"I think children need less convincing of the importance of story than do adults. To be an adult has come to mean to be adulterated with rationalist explanations, and to shun such childishness as we find in fairy stories.…Childhood tends to mean wonder, imagination, creative spontaneity, while adulthood, the loss of these perspectives. So the first task, as I see it, is re-storying the adult — the teacher, and the parent and the grandparent — in order to restore the imagination, the primary place of consciousness in each of us, regardless of age."

On Reflecting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Edmund Burke

"To read without reflecting
is like eating without digesting."

True Character . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Phillips Petroleum ad

     "Sometimes you’re confronted with a situation that can seem overwhelming at first. How it turns out is solely determined by how you respond. And how you respond is a reflection of how strongly you believe in yourself.…True character is revealed when you come face to face with adversity."

Another Sort of Learning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . James V. Schall, SJ

     "Some writers…will say that there are no teachers, only different degrees of learners.…A teacher is someone distinguished only by the fact that he or she has more time than most to learn again, someone who has hopefully tried to learn again more often."

Correcting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Source Unknown

"You don’t always have an obligation to correct someone else's mistakes."

Prayers for Those in High Positions . . . . 1 Timothy 2:1–4, 8

     "I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for everyone, for kings and all who are in high positions, so that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and dignity. This is right and is acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires everyone to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.…I desire, then, that in every place the men should pray, lifting up holy hands without anger or argument…"

On Right Speech . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Anonymous

"Help my words to be generous and tender today,
for tomorrow I may have to eat them."

Encourage Your Children . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Bruce Barton, 1917

     "Encourage your children to express their enthusiasm and delight. Let them believe that the world is full of wonderful things, and they themselves full of splendid possibilities. They can learn self-repression in later years: But enthusiasm, once lost, is lost forever."

Thanksgiving Day, Opening Prayer . . . . . . . . . . Roman Missal

     "Father all-powerful, your gifts of love are countless and your goodness infinite; as we come before you on Thanksgiving Day with gratitude for your kindness, open our hearts to have concern for every man, woman, and child, so that we may share your gifts in loving service."

Messengers of Joy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . St. John Paul II

     "Christ came to bring joy: joy to children, joy to parents, joy to families and to friends, joy to workers and to scholars, joy to the sick and joy to the elderly, joy to all humanity. In a true sense, joy is the keynote of the Christian message and the recurring motif of the Gospels…Be messengers of joy."

     "The establishment of the day we now celebrate nationwide was largely the result of the diligent efforts of magazine editor Sarah Josepha Hale. Mrs. Hale started her one-woman crusade for a Thanksgiving celebration in 1827, while editor of the extremely popular Boston Ladies Magazine. Her editorials argued for the observance of a national Thanksgiving holiday, and she encouraged the public to write to their local politicians.

     In addition to her magazine outlet, over a period of almost four decades she wrote hundreds of letters to governors, ministers, newspaper editors, and each incumbent President. She always made the same request: that the last Thursday in November be set aside to ‘offer to God our tribute of joy and gratitude for the blessings of the year.’

     By 1863, the Civil War had bitterly divided the nation into two armed camps. Mrs. Hale’s final editorial, highly emotional and unflinchingly patriotic, appeared…just weeks after the Battle of Gettysburg. In spite of the staggering toll of dead, Gettysburg was an important battle for the North, and a general feeling of elation, together with the clamor produced by Mrs. Hale’s widely circulated editorial, prompted President Abraham Lincoln to issue a proclamation on October 3, 1863, setting aside the last Thursday in November as a national Thanksgiving Day."

Parable of the Cave . . . . . . . . . . Paula Ripple
                                                          Walking With Loneliness, Ave Maria Press

    Three wise men were encouraged to find what had been called the cave of wisdom and life. They made careful preparations for what would be a challenging and arduous journey. When they reached the place of the cave, they noted a guardian at the entrance. They were not permitted to enter the cave until they had spoken with the guardian. He had only one question for them, and he demanded that they answer only after talking it over with one another. He assured them that they would have a good guide to lead them through the regions of the cave. His question was a simple one, "How far into the cave of wisdom and life do you wish to go?"

     The three travelers took counsel together and then returned to the guardian. Their response was, "Oh, not very far. We just want to go far enough into the cave so that we can say that we have been there."

     The response of the guardian manifested none of his great disappointment as he summoned someone to lead the three seekers a short distance into the cave, and then, sadly, watched them set out again after a very short time, set out to make the journey back to their own land.

     This Advent, ask yourself how far into the Cave of Wisdom and Life are you willing to travel?