5 Photos 5 days challenge – Day 4

 Today is the 4th day challenge, for which Susan Scott has nominated me to take it forward this 5 Photos 5 days challenge from www.gardenofedenblog.com

Today being Sunday it’s a day of quiet time and relaxation. My husband David is very much involved in the church activities, and he has a group by name soldiers of Christ that conducts prayer meetings in the church, every fourth Sunday of the month for half day, with a fellowship meal. David is very religious minded person and follows every ritual of the church, and also the cultural customs in the family.

The Logo of this group

I was a religious person, once upon a time trained very well in saying prayers, attending Sunday mass regularly, fulfilling all the obligations of the Catholic Church.  Over a period of time with my exposure to so many aspects of faith, I have moved breaking all boundaries of religious in order to evolve as a spiritual being.

Thanks to all the priests/nuns and other religious for enabling me in this journey of faith, where in I have always questioned and desired that my faith be vibrant, alive and full of positivity. I am so blessed to have gurus who have taught me the art of meditating, who have broaden my vision to explore further in understanding myself in the context of a particular time. Wherein I believed that my life has a purpose and I need to respond positively to the given situation in the history of time. 

The alter at St cecilia's church

I still believe I have purpose to accomplish.  But with so many varied experiences in life, and also the arrival of my son a down syndrome child, I found very difficult to manage him and my daughter as they both were extremes (my daughter was quick, and my son was just the opposite very slow in everything) Due to which I could never be on time for prayers/mass/ or any other rituals in the family. My son being very sickly and prone for respiratory issues. I never participated in traditional and other activities in the church and community. In the process I have given up a lot of rituals and religious practices and have embraced a quiet and a silent way of praying and meditating.

Now that my son is no more; and my husband in the process of coping with the loss, he has held on to faith; and has managing to move on… and now feels that he has a responsibility of helping those who have lost faith and hope in God, to help them renew faith and bring them closer to God and church through prayer meetings.

The choir group

I have coped with the loss of my son by learning to swim in the deep waters regularly, and also took up a career that helps students, listening to their sad stories, brokenness and challenges has made me forget my own sorrows and I am content and happy working in the counseling centre at the university campus.

Initially I was not really very comfortable and happy about these prayer meetings; as I enjoyed meditating in silence…. Despite our differences I felt that I must strike a balance in helping my child to learn to value both aspects in life; to appreciate certain traditions and cultures practiced in the church, to learn to sing, pray openly and at the same time also learn to meditate silently.

 

St cecilia's church

Then I decided to help David in whatever way I can to organize his prayer meetings on every 4^th Sunday and my daughter sings in the choir and also prays.  I encourage her to meditate quietly and integrate prayer with work. So today we were all in the church singing, praising, thanking God for everything, attended mass, joined in the fellowship meal and came back home with gratitude.

An outing with the prayer group

Tonight we will be visiting one of our relatives place which is 15kms away from where we live for a family function and dinner. I decided to complete this post at least by evening so that I don’t miss today’s challenge.

A few quotes to inspire …

“Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life.” Buddha

“When I do good, I feel good, when I do bad, I feel bad, that’s my religion” Abraham Lincoln.

“Prayer is the key in the morning and bold in the evening” Mahatma Gandhi

“Work out your own salvation, do not depend on others” Buddha

“But you have no need to go anywhere –journey within yourself. Enter a mine of rubies and bather in the splendour of your own light.” Rumi

“Lets remember who we really are, which souls, not egos is.” Ram Dass

“The spiritual journey is individual, highly personal. It can’t be organized or regulated. It isn’t true that everyone should follow one path. Listen to your own truth.” Ram Dass

Today I nominate Corinne Rodriguez from http://everydaygyaan.com. Corinne is an authentic and passionate blogger. She is very sensitive, helpful and frank and is very inspiring. I have always enjoyed reading her blogpost. In fact I have learnt so much from her, and she has been my motivation to start blogging.  I owe a lot to her and in fact whenever I had required support and have been stuck I have taken help from her.  I consider her as my Guru.  Thanks Corinne for everything and this is a request from me to take this challenge forward: the rules are simple:

1. Post photo each day for 5 consecutive days
2. Attach a story to the photo. It can be fiction, non fiction, poetry, a paragraph – all entirely upto you
3. Nominate another blogger to carry on the challenge. Your nominee is free to accept or decline the invitation! this is fun, not a command performance!

Be Blessed & Be Happy!