Centre Spiritualist Church

Reflections 2009

*** December 2009 ***

There is always the danger that we may just do the work for the sake of the work.
This is where the respect and the love and the devoticome in -- that we do it to God, to Christ,
and that's why we try to do it as beautifully as possible.

Mother Teresa

*** November 2009 ***

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do.
So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor.
Catch the trade winds in your sails.
Explore. Dream. Discover.

Mark Twain
1835-1910

*** October 2009 ***

May today there be peace within.
May you trust God that you are exactly where you are meant to be.
May you not forget the infinite possibilities that are born of faith.
May you use those gifts that you have received, and pass on the love that has been given to you.
May you be content knowing you are a child of God.
Let this presence settle into your bones, and allow your soul the freedom to sing,
Dance, praise and love.
It is there for each and every one of us.

Mother Teresa

*** September 2009 ***

As you travel through life's voyage,
remember to pause occasionally to
witness the beauty of God's creation.

*** August 2009 ***

A man's daughter had asked the local minister to come and pray with her dying father.
When the minister arrived, he found the man lying in bed with his head propped up on two pillows.
An empty chair sat beside his bed. The minister assumed that the old fellow had been informed of his visit and said,
"I guess you were expecting me?".   "No, who are you?" said the father.
The minister told him his name and then remarked, "I saw the empty chair and I figured you knew I was going to
visit.  "Oh yeah, the chair," said the bedridden man. "Would you mind closing the door?"
Puzzled, the minister shut the door.

"I have never told anyone this, not even my daughter," said the man.
"But all of my life I have never known how to pray. At church I used to hear the pastor talk about prayer,
but it went right over my head."
I abandoned any attempt at prayer," the old man continued, "until one day four years ago, my best friend said to
me, "Johnny, prayer is just a simple matter of having a conversation with Jesus.
Here is what I suggest. Sit down in a chair; place an empty chair in front of you, and in faith see Jesus
on the chair. It's not spooky because he promised, 'I will be with you always'.
Then just speak to him in the same way you're doing with me right now."

"So, I tried it and I've liked it so much that I do it a couple of hours every day.
I'm careful though, if my daughter saw me talking to an empty chair, she'd either have a nervous breakdown
or send me off to the funny farm."
The minister was deeply moved by the story and encouraged the old man to continue on the journey.
Then he prayed with him, anointed him with oil, and returned to the church.

Two nights later the daughter called to tell the minister that her Daddy had died that afternoon.
"Did he die in peace?" he asked.
"Yes, when I left the house about two o'clock, he called me over to his bedside, told me he loved me and kissed me
on the cheek. When I returned an hour later, daddy had passed away.
But there was something strange about his death.
Apparently, just before Daddy died, he leaned over and rested his head on the chair beside the bed.
What do you make of that?"
The minister wiped a tear from his eye and said, "I wish we could all go like that."

*** July 2009 ***

We need to find God, and He cannot be found in noise and restlessness.
God is the friend of silence.
See how in nature the trees, the flowers, the grass grows in silence;
See the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence...
We need silence to be able to touch souls.

Mother Teresa

*** June 2009 ***

May this day be a celebration
Of where you've been,
Where you are, and
How you are growing
Together, in the Lord.

*** May 2009 ***

God doesn't look at how much we do,
but with how much love we do it.

Mother Teresa

The Angel in You

You don't see her, but I do, each time your eyes twinkle I see her in you.
Every time you wipe my tears with your kind and gentle ways
I see in you an Angel sent to smooth the way.

I don't know what I did to deserve such a friend.
I thank God for you, my dear one, my Angel until the end.

I hope that when you look to me for comfort and for Love
You see in me an Angel sent from up above.

It's the part of us that's giving, the part that's so refined
The part that's made of only Love, the part that is Divine.

We are Angels to each other whenever we lend a hand
Or dry a tear or sooth a wound it's all part of His plan.

Reach inside your heart and you will surely find
Part of you that is an Angel - so loving, warm and kind.

Ellen M. DuBois 2002

*** March 2009 ***

*** February 2009 ***

In The Valley I Grow

Sometimes life seems hard to bear, full of sorrow, trouble, and woe,
It's then I have to remember ..that it's in the valleys I grow.

If I always stayed on the mountain top ..and never experienced pain,
I would never appreciate God's love and would be living in vain.

I have so much to learn and my growth is very slow,
Sometimes I need the mountain tops, but it's in the valleys I grow.

I do not always understand why things happen as they do,
But I am very sure of one thing, My Lord will see me through.

My little valleys are nothing when I picture Christ on the cross
He went through the valley of death; His victory was Satan's loss.

Forgive me Lord, for complaining when I'm feeling so very low.
Just give me a gentle reminder that it's in the valleys I grow.

Continue to strengthen me, Lord and use my life each day
To share your love with others and help them find their way.

Thank you for valleys, Lord for this one thing I know
The mountain tops are glorious but it's in the valleys I grow.

~~Author: Jane Eggleston~~

*** January 2009 ***