Fwd: [FWD: Psalm 23 with pictures] Note for blog: is there a way to add the photos from the email? Try to do this...
M.Elizabeth, Tue, Jul 31, 2007 at 1:45 PM
To: Catherine Todd
Dear Katie,
Probably the last thing in the world you feel like doing right now is writing anyone. And I understand that. Someone sent this to me this morning and I hasten to send it on to you, The twenty-third (used to be 22nd!) psalm, with delightful pictures. Enjoy. And just put out of you mind things that are hurtful. Could I ask, Did the tape I sent to your Oxford NC address come? I have an original and toward the end, it was starting to kind of "squick" or squeal. I attribute that to the wet weather that we are having now in the monsoon season. Maybe the music completely turned you off. I assure you, I won't mind at all if that's the case. And Sr. Angela's book, "God and a Mouse." Did you get to look at it yet? Would you rather I not write any more for a while? Whatever. You know I "am on your side." And I want everyone else to be on your side.
There is a verse in the Book of Exodus in the bible I have always found extremely helpful-- Exodus, Chapter 14, verse 14: "You have only to keep still and I will fight for you."
The place is where the Israelites under the leadership of Moses are fleeing from their lives as slaves to the Pharaoh to go to the Promised Land. And Pharaoh's chariots and charioteers are coming after them to take them back. At that, the people start crying out in anguish and dismay to Moses--why did he have to bring them out here in the desert? At that, Moses gets the message from God to tell them God's Words: YOU HAVE ONLY TO KEEP STILL AND I WILL FIGHT FOR YOU.
The year was 1955. I had started out to read the whole bible during my personal prayer time. I read the Book of Genesis, the first and had come to the Book of Exodus. I only read 14 chapters and when I came verse 14, this one, it so touched me that I didn't go on. But just stopped there. It kind of brings out St. Therese of the Child Jesus, her conviction that she knew she couldn't do all the things she wanted to do, but she just had to "let go and let God." It kind of is the same thing in everyone's life, more or less, do you agree?
Take care. Love and Prayers,
Sr. M. Elizabeth
-------- Original Message --------
Subject: [FWD: Psalm 23 with pictures]
From: sophia
Date: Tue, July 31, 2007 8:36 am
Beautiful!
Sophia
* * * * *
Psalm 23
The Lord is my Shepherd = That's Relationship!
19c52b.jpg
I shall not want = That's Supply!
19c54a.jpg
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures = That's Rest!
19c559.jpg
He leadeth me beside the still waters = That's Refreshment!
19c569.jpg
He restoreth my soul = That's Healing!
19c579.jpg
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness = That's Guidance!
19c588.jpg
For His name sake = That's Purpose!
19c598.jpg
Yea, though I walk through the valley of t he shadow of death = That's
Testing!
19c5a8.jpg
I will fear no evil = That's Protection!
19c5b7.jpg
For Thou art with me = That's Faithfulness!
19c5c7.jpg
Thy rod and Thy staff they comfort me = That's Discipline!
19c5d6.jpg
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies =
That's Hope!
19c5e6.jpg
Thou annointest my head with oil = That's Consecration!
19c5f6.jpg
My cup runneth over = That's Abundance!
19c605.jpg
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life =
That's Blessing !
19c615.jpg
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord = That's Security!
19c625.jpg
Forever = That's Eternity!
19c634.jpg
Face it, the Lord is crazy about you.
19c644.jpg
Send this to people you are crazy about.
I thought this was pretty special, just like YOU!!!
What is most valuable,
19c653.jpg
is not what we have in our lives, but
19c663.jpg
WHO we have in our lives!
19c673.jpg
' Do not ask the Lord to Guide your Footsteps if you are not willing to move your Feet'
Peace.
---
Catherine Todd Tue, Jul 31, 2007 at 4:36 PM
To: M.Elizabeth
Dear Sr. Elizabeth, thank you so much for writing. I did get your wonderful tape, but haven't been able to dig out a tape player to play it on yet. We've moved next door and everything is still in boxes inside. I'll ask Les tonight if he can find it for me, as I am dying to hear you play. Really, I'd like to come to Tuscon and hear you play "for real" in your what I imagine your beautiful church to be. Can you send me some photos of the church? Your convent looks wonderful.
I'm flying to Atlanta tomorrow just for the day to see my Uncle Johnny Merrick, so I might be out of touch a bit. It's nice to have someone in this family wants me to come visit, and I haven't seen him in at least 25 years, I don't think. My cousins, his children, are "all grown up" and I can't imagine what they even look like now, so it should be quite a treat. I hope.
I am going to try and go back mid-August when I get back from NY to see if I can help him out a bit more. His eyesight is failing and there's lots of doctor appointments. I took care of Les' mother Dorothy for almost 4 years and it's more than a full-time job, so maybe I can help the kids find some outside help to look in on him part-time during the week. I'm scared to death of going to hospitals and doctors, so even though I would take Dorothy, and will take Uncle Johnny, it's not my "cup of tea."
Other than that I have been very, very depressed and at odds with myself and the whole world, cannot find any purpose anymore, but I have been reading and thinking about your letters quite a bit. They do mean a lot. I am sitting outside in the garden right now, by the fountain with St. Francis "keeping me company," and a little bird is tweeting and calling from the tree and a light gentle warm breeze plays among the shadows and the leaves, and I am not dead yet... I have not departed and am still among the "land of the living," no matter what someone else (or others) may want. It's a beautiful warm day, a few giant white cumulus clouds in a pale blue sky, with the last of the lilies blooming and the world continues to turn.
I will read those psalms you mention. Thank you so much for writing. This depression is almost killing me, but not quite. It's "situational depression," meaning it's directly attributable to what is going on in my life right now, and I'm reading (yet another) book on Forgiveness, and I'm getting so tired of it that maybe exhaustion will finally force me to "lay down my anger" and ask God to take over. I hope so. What more can we do?
<< And Sr. Angela's book, "God and a Mouse." Did you get to look at it yet? >>
Yes, thank you, and thanks for the reminder. When it came, I couldn't remember ordering it! I will take this book with me on the plane tomorrow.
Keep writing all that you want to, even if I don't respond as often I read EVERYTHING.
I love the saying under the last photo:
' Do not ask the Lord to Guide your Footsteps if you are not willing to move your Feet'
In thanks for you loving kindness and prayers, Katie
[Quoted text hidden]
--
*** Traveling:
"A child on a farm sees a plane fly overhead and dreams of a faraway place. A traveler on a plane sees the farmhouse and dreams of home." ~ Carl Burns
Words to live by: "Best of all is to preserve everything in a pure, still heart, and let there be for every pulse a thanksgiving, and for every breath a song." ~ Konrad von Gesner
"The world is made anew each day, for God makes it so. It contains within it all the good and all the evil as before; no more, no less, but the same." ~ Paraphrased from "The Crossing," by Cormac McCarthy
Catherine Todd
6754 Leaning Oak Rd. Oxford NC 27565
H 919.693.0853 U.S. cell 919.605.0727
