Each small task of everyday life is part of the total harmony of the universe.
Therese Of LisieuxRead
My director, Jesus, does not teach me to count my acts, but to do everything for love, to refuse Him nothing, to be pleased when He gives me a chance to prove to Him that I love Him - but all this in peace - in abandonment.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes loving actions without keeping score, focusing on devotion and peace in serving a higher purpose.
Therese of Lisieux expresses her understanding of love in a spiritual context, highlighting that true devotion involves performing acts not for recognition but for the pure joy of loving and serving. She portrays the importance of surrendering oneself to this love, finding peace in the journey of proving that love through actions, regardless of the outcome or recognition.
In practice
During a motivational speech about altruism, one could use this quote to illustrate the power of love-driven actions.
Each small task of everyday life is part of the total harmony of the universe.
I prefer to be accused unjustly, for then I have nothing to reproach myself with, and joyfully offer this to the good Lord. Then I humble myself at the thought that I am indeed capable of doing the thing of which I have been accused.
You heard me, only Friend whom I love. To ravish my heart, you became man. You shed your blood, what a supreme mystery!... And you still live for me on the Altar. If I cannot see the brilliance of your Face Or hear your sweet voice, O my God, I can live by your grace, I can rest on your Sacred Heart!
Holiness is a disposition of the heart that makes us humble and little in the arms of God, aware of our weakness, and confident - in the most audacious way - in His Fatherly goodness.
The guest of our soul knows our misery; He comes to find an empty tent within us - that is all He asks.
Everything is a grace, everything is the direct effect of our Father's love - difficulties, contradictions, humiliations, all the soul's miseries, her burdens, her needs - everything, because through them, she learns humility, realizes her weakness. Everything is a grace because everything is God's gift. Whatever be the character of life or its unexpected events - to the heart that loves, all is well.
It is quite clear that between love and understanding there is a very close link...He who loves understands, and he who understands loves. One who feels understood feels loved, and one who feels loved feels sure of being understood.
People have often asked me whether what I know about love has spoiled it for me. And I just simply say, 'Hardly.' You can know every single ingredient in a piece of chocolate cake, and then when you sit down and eat that cake, you can still feel that joy.
Love is flower like; Friendship is like a sheltering tree.
I met a young man who was wounded in love, I met another man who was wounded in hatred.
He lifts her breasts, which fit perfectly into his hands, though he knows this is no promise that he gets to keep them. A million things you can't have will fit in a human hand.
I thought I knew what love was before giving birth to my baby, but whatever I had experienced in the past paled in comparison to the utterly unconditional love I immediately felt for the little bundle I now held in my arms.
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