Slow Down, You're Moving Too Fast.

Visovac 

Pat and I visited Visovac, KRKA National Park, Croatia on the 25 August 2005, the choicest place on earth to have a quiet retreat. It is right in the middle of a lake. The lake itself is surrounded by mountains and wooded hillsides. It is reached by boat from Skradin.

The Augustinian monks colonized this piece of rock in the 15th Century. They vacated the place when the Turks ruled the Balkans. However in their place the Franciscans came. Today only 8 Franciscan monks and novices lived on the island tending the gardens, chapel and monastery. For these monks seclusion is medicine for the restive soul. It is the perfect place to recede from our busy, crowded world for study of faith and theology. 

We live in a very busy go-get it world. Such a living quickly wears out not only the physical body but also the spiritual and the inner being. There is hardly any time. The moments pass us by and before long we become old. 

Then we realize, rather too late, that we have lost time and failed to savour the inspirational moments. If only we find our very own quiet place, then we can appreciate what it means by the Lord's command in Psalms 46:10, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” 

Listen to this song 'Be still for the presence of the Lord'

Be still for the presence of the Lord

The Holy One is here

Come now before Him bow

With reverence and fear

Everyone needs to find a quiet place where one can visit with God and hear the quiet whispers of God’s clear injunctions and leading. The Quakers call this 'soul making'. There is a season in life when we should escape from this fast pace world, slow down and spend more time with God.

Lionel
http://www.npkrka.hr/html_en/izleti_visovac_en.htm

Walk A Mile In My Shoes

Building Bridges

The Facebook boasts of more than 300 million active users linking people to virtual communities. Indeed, the word "virtual" aptly describes modern interactions between people nowadays. The ease of connectivity through the Internet has resulted in less face to face encounters. Despite the phenomenal improvement in communications technology, people still find themselves isolated, lonely and misunderstood.

Unfortunately, the endearing and emotional expressions of human communication skills used in conservations, letter writing and telephone calls are lost. They are  replaced by terse and short sentences over email and Twitter. So much misunderstanding can arise because we do not spend enough time in meaningful, bridge-building conversations.

In 1969, Joe South wrote a song entitled ‘Walk A Mile In My Shoes’. It is a song concerning intolerance and bigotry. The singer cries out for understanding, tolerance and compassion.

If I could be you, if you could be me for just one hour

If we could find a way to get inside each other's mind

If you could see you through my eyes instead your own ego

I believe you'd be surprised to see that you've been blind, Mmm

Walk a mile in my shoes, just walk a mile in my shoes

Before you abuse, criticize and accuse

Then walk a mile in my shoes

How much we need to understand each other! The Bible in Proverbs 4:7b states 

“though it cost all you have, get understanding” 

In trying to understand each other other we reveal ourselves and enable a reciprocal reaction. Understanding things, principles and concepts are very different from understanding people. Understanding people is possible only at a very personal and emotive level. This is costly; we pay not only with our time, effort and money, but also with our privacy, pride and ego. The more deeply we understand other people, the more appreciative and reverent we will feel about them.

Walk with me.

Lionel