HAPPINESS LIKE A RIVER

PRAYER MOMENT 

Friday 12 December 2014

HAPPINESS LIKE A RIVER

             

Pause. Enter into the stillness of God within.

Reading: “If only you had been alert to my commandments your happiness would have been like a river, your integrity like the waves of the sea.” (Isaiah 48:17-19)

Reflection. Blood flows through our veins naturally but happiness doesn’t. God proposes happiness and our task is to choose it. Not that we choose it directly; we make life choices, big and small, and happiness, or its opposite, results. Jesus has the image of children playing: one side plays pipes but the other side refuses to dance. This may sound a bit remote to a person in their daily life, but in Advent we are reminded that God comes to us in every moment and we can either pay attention or ignore him. When I say, ‘comes to us,’ I don’t say it is always easy to recognise his footsteps. That is the challenging part. We may think God calls us this way or that, but does he? Only reflection and prayer in a daily examination of our consciousness will help us answer that question.

Prayer. Lord, ‘you comer, come, ever come,’ (Tagore). Help us discern your coming and make good choices. Amen.  

David Harold-Barry SJ