Daily Reading for March 18 • Tuesday in Holy Week

Reflect, my son, Do you walk too quickly for God?
Hear that song which the Lord sings with your life. Recall that:
There is one time for the lattices of heaven to give dew,
And another for the sun to fire the sands.
There is one time for children to play with coloured toys,
And another when they rest upon their pallets.
There is a time when life blooms and youth is all,
And another when white hairs close life’s door.

Reflect again my son, Do you climb too high for God?
Recall that a solitary:
Seeks not the voice of God, but hears it in cracking ice, blowing reeds and brethren’s laughter.
Seeks not the gifts of God, but finds them in new bread,
the darkness of dawn and brethren’s love.
Seeks not the vision of God, but spies His Print on bee’s wing,
fishes’ fin and brother’s heart.

Reflect again my son. Do you ask too much of God?
Know that:
When His prize is downfalling, you may find a rising.
When His favour is silence, you may catch a melody.
When His blessing is suffering, you may sense deep peace.

So:
The heart of darkness is new light.
The heart of despair is fresh hope.
The heart of death is eternal life.

Only those who have nothing
can accept everything.

“Having Nothing” by Abbot Nicholas and John the Dwarf, in the Abbot and the Dwarf by Derek Webster (St. Paul’s Publications, 1992). Quoted in The Desert: An Anthology for Lent by John Moses. © 1997. Used by permission of Morehouse Publishing, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. www.morehousepublishing.com