A Grateful Attitude!
A GRATEFUL ATTITUDE!
Monthly I take a day off on the Pacific or the Sacrament/American River as a time of simple resting, and getting in touch with nature. I spend two days a month simply contemplating nature.?
I think that Western civilization has pays a high price in separating us from the natural world. I come back feeling like I belong and saved, my life is realigned.
St. Francis praises the creatures because of the Creator. He praises God through the world. It is easy to imagine him looking at the stars and wondering, If these are the creatures, what must their Creator be like?"
Animals and nature, in the eyes of Francis are more than material items, but are spiritual beings who are part of the necessary harmony, and connectedness.
In the eyes of Francis we are a part of a great chain of being and there is no doubt that the other-than-humans are endowed with a kind of comprehension. Francis had no problem talking to them.
Francis sees an interdependence between the different layers of creation and he always gives them the utmost praise for what they give one another.
In one of his sermons addressed to birds Francis says:
Birds, my sisters you owe God a great deal. You ought to praise God always for the freedom to fly everywhere. .for your ornate and colorful clothing. for the song given to you by your Creator.. You neither sow or reap,? yet God feeds you. God gives you the rivers and springs for drink; the mountains and hills, the rocks and crags as refuges; the high trees for nests and even though you do not know how to sew or weave, he gives you and your children clothing you need. Therefore, your Creator who gave you these benefits, loves you very much. You be careful, my little birds, don't be ungrateful, but try to praise God always. ."
The birds are to live in gratitude which reflects Francis's own soul.
And as we find an attitude of gratefulness and thanksgiving may our eyes be opened to our brothers and sisters on the street as we see David and Jolie on Haight Street, Christmas Day.
All of life is precious in the eyes of God, every living creature. St. Francis embraced all of creation as belonging to God and love each creature with all of his heart.
As I spent time on Haight Street Christmas Day giving food, socks, and water, and listening I heard the words of Francis as many talked of each gift as one coming from God! Deo Gratias! Thanks be to God!
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"Giving Tuesday, November 28, 2023
"Giving Tuesday, 2023"
"Do What You Can,
With What You Have"
Where You Are!"
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Fr.River Damien Sims, sfw, D.Min., D.S.T.
P.O. Box 642656
San Francisco, CA 94164
415-305-2124
Let Love Ache
Father, give me the courage to keep on loving.
when others keep on hurting.
help me to live an achy love, a gritty,
persistent and emptying love;
a love that’s not afraid to flow toward the other
who has little left to offer in return.
And may I tread faithfully with heaven
through the unfinished work that surrounds me.
Today is Monday? First Week in the Celtic Advent and we are asked to : "Smile at a person you see, whether you know them or not, and enjoy their smile.
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