Month: January 2022

This poem came in the the middle of a sleepless night filled with anxiety. To dispel the mood I stepped out onto the deck and was greeted by the darkness interspersed with the lights of multiple stars. This simple poem sprang from the joy of the sight of the night sky on January 3rd 2022.

On October 21st 2020 I posted a poem titled Autumn Morning. Since then I have not written a single poem until January 3rd of the New Year. Even if my poems may not be worthy of becoming known beyond my journal and perhaps this blog, they are, I believe, especially gifted to me. When considering periods when poems filled pages of my journal opposed to periods when they were absent, I noticed giving time to silence and seeking answers seemed to open the door to The mystery of some bit of truth Flowing from the mind of Truth itself To an unworthy poet… * (From the poem, The Gift by DJ Pasternak )

First Poem of 2022

How beautiful is the night!
Cold clear winter sky
Aglow in darkness   
Do we gaze upon a world beyond in awe
Silent serene awaiting souls
Thrust into the forever of beauty unknown 
A world of truth to behold 
Given as gold to those
Yet wanting to know what awaits
In the lighted heavens
Seeking arms to hold, to love
Creator Comforter 
  How beautiful is the night!

Some years ago a friend of mine commented on my praying for the intercession of saints. She singled out The Little Flower, St Theresa of Lisieux. For her this well known saint did practically nothing; hidden away in a Carmelite convent in France from an early age and dying at the age of twenty-four. My only rebuttals at the time was that a book she wrote, The Story of a Soul, was one of the most widely read in the world. At the direction of her superior at the convent, who was also her sister Pauline, this little saint kept a diary of her life. The second thing was a quote that she would “Spend her heaven doing good on earth”.

Still this didn’t change my friend’s mind. I remembered this incident when I received another book this Christmas, Do Something Beautiful for God. It contained quote from Saint Teresa of Calcutta for each day of the year and also a short bio about her in the introduction, In the latter it mentioned that Mother Teresa who is one of the most widely known person in the world named The Little Flower as her role model. In the book the author says: Theresa (The little flower) believed that love is expressed through attention to the small things that fill our daily lives. Theresa practiced the small things that fill our daily lives. Mother Teresa practiced “the little way” taught by St Theresa.

Therefore, what did the Carmelite nun who lived an obscure, short life actually do? She influenced perhaps millions of people including one person who received the Nobel Peace Prize. The United States Medal of Freedom, and the United Nations Albert Schweitzer Prize.

Do Something Beautiful for God DynamicCatholic.com The

The Story of a Soul Free digital on line