"I always liked routine and rhythm. They help me recognize the gifts that, quite often, we fail to see as gifts because they seem dull and unimportant--essentially, life itself. Liberation occurs only through acceptance."
and
"One has to accept each day and everything in it as a gift from God, and transform each day into joy. If all the details of my life...are not giving joy but are only a burden, then it is really my sin, my selfishness, my laziness."
Oh, how I appreciate Father Alexander Schmemann!
These quotes, particularly the second one, hit home with me the other night when I was reading through his journals. I have lived this over and over and over again. I have lived the joy of every single mundane day as well as the burdensome feeling of joylessness that I can trace back to my own sin. There have been excruciatingly difficult days when I felt completely overwhelmed by joy. There have been relatively "easy" days when I have felt cranky and burdened. The difference truly always seems to be my own attitude, my own willingness to accept each day as a gift. We are given so many opportunities in life, every day, to take joy.
I pray that God will always give me the grace to transform each day into joy, no matter what the days bring. Amen.
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