Day 238, Morning
Today’s morning meditation is available below in audio and script formats. The audio version is also available for free download on the player.
Reading
By two wings we are lifted up from things earthly: by simplicity and purity.
—Thomas à Kempis
Quiet
As your day begins, spend a few moments in silence and stillness.
Commentary
To soar to the heights, the soul needs two wings. One is purity, which enables us to keep our eyes on the one thing in life that matters: awareness of the divinity within every human being. The other is simplicity: of lifestyle, but also simplicity in our desires.
This raises a worry that many serious-minded people have today. Living in the workaday world, surrounded by all manner of influences we cannot control, can purity and simplicity ever be anything for us but beautiful abstractions? It is one thing to grasp intellectually how we want to live; it is quite another to put our ideals into practice.
Yet, it is possible to learn to tug our attention away from lesser things, and focus on what really matters. (WLB)
Prayer
'Tis the gift to be simple, 'tis the gift to be free
'Tis the gift to come down where we ought to be,
And when we find ourselves in the place just right,
'Twill be in the valley of love and delight.
—Shaker Hymn by Joseph Brackett (1797-1882)
Podcast Feeds
Abbreviations
(BC) The Belgic Confession
(CAC) The Center For Action & Contemplation
(CD) The Canons of Dort
(CIB) Church In Bethesda Prayers
(DZ) Donna Z.
(HC) The Heidelberg Catechism
(MAO) Michael A. O’Sullivan
(NT) The New Testament
(OT) The Old Testament
(RP) Ryan Phipps
(TAO) The Tao Te Ching
(WC) The Westminster Confession
(WLB) Words To Live By
(WLC) The Westminster Larger Catechism
(WSC) The Westminster Shorter Catechism