Category: Eternal Life

Prayer of Rejoicing

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Community, Discipleship, Eternal Life, Faith, joy, spiritualityLeave a comment

Memorial of St. Charles Borromeo
November 4, 2022

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110422.cfm

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we pray with Psalm 122, one of the Psalms of Ascent prayed as the community of Israel prepared to worship.

Let us go rejoicing to the house of the Lord.

The community was happy to be able to gather at the Temple/Jerusalem which was more than a physical place of worship. The Temple/Jerusalem was a stable symbol of God’s power and faithful presence to Israel. It was so significant a symbol that, even when destroyed, its power sustained the community of believers.

The “Temple” became much more than a building; Jerusalem much more than a city. The very concepts grew into living realities with which the believer formed a dynamic relationship. Within that relationship, the believer could meet and explore the mystery of God.

“Temple/Jerusalem” became an icon of one’s faith relationship with God.

As the psalm indicates, the believer must go out of oneself to dwell within this icon, to grow in this relationship. It is a place of full spiritual integration achieved through a lifting of the spirit into the joyful discipline of grace.

Jerusalem, built as a city
with compact unity.
To it the tribes go up,
the tribes of the LORD.Psalm 22:3-4

The essence of this graceful transformation is to respond with profound gratitude to God’s invitation to love and mercy. Such a response raises our hearts to a new understanding of God’s Presence in every aspect of our lives.

According to the decree for Israel,
to give thanks to the name of the LORD.
In it are set up judgment seats,
seats for the house of David.Psalm 22:4-5

The psalm verses not included in today’s reading tell us that once we begin to live this sacred relationship, we become a force for peace and justice among our sisters and brothers.

For the peace of Jerusalem pray:
“May those who love you prosper!
May peace be within your ramparts,
prosperity within your towers.”
For the sake of my brothers and friends I say,
“Peace be with you.”
For the sake of the house of the LORD, our God,
I pray for your good.Psalm 22: 6-9

These verses seem like such a good prayer today.

Poem: from Rumi

Remember, 
the entrance door 
to the sanctuary 
is inside you.

Music: Fill This Temple Once Again – Don Moen and Benny Hinn 

Remembering ..

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Church, Community, dying, Eternal Life, Faith, spiritualityLeave a comment

All Souls Day
November 2, 2022

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, we remember the beloved Holy Souls who have gone before us. They are never far from us. Some of us may visit cemeteries today. Some will place a list of names upon the altar. But all of us will whisper their names: grandparents, parents, spouses, children, brothers, sisters and beloved friends — meeting each name in a sacred memory.

Romans6_8 All Souls

May those memories, whatever they contain, be transformed by our loving prayers. May whatever grief remains in us be blessed by the grace of faith and thanksgiving. And may the Holy Ones we honor today brighten us with some of their overwhelming Eternal Light in God.

Poetry: All Souls Day – Frances Bellerby, (1899–1975) was an English poet, novelist and short story writer. “Her poetry is imbued with a spiritual awareness encoded through the natural environment while her political socialism is more evident in her prose”. (from The Encyclopedia of British Women’s Writing – Jane Dowson)

Let’s go our old way
by the stream, and kick the leaves
as we always did, to make
the rhythm of breaking waves.

This day draws no breath –
shows no colour anywhere
except for the leaves – in their death
brilliant as never before.

Yellow of Brimstone Butterfly,
brown of Oak Eggar Moth –
you’d say. And I’d be wondering why
a summer never seems lost

if two have been together
witnessing the variousness of light,
and the same two in lustreless November
enter the year’s night…

The slow-worm stream – how still!
Above that spider’s unguarded door,
look – dull pearls…Time’s full,
brimming, can hold no more.

Next moment (we well know,
my darling, you and I)
what the small day cannot hold
must spill into eternity.

So perhaps we should move cat-soft
meanwhile, and leave everything unsaid,
until no shadow of risk can be left
of disturbing the scatheless dead.

Ah, but you were always leaf-light.
And you so seldom talk
as we go. But there at my side
through the bright leaves you walk.

And yet – touch my hand
that I may be quite without fear,
for it seems as if a mist descends,
and the leaves where you walk do not stir.

Music: Lux Aeterna- Eternal Light – Michael Hoppé

Lux aeterna
Lux aeterna luceat eis, Domine,
cum sanctis tuis in aeternum,
quia pius es.

Requiem aeternam
dona eis, Domine,
et lux perpetua luceat eis.

May light eternal shine upon them, O Lord,
with Your saints forever,
for You are Mercy.

Eternal rest
give to them, O Lord,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.

The Only Road

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Discipleship, Eternal Life, Faith, spiritualityLeave a comment

Wednesday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
October 26, 2022

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, Jesus sets out a stringent formula for entrance into the Kingdom of Heaven.

Strive to enter through the narrow gate,
for many, I tell you, will attempt to enter
but will not be strong enough.

Jesus goes on to say that some will get to the threshold of the kingdom and be denied entrance because they are not recognized. These petitioners will be shocked, saying, “But we ate and drank in your company and you taught in our streets.”

The passage teaches us that there is more to faith than religion, more to prayer than words, more to relationship than ritual. We may be the most observant Catholic, Lutheran, or Jew. We may stay praying in church longer than anyone else. We may know the catechism by heart. But if our deep heart hasn’t touched God’s, we will not be recognized at the narrow gate.

Where will we find God’s heart? The Gospel seems to suggest that we would do best to look among those who are considered “last” – those who are poor, humble, suffering, marginalized. At “the gate”, they will be “first” – so they must have the secret to that stringent formula.

There is little or nothing between these blessed ones and the touch of God – no power, pride or wealth. Their strength lies in their utter dependence on God – God knows them in that dependence.

It is hard for us to reach that place of trust and unity with God. Our possessions and accomplishments get in the way. Our independence and self-reliance get in the way. Our pride and penchant for control get in the way. It is a very narrow gate through these things that lets us find God – our God Who is not far … Who waits in the spaces between our self-importance.

Poetry: The Narrow Way – Anne Bradstreet

Believe not those who say
     The upward path is smooth,
Lest thou shouldst stumble in the way,
     And faint before the truth.
It is the only road
     Unto the realms of joy;
But he who seeks that blest abode
     Must all his powers employ.
Bright hopes and pure delights
     Upon his course may beam,
And there, amid the sternest heights
     The sweetest flowerets gleam.
On all her breezes borne,
     Earth yields no scents like those;
But he that dares not grasp the thorn
     Should never crave the rose.
Arm—arm thee for the fight!
     Cast useless loads away;
Watch through the darkest hours of night,
     Toil through the hottest day.
Crush pride into the dust,
     Or thou must needs be slack;
And trample down rebellious lust,
     Or it will hold thee back.
Seek not thy honor here;
     Waive pleasure and renown;
The world’s dread scoff undaunted bear,
     And face its deadliest frown.
To labor and to love,
     To pardon and endure,
To lift thy heart to God above,
     And keep thy conscience pure;
Be this thy constant aim,
     Thy hope, thy chief delight;
What matter who should whisper blame,
     Or who should scorn or slight?
What matter, if thy God approve,
     And if, within thy breast,
Thou feel the comfort of His love,
     The earnest of His rest?

Music: Enter the Narrow Gate! – John Michael Talbot


Enter the narrow gate
The gate that leads to life
His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
Pray for your enemies Those who abuse you
Love them and do not hate And love will follow you.
Enter the narrow gate
The gate that leads to life
His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
Forgive those who offend And seek their forgiveness And when you bring your gift You will be forgiven.
Enter the narrow gate
The gate that leads to life
His yoke is easy and His burden is light.
His yoke is easy and His burden is light.

Heaven in My Window

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Creation, Eternal Life, Faith, spiritualityLeave a comment

Tuesday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
October 25, 2022

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/102522.cfm

Edited in Prisma app with Trophy

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, Jesus begins a lesson to the disciples by asking a question many of us ask ourselves:

What is the Kingdom of God like?

As he so often does, Jesus uses nature to help his listeners understand the otherwise incomprehensible Love he has come to reveal.

Jesus said, “What is the Kingdom of God like?
To what can I compare it?
It is like a mustard seed that a man took and planted in the garden.
When it was fully grown, it became a large bush
and the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches.”

In the northern hemisphere, nature slowly rolls toward winter. The gentle downward path through autumn is lined with glory bursting from the trees and splashed against October’s brilliant blue skies. I think if Jesus were preaching in my front yard today, he might say something like this:

Look at that maple tree! Look at that chestnut! Just as their colors explode in beauty, so God’s love washes over you every moment of your lives. That love is the Kingdom of Heaven — and it is right here within you waiting to be recognized. Let the trees teach you! Let the skies teach you!

Each one of you, dear readers, may be experiencing your own season – either in nature or in your spirit. in Australia, it is spring! Jacarandas and wildflowers blossom across the land as koala and kangaroo joeys begin to venture out of their mothers’ pouches for the first time. In Peru, October spring is a “shoulder season”, slowly moving from its beautiful dry days toward the wet winter.

At the same time, no matter where we live, our hearts may experience their own seasons as our inner world rotates through our life experiences. Still, no matter the season, each displays something of the abiding mystery of God’s love and presence.

Jesus recognized these inner seasons too. Sometimes, like the baker in his lesson, we have to work a little to find the hints of grace around us. She had to take the latent yeast and mix it with the unleavened flour. She had to reach for the graces available to her.

To what shall I compare the Kingdom of God?
It is like yeast that a woman took
and mixed in with three measures of wheat flour
until the whole batch of dough was leavened.

Through our prayer and silent hopeful presence to God, we ready ourselves for the “yeast” of sacred grace. We open our unleavened lives to the wonder of the Kingdom of Heaven already living within us

Perhaps today, we might take a little walk outside — or a stroll through our heart — to appreciate the season we are in, to let it open our spirits to the power of God’s life around and within us. As Mary Oliver describes her contemplative experience:

FOOLISHNESS? NO, IT’S NOT – from A Thousand Mornings by Mary Oliver (2021, Penguin)

Sometimes I spend all day trying to count leaves on a single tree. To do this I have to climb branch by branch and write down the numbers in a little book. So I suppose, from their point of view it’s reasonable that my friends say: what foolishness! She’s got her head in the clouds again!

But it’s not. Of course I have to give up, but by then I am half crazy with the wonder of it – the abundance of the leaves, the quietness of the branches, the hopelessness of my effort. And I am in that delicious and important place, roaring with laughter, full of earth-praise.

Poetry: Autumn Fires – Robert Louis Stevenson

In the other gardens
   And all up in the vale,
From the autumn bonfires
   See the smoke trail!

Pleasant summer over, 
   And all the summer flowers,
The red fire blazes,
   The grey smoke towers.

Sing a song of seasons!
   Something bright in all!
Flowers in the summer,
   Fires in the fall! 

Music: Flowers in October – Tim Janis

Did You Buy a Ticket?

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Charity, Eternal Life, Faith, spiritualityLeave a comment

Memorial of Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr
October 17, 2022

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101722.cfm

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, our readings are all about riches. How appropriate that seems in a world where we’re always trying to get a little bit richer!

Take, for instance, our “lottery mania”. Whenever there is a big national jackpot, I like to think what I might do with the prize money. Don’t you?
(Of course, my Dad always told me that the first thing you have to do is buy a ticket — which I usually fail to do!)

News bits will often show interviews with John and Jane Q. Public, informing us of how they might use such winnings. Of course, all describe an amazingly altruistic response to a winning ticket. It seems everyone will help her unfortunate brother-in-law, and buy his mail carrier new shoes. Hmm? I wonder?

Eph 9_4 God rich

Not so with Gospel Farmer today. He hits the jackpot in the fields and, as many of us might, decides to keep every last grain for himself. Oops! On the night of that decision, he dies, leaving the grain behind along with his selfish legacy.

Jesus tells us:

Take care to guard against all greed,
for though one may be rich,
one’s life does not consist of possessions.

Paul tells us what it does consist of:

God, who is rich in mercy, because of the great love he had for us,
… brought us to life with Christ,
raised us up with him …

We are to live among one another as mirrors of this Divine kindness and richness — not holding on to every last – very transitory- grain of our “possessions”.

Friends, every one of us, through our Baptism, already holds the winning ticket to the only treasure that lasts – eternal life. May our lives reflect that immense grace in deeds of love and mercy.

Poetry:The Summer Day – Mary Oliver

Who made the world?
Who made the swan, and the black bear?
Who made the grasshopper?
This grasshopper, I mean —
the one who has flung herself out of the grass,
the one who is eating sugar out of my hand,
who is moving her jaws back and forth instead of up and down —
who is gazing around with her enormous and complicated eyes.
Now she lifts her pale forearms and thoroughly washes her face.
Now she snaps her wings open, and floats away.
I don't know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn't everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?

Music: Earthen Vessels – St. Louis Jesuits

Spicing Up Your Spirit

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Community, Eternal Life, Faith, spiritualityLeave a comment

Wednesday of the Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time
October 12, 2022

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/101222.cfm

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, our readings continue the theme of sincere faith versus hypocritical practices.

Paul really lets the Galatian community have it. Apparently, their behavior had slipped pretty low!  Paul’s list of things to be avoided contains some shocking stuff, like orgies, bursts of fury, and drinking bouts. Sounds bad! A lot worse, I hope, than any list he might make about us if he were writing now. I wonder?

Lk 11_42 spices

In our Gospel, Jesus lets loose on some of the Pharisees too. He points out that they practice the tiniest, visible observances so that people see them as holy. But they ignore the more important requirements of love, justice and mercy. In other words, they look good but don’t do good.

As we pray with these readings, we could try to address the small hypocrisies in our own lives – a kind of “weed the garden” approach. Surely it would help our spiritual life to get rid of anything like orgies, fury and drunkenness. But I think most of us, dear readers, are pretty much beyond that. 

I prefer to take my cues from Paul’s accompanying list of virtues to be pursued: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. How obvious are these things in my life? When I rest my head on the pillow at night, are these the things I remember about my day? Have I given these gifts to others? Have I received them with gratitude?

As we read about the tithes of mint, rue and other garden herbs, the cooks among us might like to imagine life as a great bouillabaisse, perfectly seasoned for God with all the spices on Paul’s menu. What little herb do you need to add right now?

Poetry: from “Lines Scribbled on an Envelope While Riding the 104 Broadway Bus” by Madeleine L’Engle

There is too much pain
I cannot understand
I cannot pray
Here I am
and the ugly man with beery breath beside me reminds me that
it is not my prayers that waken your concern, my Lord;
my prayers, my intercessions are not to ask for your love
for all your lost and lonely ones,
your sick and sinning souls,
but mine, my love, my acceptance of your love.
Your love for the woman sticking her umbrella and her expensive
parcels into my ribs and snarling, “Why don’t you watch where
you’re going?”
Your love for me, too, too tired to look with love,
too tired to look at Love, at you, in every person on the bus.
Expand my love, Lord, so I can help to bear the pain…

Music: The Fruits of the Spirit ~ Selah

Mystery

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Eternal Life, Faith, spirituality4 Comments

Wednesday of the Twenty-sixth Week in Ordinary Time
September 28, 2022

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092822.cfm

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, Job proves his faith in God. His tremendous troubles will not shake him from his deep loyalty to an awesome God.

As well as remaining steadfast, Job uses his circumstances to deliver both a stirring, poetic description of an Omnipotent Creator, and an personal testament to an intimate Companion.

Job9_11

Reading slowly through this beautiful passage, let’s open our imaginations to see the Mountain Mover, the Sun Commander, the Ocean Walker, the Star Designer Who is Job’s God.

If our prayer is caught in some old, small image of God, this passage encourages us to reach for the awesome Presence of the God Who loves us – and to trust that Love with an utter simplicity like Job’s.

Poetry: The Great Mystery – Jessica Powers

My uncle had one sober comment for 
all deaths. Well, he (or she) 
has, he would say, solved the great mystery. I tried as child to pierce the dark unknown, straining to reach the keyhole of that door,
massive and grave, through which one slips alone. 
A little girl is mostly prophecy. 
And here, as there before, 
when fact arrests me at that solemn door, 
I reach and find the keyhole still too high, 
though now I can surmise that it will be
light (and not darkness) that will meet the eye.

Music: Where Were You – Mars Hill Music

Shun Indifference!

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Community, Conversion, Eternal Life, Faith, spirituality2 Comments

Twenty-sixth Sunday in Ordinary Time
September 25, 2022

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092522.cfm

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, our readings will challenge us in ways we might rather not hear.

In our first reading, feisty Amos lambastes the Israelites for their sumptuous lifestyle which is indifferent to the plight of those who are poor. He calls them “complacent”, “at ease” in their prosperous, privileged existence, a condition that has numbed them to the harrowing inequities from which others suffer.

Woe to the complacent in Zion!
 Lying upon beds of ivory,
 stretched comfortably on their couches,
 they eat lambs taken from the flock,
 and calves from the stall!

Amos 6:4-5

In our second reading, Paul gives a final, impassioned charge to his dear protégé Timothy. He tells him not just to avoid, but to flee such complacency and the greedy materialism which feeds it. He outlines the elements of a Christian life, enjoining Timothy to “pursue righteousness, devotion, faith, love, patience, and gentleness”.

Paul gives Timothy the key to true Christian life:

Keep the commandment without stain or reproach …

…. “the commandment” being to love God above all, and love neighbor as self.

Dives
Dives and Lazarus by Bonifazio di Pitati The National Gallery – London

Our Gospel is, perhaps painfully, familiar to all of us – the story of Lazarus and Dives. It is a parable which puts the economic divide under the crystalline light of the Gospel, challenging us as to where we fit in it.

Most of us like comfort. We would rather be “haves” than “have nots”. But we struggle within our comfortable lives to discern our responsibility for others. We’re certainly not intentionally hard-hearted, “lying on ivory couches” and “drinking wine from bowls” while modern day Lazarus languishes right beside us.

We do try, in many ways, to respond to the call for charity and service. But don’t we still measure ourselves after hearing this Gospel? Don’t we still worry about any “Lazarus” unnoticed at our door?

Amos, Paul, and Jesus are charging us – just as they charged their immediate listeners – to live a life based in Biblical and Gospel justice. Justice seeks fullness of life for all the community. Jesus teaches us that “the community” is all Creation, and that how we treat the community is how we treat him.

Every day we might remind ourselves that, however hard we try, Christian love does not allow us to say, “It is enough”. We must keep on peeling away any indifference or blindness we have to the injustices of our culture and times, our economic and political systems. And we too must flee them, running toward justice, righteousness, and mercy.

We must ask ourselves this hard question:

Does my “wealth” 
– however large or small, 
material or immaterial- 
nourish the community or only consume it?

Poetry: Regret – Robert William Service

It's not for laws I've broken
That bitter tears I've wept,
But solemn vows I've spoken
And promises unkept;
It's not for sins committed
My heart is full of rue,
but gentle acts omitted,
Kind deeds I did not do.

I have outlived the blindness,
The selfishness of youth;
The canker of unkindness,
The cruelty of truth;
The searing hurt of rudeness .
By mercies great and small,
I've come to reckon goodness
The greatest gift of all.

Let us be helpful ever
to those who are in need,
And each new day endeavor
To do some gentle deed;
For faults beyond our grieving,
What kindliness atone;
On earth by love achieving
A Heaven of our own.

Music: Five Variants of Dives & Lazarus – Ralph Vaughn Williams’s beautiful interpretation of the folk song “Dives and Lazarus”.

Presence

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Discipleship, Eternal Life, Faith, Prayer, spirituality2 Comments

Memorial of Saints Andrew Kim Tae-gŏn, Priest, and
Paul Chŏng Ha-sang, and Companions, Martyrs
September 20, 2022

Today’s Readings:

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/092022.cfm

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, our readings instruct us on what it means to belong to God – heart and soul.

Proverbs tosses out a series of minstrel-like two-liners that, because of their simplicity, might be overlooked for their beauty and depth. For example, the first couplet says: 

Like a stream is the king’s heart
in the hand of the LORD;
wherever it pleases God, God directs it.

Would we all not desire that kind of heart, where our thoughts and choices are so directed by God’s power and grace – held and guided into freedom by God’s loving hand? How confident, peaceful and joyful our lives would be!

Psalm 199 discern

Today’s Psalm 119 is a passionate prayer to be guided through an entangling world by our deep loyalty to God’s own truth, learned by meditating day and night on God’s goodness.

Our Gospel, in an often misinterpreted incident, shows us how Jesus considers his true disciples as close to him as his own mother and family.

So today, to deepen our own closeness to God, let us practice making our ordinary life into a constant prayer – allowing it to flow, like water, over God’s tender, guiding hand. 

We can do this by gratefully noticing God’s Presence in nature, in our companions, in the opportunities for kindness, honesty and service  that come to us today. 

Or, sadly, our experiences today might cause us to notice God’s absence in these places. This offers us an incentive to invite, beg and pester God to transform the desert places in our lives and world.

Whichever approach we take, it will open up a constant conversation with God about our life as we experience it at each moment. We begin to listen better to the Word of God revealing itself in our daily life. We begin to live more consciously in God’s Presence… in God’s dear family.

God’s Law is already written deep in the fabric of our lives. We pray for discernment to discover that guiding grace by opening our hearts to God’s Presence in our every experience.

Poetry: All Things – by Hadewijch

All things
are too small
to hold me,
I am so vast
In the Infinite
I reach
for the Uncreated
I have
touched it,
it undoes me
wider than wide
Everything else
is too narrow
You know this well,
you who are also there.

Music: Morning Prayer – Kitaro

Lessons in Love and Light

On By Renee Yann, RSMIn Charity, Discipleship, Eternal Life, Faith, Gospel, Jesus, spirituality1 Comment

Monday of the Twenty-fifth Week in Ordinary Time
September 19, 2022

Today’s Readings

https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/091922.cfm

Today, in God’s Lavish Mercy, our readings encourage us to live lives of Charity and Light.

Today’s first reading opens two weeks of inspiration from the Wisdom Literature of the Hebrew Scriptures. These books include Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon, and parts of Psalms.

Wisdom literature differs from other books in the Old Testament in that the authors were sages rather than prophets or priests. Priests and prophets typically dealt with religious and moral concerns whereas sages generally focused on the practical aspects of how to live and the intellectual challenges that arise when contemplating the human experience. 

from: compellingtruth.org

Our passage from Proverbs offers a good dose of that sage advice with these basics of mutual charity:

  • Refuse no one the good on which they have a claim
  • Plot no evil against your neighbor,
  • Quarrel not with someone without cause,
  • Envy not lawless persons
  • Choose not their ways …

If we all followed that list, the world would be in pretty good shape. And, in Luke’s Gospel, Jesus says that once we get that shaped-up, we can take it up a notch — into the Light:

No one who lights a lamp conceals it with a vessel
or sets it under a bed;
rather, you place it on a lampstand
so that those who enter may see the light.

Matthew’s version adds this line:

Let your light shine before others,
that they may see your good deeds 
and glorify God in heaven.

So how do I let Charity kindle God’s Light in me? The list from Proverbs can get me started, but what might my own “Charity Challenges” look like?

Poetry: Charity — The Greatest of All Three – Robert Morris

The soul serene, impenetrably just, 
Is first in CHARITY; we love to muse 
On such a model; knit in strictest bonds 
Of amity with spirits like disposed; 
Aiming at truth for her own sake, this one 
Passes beyond the golden line of Faith, 
Passes beyond the precious line of Hope, 
And sets foot unmoved on CHARITY . 
“A soul so softly radiant and so white, 
The track it leaves seems less of fire than light.”

Music: Lampstand – Ben Bigelow

(Spoiler alert: Those who are still able may want to dance by the end of this video!🤩 I just did a very good finger-snapping routine)