"God's mercies are new every morning and His compassions fail not!"

Solitude is the furnace of authentic formation of the soul and sense of being; solitude with ourselves and God's loving and living Presence takes us to a place of transformation of true vision for what life is meant to be, rather than having that dictated to us by the society around us - a wandering and rootless society, not centered in authentic self-knowledge and a personal connection with and knowledge of the love and Truth of God our Maker and Savior and which shapes a very shallow vision of what can be. The inner journey into our true selves found in communion with our Friend and Rescuer, Jesus of Nazareth - the Eternal Word and Son of our Creator Father - releases us from the false self the world has told us we are. We are listening to the wrong voices! That's why solitude is so vital; so we can hear "the sounds of Silence" and allow the One who is Love and Truth to show us, speak to us, and heal us so that the true self, we've been created to be and to become can begin to emerge and come out into the light of Day.

This true self, this new self, serves as a compass for our living in the midst of a wondering, wandering, aimless generation whose only reality is material, but whose hearts long in the silent moments for something More; something deeper, more satisfying, more substantial and more lasting. It takes courage to journey into solitude and meet with God face to face and heart to heart; to face the fears, the pains, the uncertainties that we so desperately try to avoid and deny and drown out with busyness, constant activity, noise and other forms of medication. Gather your courage, call out to the One who loves you and made you for a larger Life and ask Him to meet you in the silence and talk to you about the Larger Story your life is meant to inhabit and live in; where you find out who you really are and who He really is. Listen! He's calling......

C. S. Lewis Quotes - Requires Savoring and Pondering

"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another: "What! You too? I thought I was the only one."
— C.S. Lewis

"I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."
— C.S. Lewis

"The Christian does not think God will love us because we are good, but that God will make us good because He loves us."
— C.S. Lewis

"If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world."
— C.S. Lewis

"Some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again."
— C.S. Lewis (The World's Last Night: And Other Essays)

"There are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind."
— C.S. Lewis

"God can't give us peace and happiness apart from Himself because there is no such thing."
— C.S. Lewis

"I pray because I can't help myself. I pray because I'm helpless. I pray because the need flows out of me all the time- waking and sleeping. It doesn't change God- it changes me."
— C.S. Lewis

"To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact you must give it to no one, not even an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements. Lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket, safe, dark, motionless, airless, it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. To love is to be vulnerable."
— C.S. Lewis (The Four Loves)

Inspiring Quotes For Seeing Differently

Perspective may be defined as the way we see and perceive or understand the nature of things around us.  Of course, if we live very long, we hopefully begin to understand that things aren't always what they appear to be on the surface, or at first glance.  It is stated of God in Sacred Scripture that "God doesn't see as man sees.  God looks at the heart, while man judges by outward appearance."

 So, often in life, we presume that we are seeing and understanding a situation, a person, a circumstance, a struggle correctly, when, all the while, there may be a deeper reality at work beneath the surface that we are not perceiving and that may give quite a different color to the whole matter before us, if we could be see it more clearly.  The story of the blind beggar, "Bartimaeus", recorded in the Gospel of Mark, illustrates most strikingly the point about the importance of our perspective.  Bartimaeus sits by the side of the road begging for his living because he is unable to see and, therefore, navigate his way safely and normally through life.  So, because of his lack of clear sight, he is limited, sidelined in life.