Last night the stars wept. This morning, I promised myself never to read world news again, before sleeping!

What a time we live in! The world is in a terrible state. How did it come to this? Mankind starves for faith, hope and love. It starves for God, and we have turned away from Him.

Can one person make a difference? Yes! The small efforts of even one person can set a cascade in motion! St. Seraphim encouraged, "Acquire the gift of the Holy Spirit, and thousands around you shall be saved."  Our journey, our spiritual quest begins from within!

We must love and forgive our neighbour! Indulgence and plain tolerance is not true love. We must truly see God in our neighbour. This is the only way we can love someone. If we, as Orthodox Christians have trouble loving our neighbour, how can we expect others to do this? We have the Holy Gospels, the lives of Saints, and the wisdom of our Holy Fathers, to help us!

It is easy to love those who already love us, or flatter us, or who are kind to us. The real test comes when someone personally insults, ridicules, or hates you. Our fallen nature instinctively wants to hurl back exactly what is dealt our way. When a crisis occurs, our true spiritual nature will show itself.

Sometimes we need to ask forgiveness first, even if we did not start the quarrel! When we live our faith by example, others see the reality of Orthodoxy.

We all have things to work on. If we are not progressing with our spiritual life we are backsliding, as there is no standing still. By seeing our dear Lord in our neighbour, we won't ignore the homeless! By seeing Christ in a fellow human soul, we can begin to love each other. There is always hope!

One life can touch the lives of so many others in a positive way! Let us love one another, so together in one mind and one heart we may confess our faith!

Celestial Lament

When I was a child
I heard the stars sing
Their crystalline cantata,
And my heart
Sang with them.

A cosmic chorus
Chanted, and I merged
Together with the heavens
And became
Infinite.

Effused with Divine
Sweetness, my soul panged,
For its beauty overwhelmed
And brought me
Home again. 

Last night the stars wept.
They cried for the world,
For all it tribulations
And trials
And sorrows.

Humanity is
Almost out of time.
Soon the stars will cease to sing
And shall fade
Forever.

I am old now, and
Weep with the stars, yet
Hope still remains... For with God,
All things are
Possible!

I cling to this Truth
And this comforts me,
For I have heard the stars sing,
And I have
Touched the sky.

Matushka Barbara Bruce