“The wise man in the storm prays to God,
not for safety from danger,
but deliverance from fear”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Life is pleasant.
Death is peaceful.
It’s the transition that’s troublesome.”
Isaac Asimov
(a blurry and quickly snapped picture of a deer crossing a train track while I was
craning my neck out the window of a moving car / Julie Cook / 2017)
Driving home last evening, as we were crossing over a train track, I was glancing rather
forlornly out my window when I saw the lone deer smartly looking left and right before
making her own journey across the tracks.
Lots of thoughts raced through my mind as I silently asked God to make certain she crossed safely.
Like a small stone cast into the quiet still waters of some hidden little pond, whose
resulting ripples spread outward wider and wider until the entire once still surface is
now a reverberating boiling roll, so too is much of my current corner of the world.
Greif has yet been allowed to surface, let alone run its course…
so the physical body now bears the brunt.
Yet in the roiling boil of that which is often out of our control
comes a wizened knowledge, albeit seemingly threatened to be overshadowed
by the tumult…
that there is always something Other Than…
and it is in that Other that I will yield….
But above all preserve peace of heart.
This is more valuable than any treasure.
In order to preserve, there is nothing more useful than renouncing
your own will and substituting for it the will of the divine heart.
In this way His will can carry out for us whatever contributes to His glory,
and we will be happy to be his subjects and to trust entirely in Him.
St Margaret Mary Alacoque
It is the Lord who goes before you.
He will be with you;
he will not leave you or forsake you.
Do not fear or be dismayed.”
Deuteronomy 31:8
cookiecrumbstoliveby 
Such wise words, my friend. I can’t imagine not having the hope of eternal life on the other side of death. It would leave me empty and devoid of a passion for living.
I mean really—I just can’t imagine…
Reblogged this on Talmidimblogging.
In the City of God, Augustine spends a bunch of words trying to get a handle on the meaning of death. That little quote from Isaac Asimov nails it. That was what Augustine said in so many words.
Curiously, Isaac Asimov was an atheist, a humanist, and a rationalist. Even though we cannot change it, none of us accept death. Christians just have less reason to fear it.
I do look at biographies of those I quote- sometimes I’m on their same page, sometimes I’m not– but as my Canadian friend Lynda loves to remind me-the Holy Spirit can use all sorts of vessels… so who am I to disagree 🙂
I thought his quote certainly conveyed my current sentiment 😊
I enjoyed Isaac Asimov’s books.
Frankly, I don’t know what God does with a man like that. I know some Christians are certain Atheists go to Hell, but we are not his judge.
Julie, I needed that quote from Deuteronomy this evening. Thank you! Blessings.
There is always something Other Than and it’s sacred and wise and intended for the solace of ordinary man. Love, N 🙂 ❤
God’s small little gift right there…in the midst of your storm.
He’s good that way 🙂