ARE YOU WEARING DUNG-COLOURED GLASSES?
Ah, we love to make fun of those in love, the young and the naive who view the world through rose-colored glasses. But what about the rest of us, those of us who wear dung-colored glasses? We should chuckle just as loudly when we realize this tendency to see darkly. When I am miserable, nothing, not riches, nor prestige, or a change in circumstances, nothing can change my interior unhappiness.
There is a scene at the end of C.S. Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia that has stayed with me for decades. The fictitious characterization of the grumpy, miserable dwarfs taught me about my own dung-colored glasses, because their perception of reality was so obviously skewed, their behavior hilariously outrageous. This scene is an example of what cognitive therapy tries to teach us about the power of our presumptions to imprison us in misery. Our entrenched paradigms, and our refusal to take off our dung-colored glasses, prevents us from experiencing a new life when it is offered to us. read more>http://catholicstand.com/wearing-dung-coloured-glasses/
A SALUTE TO THE COURAGE OF NEWBORNS
Although I am a mother of nine and a grandmother to two other little ones, my first encounter with my third grandchild startled me. I was struck by the sheer courage it takes a new soul to begin life in the helpless body of an infant.
What I found most startling about this little person, called Lila, besides her courage, was a look of utter surprise as she surveyed the world. When Lila turned at the sound of my voice, and looked at me for the first time, her eyes widen suddenly in recognition. It was if she thought, “Ah, so this is what you look like. I remember your voice.”
She remembered the sound of my voice from her time in the womb, and at six hours old finally put a face to that voice. This interaction brought to mind the reaction of John the Baptist, leaping with joy in the womb of his mother, Elizabeth, as she greeted a pregnant Mary.
When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the baby leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. And she cried out with a loud voice and said, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” (Luke 1:41-42)
joy of nine9 
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