Psalm 62: “In you alone is my soul at rest. My help comes from You.”

“I bet today's Reflection is a repeat from last year. Am I correct?” Some of you must slap your foreheads and say: “Repeats? What else is there?” This from a regular reader of my Reflections.  Not only is this day’s Reflection a repeat, most of them are repeats. I repeat that: most of them are. (I don’t claim to have fifty ways of saying ‘hope’.)

One reader writes: "I send a prayer for continued health; and a note of continued gratitude for the beauty, simplicity and support of your daily postings.  Yes, I know many are repeats! But that’s the joy (to me) and benefit (to you) of aging!”  By the latter, I presume he/she means that with age the pace is slower, possibly more reflective, ready to enjoy seeing old friends..

Others have pointed out that even though the Reflections may be repetitions, you the readers, you have changed. I was interrupted in this writing by a good friend and, discussing this issue, he suggested that the Reflections had a sort of durability. We have grown older, possibly more reflective; we may have missed something previously.  Perhaps, some life-changing event has affected us deep down. Or, effected a substantial, possibly profound change in us. 

And, thanks to the internet, there are new readers, new subscribers every day. All the Reflections are new to them. What may be repetition for faithful readers is new stuff for new readers.

Age not only can bring new physical aches and pains, but may affect our outlook, our general mood. We may laugh more, cry more…

A spokesperson for a family of readers sums it up this way:  “The five of us often forward your Reflection to each other on days where one of us finds it particularly exceptional, and we often chat with each other about your Reflection of the day and offer each other our comments and thoughts about it. Thank you for that! I personally love reading your Reflections. I get to think of you every day and am reminded of Saint John’s every day because of your Reflections. Your Reflections so often help me think positively about what’s going on in my life, and they give me great perspective on important things we Christians all think about.”

Psalm 27: “I believe I shall see the Lord’s goodness / in the land of the living.

Wait for the Lord; be strong; / be stouthearted, and wait for the Lord!”

Reply to Fr. Don at: DTalafous@csbsju.edu

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