Reflection
Too often that we do not see the gifts that are innate to us. We look at what others have and see only where we are lacking. Our vision becomes distorted and our hearts are narrowed. We feel inadequate and somewhat depressed, We need to try to recognize and value the gifts each of us has and to rejoice in our remarkable diversity. Our gifts enrich all humanity and enable us to make our unique contribution to the whole. God’s prolific creativity revealed through us is unlimited. So should be our respect for and delight in it. Recognizing ourselves as channels of this creative love ,we are able to offer our giftedness to all people.
Prayer
May I recognize my own gifts and limitations as well as those of others. May it empower me to use my gifts to bring God’s love to the world.
Action
Today I will try to recognize in myself at least one gift I have to offer.
Suggested Reading
Israel loved Joseph more than his other sons for he was the son of his old age, and he had a coat with long sleeves made for him. But his brothers, seeing how his father loved him, came to hate him so much that they could not say a civil word to him.
Genesis 37:3 – 4
We are all given different abilities – and “these gifts need to be used to do good in this life, as a service to God and to our brothers and sisters.
Pope Francis
A wise lover values not so much the gift of the lover as the love of the giver
Thomas à Kempis
Life is not easy for any of us. But what of that? We must have perseverance and above all confidence in ourselves. We must believe that we are gifted for something and that this thing must be attained.
Marie Curie
Love looks through a telescope; envy, through a microscope.
Josh Billings
Envy comes from people’s ignorance of, or lack of belief in, their own gifts.
Jean Vanier
We are all gifted. That is our inheritance.
Ethel Waters
The sure mark of one born with noble qualities is being born without envy.
Francois de La Rochefoucauld
The personal life deeply lived always expands into truths beyond itself.
Anais Nin
Everyone has the obligation to ponder well his own specific traits of character. He must also regulate them adequately and not wonder whether someone else’s traits might suit him better. The more definitely his own a man’s character is, the better it fits him.
Cicero