Ask and you will receive

"Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will
receive, and your joy will be complete." John 16:24

"During the American Civil War, a certain man had a son who had enlisted
in the Union army. The father was a banker, and although he gave his
consent to his son, it seemed as if it would break his heart to let him
go.

Once his son had left, he became deeply interested in the plight if the
soldiers, and whenever he saw one in uniform, his heart went out to him
as he thought of his own dear boy. Often to the neglect of his business,
he began spending his time and money to care for the soldiers who came
home disabled. His friends pleaded with him not to neglect his business
in this way, by spending so much time and energy on the soldiers. So he
decided to give it all up, taking his friends' advice.

After he had made the decision, however, a young private in a faded,
worn uniform stepped into the bank. It was easy to discern from the
wounds on his face and hands that he had been in the army field
hospital. The poor young man was fumbling in his pocket to find
something, when the banker saw him. Perceiving his purpose for coming
into the bank, he said to the soldier, 'My dear man, I cannot help you
today. I am extremely busy. You will have to go to the army
headquarters, where the officers will take care of you.'

The poor wounded soldier still stood there, not seeming to fully
understand what was being said to him. He continued to fumble in his
pockets and finally pulled out a scrap of dirty paper. He laid the
filthy page before the banker, who read the following words written in
pencil:

Dear Father:

This is one of my friends, who was wounded in the last battle and is
coming to you directly from the hospital. Please receive him as you
would me.

Charlie

All the banker's previous resolve to focus solely on his business
instead of the soldiers quickly flew away. He took the young man to his
own magnificent home and gave him Charlie's room and seat at the dinner
table. He cared for him until the food, rest, and love had returned him
to health, and then sent him back to his place of service to again risk
his life for his country's flag." From STREAMS IN THE DESERT

Good thoughts to ponder today.

Great quote: If we can, by God's grace, turn ourselves entirely to Him,
and put aside everything else in order to speak with Him and worship
Him, this does not mean that we can always imagine Him or feel His
presence. Neither imagination nor feeling are required for a full
conversion of our whole being to God. Nor is intense concentration on an
idea of God especially desirable. Hard as it is to convey in human
language, there is a very real and very recognizable (but almost
entirely indefinable) Presence of God, in which we confront Him in
prayer knowing Him by Whom we are known, aware of Him Who is aware of
us, loving Him by Whom we know ourselves to be loved. -- Thomas Merton