Posts Tagged: Ignace Paderewski
“Firm Commitment and Dedicated Practice”
Hazelden Publishing has some wonderful readings that are both free and radically helpful. Here is one of them for today:
“Sunday, July 21
I wake each morning with the thrill of expectation and the
joy of being truly alive. And I’m thankful for this day.
—Angela L. Wozniak
Being open to the day’s offering, all of it, and looking for the positive
experiences therein, becomes habit only after a firm commitment and dedicated
practice. Today is special for each of us.
These next twenty-four hours will be unlike all others. And we are not the
persons we were, even as recently as yesterday. Looking forward to all of the
day’s events, with the knowledge that we are in the care of our higher power,
in every detail, frees us to make the most of everything that happens.
We have been given the gift of life. We are survivors. The odds against
survival in our past make clear we have yet a job to do and are being given the
help to do it. Confidence wavers in all of us, but the strength we need will be
given to each of us.
In this day that stands before me, I can be certain that I’ll have many chances
for growth, for kindness to others, for developing confidence in myself. I will
be thoughtful in my actions today. They are special and will be repeated no
more.
From Each Day a New Beginning: Daily Meditations for Women by Karen Casey.”
I liked this entire reading, but was especially struck by the words, “Being open to the day’s offering, all of it, and looking for the positive experiences therein, becomes habit only after a firm commitment and dedicated practice.”
Firm commitment and dedicated practice: Yes! That is what it takes. And it sounds good. But then, there is the actual commitment and practice. And how do I know I’m truly committed? By practice, practice, practice.
In virtually every area of my life, I don’t like practice. It is hard, boring, and repetitive. But it is also essential. A quote that I’ve heard attributed to different musicians (perhaps by the Polish pianist Ignace Paderewski) goes like this:
“If I don’t practice for one day, I know it.
If I don’t practice for two days, the critics know it.
If I don’t practice for three days, everyone knows it.”
God, help me to practice good stuff today.
DOWN TO EARTH BELIEVER
- DTEB, “Getting Christ and Ourselves Back in Focus” November 11, 2024“Col. 3:1 ¶ If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Col. 3:2 Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. Col. 3:3 For you have died, and your life is hidden […]
- “Search Me!” October 27, 2024“Psa. 139:23 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! 24 And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24, English Standard Version) I am participating in a Bible study, and this is a prayer […]
- “Christian Speech” October 26, 2024“Eph. 4:29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” Foulkes, in his excellent commentary on the Book of Ephesians, writes the following, which I quote at some length: “29. Now the […]
- “God is in the Details” October 11, 2024“The devil is in the details.” (A general saying, often quoted by lawyers, reporters, and negotiators.) “God is in the details.” (Me, almost certainly not original.) “Luke 12:7 Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.” (Jesus) God does not micromanage, but God […]
- “Grandma’s Pump” October 8, 2024When I was a little critter, I would stay at my grandma’s house for a night or two sometimes. I liked this for a lot for many reasons. One thing I liked about staying with her was that Grandma’s house was much more technologically advanced than ours was. For one thing, she had indoor water—sort […]
- “Wearing the #14 Wrong-Side-Out” October 5, 2024Pete Rose, #14, is dead. Many of the old guys with whom I play softball watched him play and appreciated him greatly. I do as well. He was one of the greatest players who ever played the game. Yes, he admitted (eventually) to betting on baseball. But many of us still regard him as one […]
- “Passing Along the Love (and a Link)” October 4, 2024Several years ago, a friend of mine put me onto a daily meditation by Richard Rohr and friends. I don’t read them all the time, but I probably should. They are good! I thought that today’s writing was especially good, and I also figured that this would be a good way to post something. I […]
- “Witnessing Versus Being Witnesses” September 19, 2024“Acts 1:1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, Acts 1:2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. Acts 1:3 He presented himself alive to them after […]
- “A Bathroom Prayer for Hurting Hands” September 11, 2024A week ago Sunday, my hands were hurting so badly at church that I went to the bathroom to run hot water over my hands. Arthritis perhaps, or carpal tunnel, or general orneriness—I don’t know why my hands hurt, but they do. They have for years. So, while I was running hot water over my […]
- “Waiting and Seeking” September 10, 2024“Lam. 3:19 ¶ Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! Lam. 3:20 My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. Lam. 3:21 But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: Lam. 3:22 ¶ The steadfast love of the LORD […]
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