What are the keys to holiness and perfection? Practice, patience, time, and integrity. Like any good thing, it takes work and lots of it. You don't become Van Gogh, or Mozart, Michael Jordan or Mother Theresa overnight. Granted, some of these people have certain gifts and talents that make it easier, but it still took practice and consistent work. Patience is also necessary. There may be setbacks or failures, mistakes and sleepless nights, but one must be patient and endure, because if you keep going, things are going to look up and trials will strengthen and give us the tools we need for the future. Time is something we all have and never seem to have enough of. Make good use of your time and fill it with good and wholesome things. Do not hurry or rush perfection or holiness or any good thing. Nothing good comes to those who hurry and rush and do not wait. Finally, and perhaps most importantly is integrity. To be holy and strive for perfection, one must have true integrity. As Shakespeare said once "... above all else: To thine own self be true". Be true to who you are and who you were made to be. Do not try to live someone else's life or be someone else. You aren't. You are you and that is that. Be the best you that you can be. For, as Mother Theresa is quoted as saying: "in the final analysis it is between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway".

God bless us all on our path to holiness and perfection. Amen

Ask of me what you want
What does your heart truly desire?
I delight in providing for your needs
Even when you do not ask me.
Come to me in your weakness and strength
Seek my aid each morning.
Offer me your day and everything in it
And ask me to bless it and give you graces
I rejoice in your asking, and I love to give
Open yourself to me and receive
Receive my love and affection
Receive my presence and do my will
Receive the gifts I have prepared
Believe that I live within you
In all you think and speak and do
Let me help you do more good
What would you do if only you could?
Have faith in me
For, with me, all things are possible
If you are truly doing my work
Do your best and I will make it work
Give it to me that I may bless and multiply
Walk with me faithfully
and I will teach you how to fly
When this happens, and it will, be assured,
Be not proud, but rejoice and give me thanks
Everything you do, do it for the greater glory of God
For you have been chosen to bring
A bit of heaven down to the earth
You are a beloved Child Of The King
Called to a purpose before your birth
Call me up: I'm always free
For you, I'm never too busy
But when you are done, stop and listen
Be patient, persevere even if I seem silent
Sometimes I speak through things
Sometimes what you want is not what you need
Sometimes I have something better
Sometimes absence makes the heart grow fonder
So often you take for granted
The many blessings you are given
You don't appreciate their value as much
Until it is taken away
My spirit longs for you
As a desert longs for rain
How long must I wait
To feel your presence again
Let your face shine upon me
Take not your spirit from me
Open my eyes to truly see
As I live out this new reality

The Blue Heron waits
In the water's flow,
Against the wind's blow,
Still and unafraid;
At peace.

The Butterfly soars
Free in the breeze
Beside moss
Through the trees;
Strong wings.

The river runs deep
Next to small streams
Against the current
Blue Heron stands
Content, and waiting
                for the Butterfly to land.

©KSS 4/2024

my boots  by the door
wait patient  to be let out
the cat's less stoic

"I think I know the right thing for me
I think I know what will make me happy
I think I know why and when and how
And I think that this is what I need right now
Lord you must be mistaken. Surely, I know best!
I got this Lord. You just take it easy and rest".

But it turns out that I wasn't completely right
Not completely no. Pretty close, but not quite
I don't ever like to admit that I was wrong
That you really knew what was best all along

"Maybe I should listen a little more when you speak
Maybe I should try to be more humble and meek
You come when I need it most, at just the right time
And the feeling when you come to me is simply so sublime
Let Your Will be done Oh Lord in me, with me and through"

"Be open to my love and let me work miracles through you
My timing is perfect, my plan, definitely divine
Everything has a purpose everything is by design.
When the time is right trust that you will know
But until then, be content to live in my love and grow
I hear your prayers and answer you
But not always how you thought
This relationship requires not one, but two
It takes some skills that can't be taught
But with work, with patience, and with care
We create something beautiful beyond compare.

Oh! And there is one more thing... I know it's challenging
But child, I need you to have patience with me
I promise you, you'll love it! Just you wait and see!
Trust me when I say that what I have in mind is worth the wait
It will arrive just in time. I guarantee it won't be late
So take my hand and come with me as we walk for a while
By your side is where I'll be. I love to see you smile!"

A sick person rushes to feel well, yet
Ironically, "patient" they'll be –

Are you tired of the wait,
Or is it just your fate now, to find that
Patience is the way of life?
Sincerely, "patient" we'll be –

Graceless facades---
The tiring age old game
Of mindless testing
Grows heavy beneath the brow.
The charade is hard to sustain---
Sometimes impossible---
Yet we must bear it
Time after time after endless time.
The cold fire keeps rolling,
Pushing testing the old confines
Beneath the eyes---

How much longer.....