Christina’s Reviews > Bread for the Journey: A Daybook of Wisdom and Faith > Status Update

Words of affirmation and love are like bread. We need them each day, over and over. They keep us alive inside.

Consolation is a beautiful word. It means "to be with the lonely one." To console does not mean to take away the pain but rather to be there and to say, "You are not alone, I am with you. Together we can carry the burden. Don't be afraid. I am here."

True joy is hidden where we are the same as other people: fragile and mortal. It is the joy of belonging to the human race. It is the joy of being with others as a friend, a companion, a fellow traveler. This is the joy of Jesus, who is Emmanuel: God-with-us.

When we forgive others, we release ourselves from the identity of "the offended one."

All human beings are alone. Each of us is unique and how we feel, how we think, and how we act. Our aloneness is the other side of our uniqueness. The question is whether we will let our aloneness become loneliness or whether we all will allow it to lead us into solitude. Loneliness is painful; solitude is peaceful. Solitude allows us to respect others in their uniqueness and create community.

We will never find our vocation by trying to figure out where we are better or worse than others. We are good enough to do what we are called to do.

"Often there is a large abyss between our thoughts, words, and actions, and the many images that emerge in our daydreams and our night dreams. To pray is to connect these two sides of our lives by going to the place where God dwells."

Our ability to think is our greatest gift, but it is also the source of our greatest pain . . . Let's break out of our isolation and realize that Someone who dwells in the center of our beings wants to listen with love to all that occupies and preoccupies our minds.