"God has created me to do Him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission — I may never know it in this life but I shall be told it in the next. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good, I shall do His work. I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place while not intending it if I do but keep His commandments.
Therefore I will trust Him. Whatever 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. He may take away my friends. He may throw me among strangers. He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide my future from me — still He knows what He is about.
John Henry Newman
“Man has places in his heart which do not yet exist— and into them enters suffering, in order that they may have life.”
Léon Bloy
“The books which the Holy Spirit is writing are the living, with every soul a volume in which the divine author makes a true revelation of His word, showing it to every heart, unfolding it in every moment.
There is not a moment in which God does not present Himself under the cover of some pain to be endured, of some consolation to be enjoyed, or of some duty to be performed. All that takes place within us, around us, or through us, contains and conceals His divine action. All souls must admire and respect one another, saying: 'Let us each continue walking along our path to the same goal, united in purpose and with the help of God's plan which, in its great variety, is in us all.'
'But,' say you, 'what will become of me if ...?' This is indeed a temptation of the enemy. Why should you be so inventive in tormenting yourself beforehand about something which perhaps will never happen? Sufficient for the day are its troubles. Uneasy worries do us much harm; why do you so readily give way to them? We imagine troubles, and what do we gain by it
To escape the pain caused by regret for the past or fear about the future, this is the rule to follow: leave the past to the infinite mercy of God, the future to His good Providence, and give the present wholly to His love by being faithful to His grace.”
Jean-Pierre de Caussade, L'Abandon a la Providence Divine
Stocks caught a whiff of bullishness, and rallied hard into the close.
The VIX was largely unchanged.
The Dollar was unchanged.
Gold was unchanged, while silver edged a little lower.
The market has its eyes on the CPI data tomorrow morning.
The stock bullies are chomping at the bit it seems.
Everyone else, not so much.
I have no special insights. Let's see what happens.
Have a pleasant evening.
"Cæsar was swimming in blood. Rome and the whole pagan world was mad. But those who had had enough of sin and madness, those who were trampled upon, those whose lives were misery and oppression, all the weighed down, all the sad, all the unfortunate, came to hear the wonderful news of God, who out of love for men had given Himself over to be crucified, to redeem their sins. When they found a God whom they could love, they had found that which the society of their time could not give to anyone— happiness and love.
And Peter understood that neither Nero, nor all his legions, could overcome the living truth— that they could not overwhelm it with tears or blood, and that now its victory was beginning. He understood with equal force why the Lord had turned him back on the road. That city of pride, of crime, of wickedness, and of a lust for power, was beginning to be His."
Henryk Sienkiewicz, Quo Vadis
