Author: Saunter

  • Day 1380 stress tailspin

    JMJ By whatever machinations, I was not paid this past Friday as scheduled and despite being told I was paid. Realizing this suddenly yesterday on top of all the holiday stress and complicated by my exploration of purchasing the business… My body went into a tailspin and still has not recovered. My mind knows what…

  • Day counts are not evil

    Day counts are not evil

    JMJC The purpose of a day count is to encourage others in their journey, to help them understand God works in the lives of ordinary people and also wants to help them. It is powerfully effective as evidenced by the number of recovery programs that emphasize it.Day counts can be used to fuel pride, but…

  • Tap.. Tap.. Tap..

    JMJC I tend to cycle through various eccentric, eclectic, and possibly even singular religious devotions (all intentionally well within Catholic teaching), and these often find expression in my particularly physical spirituality. The most recent example of this is my particular three taps to the chest. Such a motion is common to a Catholic – bringing…

  • Thank you, Lord

    JMJC I experienced someone’s in-my-face aggression outside my shop yesterday, which tore at some painful wounds. I couldn’t drink over it, drug over it, lust over it, eat over it, get emotional over it, speak over it, entertain over it, or any other way escape over it. The only solution was to pray through it.…

  • The All-Important Pause

    JMJC First thing I do when confronted with temptation, I pause. This pause allows me to pray, meditate, remember why I am stopping, play the tape forward (play the tape forward means envision a future in which I relapse, the bad feelings, the guilt, the shame, the social impact, the harm to the acting out…

  • A Daily Litany

    A Daily Litany

    JMJC This Daily Litany is meant to be prayed to seek a conscious connection to God – meditating with love on all the truths evidenced in each line. This means going as slowly as necessary – even repeating lines to ensure understanding – seeking God’s wisdom and truth and how the meaning applies to your…

  • Serenity in the Present Moment

    JMJC One way I find God is in practicing love and gratitude in the present moment, unattached to the past or future or things outside my control. In this state, fear and temptation lose their power; I can fly like an eagle and jump obstacles like a gazelle. Lord, grant me the serenity to accept…

  • Prayers for Serenity & Surrender

    JMJC God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference. Thy will, not mine, be done. Amen. God, grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, courage to change the one I can, and wisdom to…

  • The Litany of Chastity

    JMJC “This litany, composed as the fruit of one man’s personal prayer, is a powerful resource to assist you in the journey toward greater freedom. Since the original sin, every man and woman carries some degree of disintegration in regards to the gift of human sexuality. “At times, it can be difficult to pray through struggles…

  • Dark Nights of the Soul

    JMJC Directly inspired by Dr. Brant Pitre‘s Introduction to the Spiritual Life It is common for anyone just coming to Christ, diving deeply into discipleship, or beginning a significant spiritual practice like chastity to receive extraordinary spiritual graces. However, it is also common for such a person to experience the seeming withdrawal of these graces…