfishness or fear.
Jan 16, 7:44 PM
Ruth (Guest): When Jesus is invited into our hearts and into our lives good things happen. PM
Brian Bunny (Guest): I think Jesus has definitely challenged us in His Two commandments too Love God and Love Everybody !!!! Not easy but that’s why He sent us the Holy Spirit , I know that we can Love others Unconditionally with God’s assistance of course .
Jan 16, 7:45 PM
Ruth (Guest): Like at the wedding feast, even though he and his followers might’ve been responsible for them running out of wine.
Jan 16, 7:45 PM
Simone (Guest): that’s an interesting and lovely prayer Elena
Jan 16, 7:45 PM
Carol (Guest): Yes, though there can be a lot of upheaval while everyone involved adjusts
Jan 16, 7:45 PM
Elena (Guest): Regarding our inability to love perfectly and unconditionally — I’m reminded of Bing Crosby’s line in “White Christmas”: “Everybody’s got an angle.”
Jan 16, 7:45 PM
Elena (Guest): To which Rosemary Clooney responds “That’s awfully cynical.” And he says, “Everyone’s got a little larceny in them.” (or some such paraphrase)
Jan 16, 7:46 PM
Elena (Guest): It’s true.
7 PM
Simone (Guest): Brian, I think I know what you mean. When we are so “drenched with the Holy Spirit” that we just become love – I have experienced that. But only for a short while to be honest.
:48 PM
Elena (Guest): So don’t expect perfection from others’ love… recognize everyone is limited as I am, and give it to Christ. Otherwise, I run around constantly being disappointed, hurt, aggravated, etc. at other people’s “imperfect love.”
Jan 16, 7:48 PM
SrSusan (Guest): q2 St. Francis mentions that we are only to live this life in order to attain eternal life. Why “put us to the test” like this? Why doesn’t God create things so that we are in heaven without the risk of sin, fear, lies, punishment, and suffering?
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8 PM
Simone (Guest): agree Elena
Jan 16, 7:48 PM
Carol (Guest): Because the serpent tricked Eve
Jan 16, 7:48 PM
Brian Bunny (Guest): Everybody is a child of God also , they might not know it yet ,it’s our job to help them get to know God and realize that they are Children of God !!!
Jan 16, 7:49 PM
Simone (Guest): I had the same idea Carol “Well, THANK YOU Eve”
Jan 16, 7:49 PM
Carol (Guest): We live in a fallen world, but only for a short time. We choose who to follow
Jan 16, 7:49 PM
Carol (Guest): LOL Simone
Jan 16, 7:49 PM
Ruth (Guest): Because of LOVE, of course. It cannot be forced. It has to be given freely,
Jan 16, 7:49 PM
Simone (Guest): Brian, I hear the voice of a true evangelist!
Jan 16, 7:50 PM
Simone (Guest): and Ruth.. that was my very second thought.
Jan 16, 7:50 PM
Elena (Guest): “O Happy Fault” — we come closer to God through adversity, being purified toward joining Him in heaven and the New heaven and New Earth.
M
Carol (Guest): The closer we are to Him the harder it gets PM
Simone (Guest): you know, it might be more exhausting.. with our fallen nature and so on.. but other sides.. we are also living much more intentionally for GOD – knowing better what is at stake. So, somehow the struggle makes the love all the way sweeter
Jan 16, 7:51 PM
Ruth (Guest): Seems so to me, too, in some ways, Carol.
Jan 16, 7:51 PM
Brian Bunny (Guest): When others see us walk through adversity with God , they may start their journey toward God !!!!
Jan 16, 7:52 PM
Ruth (Guest): And yet, in some ways it seems so very simple. Do what you CAN in union with his will, and leave the rest to him.
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6 PM
Ruth (Guest): Half my house and possessions — family memorabilia, my poems and reflections — was badly damaged by a burst pipe a month ago. It’s been an exhausting ordeal in some ways, just trying to get a reliable plumbing and heating repair service, and help to get rid of — carry out soaked mattresses, carpeting ruined with the rusty water. A supporting column in the basement even buckled under the weight of the water. The fire department pumped three inches of water out of the basement.
Jan 16, 7:57 PM
Carol (Guest): Through prayer, contemplation, His Word and simply snuggling up and letting Him tell us stories
Jan 16, 7:57 PM
Simone (Guest): oh my – poor Ruth.
Jan 16, 7:57 PM
Ruth (Guest): And the trouble started in my “prayer room” where I also write personal letters.
Jan 16, 7:57 PM
Simone (Guest): what are you indicating Ruth?
Jan 16, 7:57 PM
Carol (Guest): Oh Ruth! Sounds like an attack
Jan 16, 7:58 PM
Simone (Guest): by the way Carol.. that would have been my answer too.
Jan 16, 7:58 PM
Simone (Guest): the song ‘ Jesus loves me this I know, for the bible tells me so” came to my mind too
7:58 PM
Simone (Guest): oh Ruth.. that sounds so exhausting on every level.
Jan 16, 7:59 PM
Carol (Guest): I love it when hymns just poo in to my mind. Always appropriate to the sutuation
Jan 16, 7:59 PM
Simone (Guest): do you have insurance? Although memories cannot be substituted for money
Jan 16, 7:59 PM
Carol (Guest): Um, they POP in
Jan 16, 7:59 PM
Simone (Guest): oh sorry Carol. But your typo made me smile
Jan 16, 7:59 PM
Brian Bunny (Guest): I’m Sorry Ruth you have been through Soo much !!!! Your Great Faith through Soo many trials and tribulations has been a Great Inspiration too me !!!!! I think of you often when those big trials hit me !!!!
Jan 16, 7:59 PM
Carol (Guest): Me too, but seriously
Jan 16, 8:00 PM
Simone (Guest): Yes Brian, you are right. Ruth really shows how trials can be carried in the arms of God
Jan 16, 8:00 PM
Ruth (Guest): No. Not poor Ruth, even though I have no insurance. By the grace of God, I am like the little kid who asked his Dad for a pony. He was given a barn full of horse manure. He shoveled, and shoveled, expecting that with all that horse manure there must be a pony in there somewhere.
3 PM
SrSusan (Guest): This q fits in with your situation Ruth How important is it to look back and acknowledge when God has rescued us from cal
from calamity? Or healed us from a certain sin or from the injury of another?
Jan 16, 8:03 PM
Ruth (Guest): Thanks for the the chuckle, Simone.
Jan 16, 8:03 PM
Carol (Guest): It is critical. By doing so we strengthen our faith and practice gratitude
Jan 16, 8:03 PM
Brian Bunny (Guest): I Hope that we all can visit the Mansion Jesus is Building for you in Heaven !!!! Your Fairhfulness has inspired Generations of God’s People !! !!
Jan 16, 8:05 PM
Simone (Guest): Yes, it is critical. Otherwise we are only built up in “false self sufficiency”
Jan 16, 8:05 PM
Ruth (Guest): You got it Carol! I know that there is a lesson in this for me, and that is what I am looking for. I keep on thanking God — even, for as I hang up the pages of a precious icon book — that was standing on the floor because it was too big for the shelves — to dry.
Jan 16, 8:06 PM
Simone (Guest): When we go back and acknowledge that this outcome was God’s work – that we could not have done it without him, it strengthens our GOD-dependence and weakens our self-reliance
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Brian Bunny (Guest): Amen Simone !!!!!!
Jan 16, 8:07 PM
Simone (Guest): oh Ruth.. I wish we could read next week, that because of the flooding, you found tucked away a crazy amount of money — that was hidden in one of the books on the shelves. One can dream
7 PM
Ruth (Guest): The song that popped into your head was the same one I was singing as I did that job, and a number of others. Thanking God! So important. And knowing that EVERYTHING he does or ALLOWS can be turned to His greater Glory. M
Ruth (Guest): Our own vision is so weak. I am so weak. So easily exhausted.
Jan 16, 8:08 PM
Simone (Guest): But maybe the real treasure is – in having a close look at all you have – the richness – of having meaningful things – and being invited to say ‘Well LORD it is all yours too”.
Jan 16, 8:09 PM
Simone (Guest): it is so easy – to sit at the computer and write all these things.. and so hard to have this actually happening to you
Jan 16, 8:09 PM
Carol (Guest): This is true, but I think we have all been there
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Simone (Guest): well, I never lost my books to flooding. I must admit, I have kind of an unhealthy attachment to my books though
Jan 16, 8:10 PM
Simone (Guest): P.S. Don’t tell my husband
Jan 16, 8:10 PM
Ruth (Guest): I am given things to LAUGH about every day — mostly my own faults and clumsiness.
PM
Brian Bunny (Guest): My friends just returned from Kentucky and were blown away by the genuine thankfulness of the people who lost everything in those Tornadoes !!!!!!
Jan 16, 8:11 PM
Carol (Guest): If I had all the books ive given away I would be living in a tent on the patio
Jan 16, 8:11 PM
Simone (Guest): You are choosing to laugh.. because you are choosing not to take yourself so seriously. And you can do that Ruth, because you are orientated towards GOD
Jan 16, 8:11 PM
Simone (Guest): my goal Carol
Jan 16, 8:11 PM
Simone (Guest):
Jan 16, 8:11 PM
Carol (Guest): Lol
Jan 16, 8:12 PM
Ruth (Guest): I sure was attached to my skillful hands, but even that is no more. I spilled a 2 lb ten ounce box of oatmeal just before coming on line. The chickens will enjoy it. I’ve been sweeping it up ever since.
Jan 16, 8:13 PM
Simone (Guest): you have chickens in your appartment?
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SrSusan (Guest): q 5. How can we gain a more “childlike” faith such as St. Francis describes
Jan 16, 8:16 PM
Simone (Guest): I came to terms with throwing things out – or giving them to Salvation Army. I can forgive myself that I might have purchased something and not used it until it falls apart.
Jan 16, 8:17 PM
Brian Bunny (Guest): Even when me make mistakes , we can look to God and He will guide us too help someone else in some way !!!!! I am thankful too all who have shared their mistakes with me . It has helped me too keep looking too God when I make mistakes and share with others !!!!!
Jan 16, 8:17 PM
Carol (Guest): I have sold almost everything a couple of times chasing Him. And I already have like twenty boxes of books again
Jan 16, 8:17 PM
Simone (Guest): We have a neat neighbourhood initiative online here. You just post online what you do not want to keep, and arrange a pick up time with someone who might want that. – great exchange happening in the neighbourhood
Jan 16, 8:17 PM
Ruth (Guest): No Simone, not IN the apartment. Under it. In the garage. I was in the process of converting my shed into a chicken coop when THEY decided they wanted to live in the garage. The Rhode Island red had tried to follow me into the house, but I wouldn’t let her.
8:17 PM
Ruth (Guest): No Simone, not IN the apartment. Under it. In the garage. I was in the process of converting my shed into a chicken coop when THEY decided they wanted to live in the garage. The Rhode Island red had tried to follow me into the house, but I wouldn’t let her.
Jan 16, 8:18 PM
Simone (Guest): chicken can be so funny. They have their own mind it seems. I would love to have two chickens. Not allowed in our city
Jan 16, 8:20 PM
Carol (Guest): To gain a more childlike faith we must accept everything as gift
Jan 16, 8:21 PM
Simone (Guest): good point
Jan 16, 8:21 PM
Brian Bunny (Guest): Childlike Faith Simple Trust in God and ease in Forgiveness like in Kindergarten !!!! They Forgive and Return too Loving each other Soo Easily !!!!!
21 PM
Carol (Guest): Because they live in the moment still
Jan 16, 8:22 PM
SrSusan (Guest): deep within many of us have a childlike soul
8:22 PM
Brian Bunny (Guest): Soo True !!!! :22 PM
Ruth (Guest): We have a local Neighbors Helping Neighbors site on FaceBook too. It is good. I’d posted photos of a lot of nice toys shortly before Christmas. No response. And now, a woman phoned me — unrelated — saying that I’d been recommended to see her son, as psychiatrist — and that waiting three months would not be too much. I was not sure if I should renew my medical license registration. Still am not. But she plans to call me back at the end of February.
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Simone (Guest): It happened not too long ago, that I actually started to realize what It REALLY means to be child of GOD. It was during a prayer time – it almost felt like an identity exchange to me. Ever since then my prayers are so much more faith-ful I find. I am thoroughly enjoying it – to be a daughter of God
Jan 16, 8:23 PM
Ruth (Guest): The toys are for working with children in my practice that is now the part of the house I am living in, and cluttering up.
Jan 16, 8:23 PM
Simone (Guest): Ruth, I did not know that you are psychiatrist. How wonderful
Jan 16, 8:24 PM
Carol (Guest): Oh Simone, that is ecstasy
:24 PM
Carol (Guest): And maybe you’re keeping the toys!
Jan 16, 8:24 PM
Brian Bunny (Guest): When we are a truly united too the Heart of Jesus , He removes that Heart of Stone that can build up and He gives us that Childlike Heart that has feeling and can Love and Forgive Easily !!!!!
Jan 16, 8:24 PM
Simone (Guest): I am not sure if it was ecstasy – but it was a deep grace that was given to me.
Jan 16, 8:24 PM
SrSusan (Guest): beautiful experience Simone
25 PM
Simone (Guest): I will pray for you Ruth. It sounds exciting that you might go back. How do you feel about it? , 8:26 PM
Simone (Guest): You could set your own hours, right? So, you could adjust to your energy levels. I have a feeling, that being back in the field might be even energizing for you
Jan 16, 8:26 PM
Ruth (Guest): Perfect, Simone! That IS your identity: daughter of God, and mine too. Actually everyone is a child of God — baptized in a special way. That makes us all siblings.
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7 PM
Simone (Guest): I know.. I can see it all so clearly now.. and also Jesus as the first born. That never fully made sense to me before – but now that is just so clear
Jan 16, 8:27 PM
SrSusan (Guest): What a lovely thought to end on. I have to leave but please stay on! Blessings to all!