{"id":85943,"date":"2015-10-09T09:32:54","date_gmt":"2015-10-09T16:32:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/?p=85943"},"modified":"2015-10-09T09:32:54","modified_gmt":"2015-10-09T16:32:54","slug":"a-meditation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/a-meditation\/","title":{"rendered":"A Meditation"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"drop\">In addition to being the Memorial of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/he-never-stopped-preaching-2\/\" target=\"_blank\">Saint Denis<\/a>, today also commemorates <a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/John_Henry_Newman\" target=\"_blank\">Blessed John Henry Newman<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><span class=\"wpsdc-drop-cap\">F<\/span>or many years, I&#8217;ve had one of Newman&#8217;s meditations hanging over my desk. Indeed, you can even find it on this site under the &#8220;Prayers and Meditations&#8221; menu above.<\/p>\n<p>It continues to bring me comfort, and more importantly to remind me that while there is a Plan, it&#8217;s very much above my pay grade.<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p class=\"drop\">God has created me to do Him some definite service; He has committed some work to me which He has not committed to another. I have my mission\u2014I never may know it in this life, but I shall be told it in the next. <\/p>\n<p>I am a link in a chain, a bond of connection between persons. He has not created me for naught. I shall do good, I shall do His work; I shall be an angel of peace, a preacher of truth in my own place, while not intending it, if I do but keep His commandments and serve Him in my calling.<\/p>\n<p>Therefore I will trust Him. Whatever, wherever I am, I can never be thrown away. If I am in sickness, my sickness may serve Him; in perplexity, my perplexity may serve Him; if I am in sorrow, my sorrow may serve Him. My sickness, or perplexity, or sorrow may be necessary causes of some great end, which is quite beyond us. He does nothing in vain; He may prolong my life, He may shorten it; He knows what He is about. He may take away my friends, He may throw me among strangers, He may make me feel desolate, make my spirits sink, hide the future from me\u2014still He knows what He is about.<\/p>\n<p>(Blessed John Henry Newman)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<div id=\"attachment_877\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/jhnewman.jpg\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-877\" data-attachment-id=\"877\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/prayers-and-meditations\/a-meditation\/jhnewman\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/jhnewman.jpg?fit=300%2C295&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"300,295\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"jhnewman\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Saint John Henry Cardinal Newman&lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/jhnewman.jpg?fit=300%2C295&amp;ssl=1\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/jhnewman.jpg?resize=300%2C295\" alt=\"\" title=\"jhnewman\" width=\"300\" height=\"295\" class=\"size-full wp-image-877\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-877\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Blessed John Henry Newman, pray for us<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In addition to being the Memorial of Saint Denis, today also commemorates Blessed John Henry Newman. For many years, I&#8217;ve had one of Newman&#8217;s meditations hanging over my desk. Indeed, you can even find it on this site under the &#8220;Prayers and Meditations&#8221; menu above. It continues to bring me comfort, and more importantly to remind me that while there [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[15,16,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-85943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-meditations","category-saint","category-wisdom"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1aGBK-mmb","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":100218,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/never-stop-preaching\/","url_meta":{"origin":85943,"position":0},"title":"Never Stop Preaching","author":"Thom","date":"09 October 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"knows a guy who just won't shut up. Sometimes it's not even that he has something to say, or that he likes the sound of his own voice. Sometimes these are the folks who are genuinely frightened by silence. Sometimes, they just don't know how not to talk. If those\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Annual&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Annual","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/annual\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/saint_denis_cephalophore.jpg?fit=640%2C414&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/saint_denis_cephalophore.jpg?fit=640%2C414&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/10\/saint_denis_cephalophore.jpg?fit=640%2C414&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":100254,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/saint-john-henry-newman\/","url_meta":{"origin":85943,"position":1},"title":"Saint John Henry Newman","author":"Thom","date":"13 October 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Saint John Henry Cardinal Newman Pope Francis officially canonized John Henry Cardinal Newman. He had the distinction until this morning of being the theologian most quoted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church who was not a saint. No more. I will leave it to others to speak of the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Catechism&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Catechism","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/catechism\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Newman.jpg?fit=724%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Newman.jpg?fit=724%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Newman.jpg?fit=724%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/10\/Newman.jpg?fit=724%2C1200&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":85647,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/notes-on-the-transitions-number-3-in-a-series\/","url_meta":{"origin":85943,"position":2},"title":"Notes on the Transitions, Number 3 in a Series","author":"Thom","date":"06 August 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Last night, the Holy Rosary Transition Team met for the first time with our new pastor, Very Rev. Nicholas Wichert, as well as our current pastor, Rev. Jacob Maurer. The meeting was ably facilitated by a number of folks from the Archdiocese, including Deacon Eric Paige and Leigh Stringfellow from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;2015 transitions - Holy Rosary \/ St. Joseph&quot;","block_context":{"text":"2015 transitions - Holy Rosary \/ St. Joseph","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/holy-rosary-st-joseph-transition\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Our Lady of the Holy Rosary, Tacoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/photo-e1397947311775-240x320.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":1996,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/when-the-rain-comes\/","url_meta":{"origin":85943,"position":3},"title":"When the Rain Comes","author":"Thom","date":"04 January 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"An odd day, this. I woke this morning from a dream where I was reading some sort of history book. It was very much like the big thick history books published in the 50s and 60s that I read when I was much younger, the kind you can still get\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Dreams and Visions&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Dreams and Visions","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/dreams-and-visions\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2263,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/crossroads\/","url_meta":{"origin":85943,"position":4},"title":"Crossroads","author":"Thom","date":"11 March 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"There is something magical and compelling about a doorway, about a crossroads. It is a time and place in between the old and the new, between past and future; the liminal space where for a moment time stands still and new possibilities, undreamt of mere moments before, now come sharply\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Camino&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Camino","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/camino\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/crossroads-225x300.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":107783,"url":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/j-m-j-2023\/","url_meta":{"origin":85943,"position":5},"title":"+J.M.J.+","author":"Thom","date":"01 May 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Today, celebrated around the world as \"International Workers' Day\" is the Feast of Saint Joseph the Worker. There's poetry to the fact that the month dedicated to the Blessed Virgin begins by putting the focus on her husband, and therefore on their family life. Imagine the Holy Family of Jesus,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Annual&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Annual","link":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/category\/annual\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Gerrit_van_Honthorst_Holy_Family_in_the_Carpentry_Shop_525.jpg?fit=525%2C440&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Gerrit_van_Honthorst_Holy_Family_in_the_Carpentry_Shop_525.jpg?fit=525%2C440&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/Gerrit_van_Honthorst_Holy_Family_in_the_Carpentry_Shop_525.jpg?fit=525%2C440&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=85943"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85943\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":85945,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/85943\/revisions\/85945"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=85943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=85943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thomryng.com\/amateurmonk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=85943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}