My Slow Takes (Vol. 99)

1. Deacon Steve talked about the Trinity in his Homily last week.  He related a story about Saint Augustine.

“St. Augustine was walking on the beach contemplating the mystery of the Trinity. Then he saw a boy in front of him who had dug a hole in the sand and was going out to the sea again and again and bringing some water to pour into the hole. St. Augustine asked him, “What are you doing?” “I’m going to pour the entire ocean into this hole.” “That is impossible, the whole ocean will not fit in the hole you have made” said St. Augustine. The boy replied, “And you cannot fit the Trinity in your tiny little brain.” The story concludes by saying that the boy vanished because St. Augustine had been talking to an angel.”

Deacon Steve said that we should be studying how we learned about God through the scriptures. The more we read and reflect on our readings the more we will understand.

Study is one of the legs of the tripod from Cursillo. It is the tool of choice.

2. Dee and I spent some time with our friends Pam and Tony. Beach walks, browsing shops in the small town of Manteo, sharing stories and laughing. There was no schedule or concern about the time. Just four people enjoying God’s gift of friendship. 

“A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter;
he who finds one finds a treasure.

A faithful friend is beyond price,
no sum can balance his worth.

A faithful friend is a life-saving remedy,
such as he who fears God finds;

For he who fears God behaves accordingly,
and his friend will be like himself.”  Sirach 6:14-17 

Pam and Tony

3. Randy Booth shared the following from his blog, "The Feast of Booths."

“I asked that it [work] should be looked upon—not as a necessary drudgery to be undergone for the purpose of making money, but as a way of life in which the nature of man should find its proper exercise and delight and so fulfill itself to the glory of God. That it should, in fact, be thought of as a creative activity undertaken for the love of the work itself; and that man, made in God's image, should make things, as God makes them, for the sake of doing well a thing that is well worth doing." By Dorothy Sayers

4. I enjoy early morning walks on the beach. Usually before 6AM, so I can see the sun rise. The photo is taken from my iPhone.  

5. The local fishermen were out before me but I did get the opportunity to meet them and watch the netting of the fish. It reminded me of the stories of Jesus and the disciples. The morning sun caressed the ocean giving it a mixed blue color. Everything was calm and serene as I watched them pull in the nets and gather the fish. 

6. Dee and me along the dock in Manteo.

7. A photograph of one of the entries to the 2013 National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest. See more here at “The Atlantic.”
The photo is the Seaham Lighthouse in County Durham in England.
© Owen Humphreys, photographer.

Read other "Takes" at Conversion Diary.