“The Eternal Light is shining bright; the mystery of faith Is still a mystery, but today, embraced and understood just enough to walk in goodness.”

Three readings. A song that says the rest. And inspiration for whatever this day is here to teach.

A lone surfer riding inside a great curling wave

Read — the readings that opened the day

Comfortable with Uncertainty

Pema Chödrön

“Cultivating mindfulness and awareness, we can realize our inherent wealth and share it with others. This inner treasure is called bodhichitta. It is like a jewel buried deep within us—ours to unearth as soon as the conditions are ripe.”

Adapted from Comfortable with Uncertainty

The Sermon on the Mount

Emmet Fox

“The Presence of God and concept of Heaven are infinite; but our mental habits leads us to mould our experiences into a false reality. We see everything distributed in what is called space or spaced out! Our minds create an artificial restriction which inhibits our experience required by creative thought. Heaven is the realm of this creativity; a Spirit without age, discord, or decay. In The Quiet, we can live in a realm of eternal goodness; i.e., Heaven.”

Adapted from The Sermon on the Mount

Twenty-Four Hours a Day

Meditation for the Day "Faith is not seeing but believing. Down through the ages, there have always been those who obeyed the heavenly vision, not seeing but believing in God. And their faith was rewarded. So shall it be to you. Good things will happen to you. You cannot see God, but you can see the results of faith in human lives, changing them from defeat to victory. God's grace is available to all who have faith - not seeing but believing. With faith, life can be victorious and happy." Prayer for the Day "Just for today, I pray that I may have faith enough to believe without seeing. I pray that I may be content with the results of my faith."

Reflect — Steve L.'s own words

Reflecting on the readings today, blended with celebrating a friends 1 year anniversary in sobriety last night, I thought about the mystery of faith.In Judaism, the Eternal Light above the Ark where the Torahs are stored represents the internal spark placed in each of our souls at birth; in Catholicism, it represents the reminder that God is present.

Sadly, all connection with God was blotted out by my life fueled by drugs and alcohol for 15 years until I met you. Self-reliance, self importance, playing God, I was blind to The Power and the gift of the inner spark of heaven.

At the meeting, after giving Rob his 1 year sobriety medallion, I met a man who’s shirt had his nickname embroidered on it: Bear; OMG, he was my sons best friend in our neighborhood in 1979! Today, he has 10 years, and we talked about our journey's and the new life we’ve been given. Later, at dinner at Venezia’s NY Pizzera, 20 of us reconnected laughed, shared and celebrated life in the Spirit and the slice of Heaven that accompanied slices of great pizza! How did I get there to be with all of you? I had made a decision to drive down for Aaron’s birthday today, July 30th, and somehow it all came together.

The Eternal Light is shining bright; the mystery of faith Is still a mystery, but today, embraced and understood just enough to walk in goodness. Thank you for encouraging and helping me keep learning to trust God to ride the waves with a sober gang, not to walk away like the 1971 James Gang anthem; re-released by the Eagles i33 years later in 2004!