“Man has places in his heart which do not yet exist, and into them enters suffering, in order that they may have existence.”
Léon Bloy
"The time will come when you will wish you could see the days of the Son of Man, but you will not see it. There will be those who will say to you, ‘Look, over there!’ or, ‘Look, over here!’ But don't go out looking for it. As the lightning flashes across the sky and lights it up from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his time. But first he must suffer much, and be rejected by the people of this day."
Luke 17:20-25
"They do not see the image of Almighty God before them, and ask themselves what He wishes. And, for the same reason that they do not please Him, they succeed in pleasing themselves. Hence, they become both self-satisfied and self-sufficient; – they think they know just what they ought to do, and that they do it all; and in consequence they are very well content with themselves, and rate their merit very high, and have no fear at all of any future scrutiny into their conduct...
Therefore I will trust Him. Whatever, wherever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him; in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him; if I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. He does nothing in vain— He knows what He is about."
John Henry Newman
Repentance and forgiveness are the two great gifts of God, freely given, as noted before. Without them we cannot rise to the level of our own humanity, and avoid sinking into an abyss of perverse isolation and despair.
But there is the third and greatest gift, which is thankfulness. For with thankfulness our sinful pride is vanquished, our hearts are opened, and love enters. And a light comes into our lives.
These are the three great gifts from God.
Stocks dipped down close to key support, and then managed to bolt back up and higher after the European close.
British politics were roiling the markets and especially the 'cable trade' in the pound-Dollar cross, as a series of resignations has called Prime Minister May's government into question.
Gold and silver drifted slightly higher along with the Dollar.
Tomorrow is a stock option expiration.
We have had our first snow of the season today. It started a little after noon, and is still snowing quite steadily and accumulating about two inches so far. We are looking at a possible changeover to sleet or freezing rain later on.
And of course they were ransacking the local supermarket. Unfortunately I thought I was beating the rush, but they let the kids out of school early so I had to navigate the turmoil. lol.
Stock option expiration tomorrow.
Have a pleasant evening.
