Wednesday 20 January 2016

For Today - Being Willing

When a man's willing and eager, God joins in. - Aeschylus

Yesterday, I was not willing.  I was mired in confusion, stress, overwhelm, and grief.  As the reading in For Today says "sometimes willingness comes easily.  Sometimes it is locked head-on with defiance.  Then I feel heavy with the load."  Yep.  This morning, I feel fragile but willing.  So I will work with that and through that.

The quote this morning is from the ancient Greek dramatist, Aeschylus, who lived c. 455 to 525 BCE and is considered the father of Greek tragedy.  He also wrote:
He who learns must suffer.  Even in our sleep, pain which cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, until in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom through the awful grace of God.
There are a lot of great quotes from Aeschylus.  Some of my favourites this morning:
  • Happiness is a choice that requires effort at times.
  • It is always in season for old men to learn.
  • God loves to help him who strives to help himself.
  • Time brings all things to pass.
  • Words are the physicians of a mind diseased.
  • The reward of suffering is experience.
  • There are times when fear is good.  It must keep its watchful place at the heart's controls.
  • Excessive fear is always powerless.
  • What good is it to live a life that brings pains?
and
"Courage!  Suffering, when it climbs highest, lasts not long."

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