Starting tomorrow (March 8, 2026), I will resume publishing these letters at my previous domain: http://letters-to-god.com.

There is nothing you have to do. You will begin receiving this daily message at the same time (5:00 am eastern) every day from a new email address.

You can unsubscribe any time without any worries, these letters will always be free, and I will never share your information with anyone else.

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Everything else is the same. All the content from this site is posted over there now, too.

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THANK YOU for your devotion and friendship.

~B.R.

While putting away my night clothes, a thought came to me. But the time I had finished, I could no longer recall it.

Walking the grounds, the idea I had moments ago has vanished.

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Were these thoughts unimportant, Lord? Or did you note them, with love, and might you deliver to me all my desires, even ones I forgot I had?

Even my fleeting thoughts are precious to you, Lord. Let me treat them so.

Consider:

Can I be more attentive to my inner life today?

Reading:

“The soul becomes dyed with the color of its thoughts.”

— Marcus Aurelius

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“Nothing is so strong as gentleness, nothing so gentle as real strength.”

— Francis de Sales

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“How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!”

— Psalm 139:17 (KJV)

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I am a hidden seed, covered by earth I did not choose, yet to be nourished by rain I cannot summon, with nought to do but wait for growth.

What I grow into and become may be as mighty as an oak. Would that strength then be mine?

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Let me accept and rejoice in my dependence on you, Lord, here under the earth.

Consider:

Can I live fully dependent?

Reading:

“The oak fought the wind and was broken, the willow bent when it must and survived.”

— Robert Jordan

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“I live now, not I, but Christ liveth in me.”

— Saint Paul

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“So then neither is he that planteth any thing, neither he that watereth; but God that giveth the increase.”

— 1 Corinthians 3:7 (KJV)

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The gate would not open. I pushed and pulled. I walked the fence line looking for a break. The latch was bent beyond my strength.

I stood in the road, counting what I did not have. Better tools. Another pair of hands.

Beyond the hedge, a narrow path wound toward the field. I had passed it many times. It led where the gate would not.

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Why do I believe the only way forward is the one I have already imagined?

Lord, show me the path I did not know to look for.

Consider:

Can I trust your solutions exceed my imagination?

Reading:

“We do not know what is possible; we only know what we have seen.” — Wendell Berry

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“Faith sees the invisible, believes the unbelievable, and receives the impossible.” — Corrie ten Boom

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“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.” — Isaiah 55:8

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Is living a skill I would learn, like framing a door?

A craft, like furniture building?

A devotional practice?

Could this day be all those things?

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I can do my chores efficiently. I can seek to cook an evening meal to remember.

I can live this day as a gift to you, Lord.

Skill, craft, devotion.

Consider:

Can I live devotionally today?

Reading:

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.”

— Will Durant

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“In the beginner’s mind there are many possibilities, in the expert’s mind there are few.”

— Shunryu Suzuki

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“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.”

— Ecclesiastes 9:10 (KJV)

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My neighbor knocked on my door, and I hid in a back room. I was in sorrow, and did not have the wherewithal to speak.

They called for aid in town, and I ducked away so as not to be noticed. I was busy and did not have time to help.

I left the gate to our village garden open and I did not speak up when asked who did it. I was afraid.

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Now today, after so much hiding, there is a barrier around me. I am used to avoiding where others go, and reluctant to open my door.

But the sun shines, my neighbors smile and wish me well, and the reckoning I fear instead will bring harmony.

Lord, in your grace, forgive me my hiding from the world. Let me stand, be counted, speak, and extend my hand today.

– from the mountain

Consider:

Can I encounter the world today without hiding?

Reading:

“You are not required to set yourself on fire to keep other people warm.”

— Penny Reid

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“Courage is resistance to fear, mastery of fear—not absence of fear.”

— Mark Twain

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“For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”

— 2 Timothy 1:7 (KJV)

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Looking down on the village from a mountainside bench. The square is already busy.

While I wait, stopping movement, so I might hear you.

The crowd may call loudly, press on, press on. Yet in the rush of breath and movement I scarcely hear it.

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Your whisper, in a stolen quiet moment, brings me greater encouragement than a cheering crowd.

Press on, press on, you whisper to me.

Grateful am I, that I stepped aside for this time with you.

Let me hear.

– from the mountain

Consider:

Can I make quiet moments to listen for your voice?

Reading:

“The quieter you become, the more you are able to hear.”

— Ram Dass

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“The most precious gift we can offer anyone is our attention.”

— Thích Nhất Hạnh

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“And after the fire a still small voice.”

— 1 Kings 19:12 (KJV)

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Seeking knowledge of your will for me, knowledge of what to do, I ask for a sign. A sign to show me the way, a sign to show me what to do.

Dawn comes, and chores with it. I make ready for the day.

At noon, it is time to go to market. I walk into the village, greeting neighbors on the way.

Time to retire, to rest. The day ends with a small prayer that I be shown the way.

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The signs were all around, all day.

– from the mountain

Consider:

Can I see the signs you show me every day?

Reading:

“There are no accidents.”

— Carl Jung

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“Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air.”

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

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“The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD: and he delighteth in his way.”

— Psalm 37:23 (KJV)

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Who knocks upon whose door?

Am I waiting, alone in my room, for your visit?

Must I find your door, on a journey, and knock to seek entrance to your audience?

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My outstretched arm, toward your outstretched arm -- we draw toward one another.

I can wait, and you will come. I can seek, and I will encounter you.

We knock on one another’s doors.

– from the mountain

Consider:

Can I better seek you, Lord?

Reading:

“God is closer to me than I am to myself.”

— Saint Augustine

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“Every moment is a fresh beginning.”

— T. S. Eliot

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“Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.”

— Matthew 7:7 (KJV)

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Even now, after so much journeying, I am just beginning to be on the way. So much more path to walk.

Yet here, too, is the truth. Even now, with the journey of many days ahead, today’s duration remains the same: one day.

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Today is a beginning and an ending. Today is the middle, too.

Let me be on the way.

– from the mountain

Consider:

Can I be present, on this journey?

Reading:

“The way is not in the sky. The way is in the heart.”

— Gautama Buddha

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“What you seek is seeking you.”

— Jalāl al-Dīn Rūmī

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“This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

— Psalm 118:24 (KJV)

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When I hope, the hope itself contains the seeds of doubt, for I hope against failure.

Hope is not my refuge. Peter, beginning to sink, hoped and cried out. Faith might have held him.

In these winter months, with daylight fleeting, do I have faith, or hope? I know morning will come and the sun will be high. Yet what of providence? Do I rest knowing that supply will come?

I hope for enough, Lord.

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Grant me faith and assurance, letting hopeful doubt slip away.

Grant me faith.

– from the mountain

Consider:

Can I have greater faith?

Reading:

“Faith is taking the first step even when you do not see the whole staircase.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

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“Hope is the thing with feathers

That perches in the soul.”

— Emily Dickinson

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“But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me.”

— Matthew 14:30 (KJV)

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We have labored for so long, we are stretched so thin, we tremble and strain to go one more step.

It is from this point that we begin. Yesterday’s trials, the efforts of even the last few hours, no longer matter. The present, now, this moment, is the one from which we start.

Am I ready now? Surely no. But surely yes. When else could I start?

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You have a special place in your heart for the exhausted ones, who have worked so hard for you yet still press on.

Let me press on.

– from the mountain

Consider:

Can I be ready now?

Reading:

“What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us.”

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

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“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.”

— Khalil Gibran

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“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

— Matthew 11:28 (KJV)

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The sun exploded across the horizon as the chilly dawn spreads across the field. Even here inside my winter room, readying my walk, the rose light speaks to me.

While out amongst the bare trees, the wind speaks to me.

As I encounter one neighbor, and another, they speak to me.

Your voice is all around, Lord, speaking to me. I asked for signs and direction, and if I but listen I will hear it.

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If every voice is yours, Lord, then so too must mine be. When I speak to my loved ones, my neighbors, my stock, I speak your words.

Let me hear you and speak you, Lord.

– from the mountain

Consider:

Can I better hear your voice?

Reading:

“The world is charged with the grandeur of God.”

— Gerard Manley Hopkins

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“Listen, and your soul will live.”

— Walt Whitman

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“My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.”

— John 10:27 (KJV)

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I thought I was gearing up for battle. I was preparing to learn a lesson of love. They whom I had thought an enemy had put out a feast and we dined together.

What now am I preparing to do? I dress, I clean. In my mind I see a battle, I festival, a coronation.

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What if all there is to come is a day of chores and duties? A day of friendship? A day of contemplation?

Lord, let me learn to live without expectation of result. Let me be open to the lessons you will teach me, the friendship you will show me.

– from the mountain

Consider:

Can I live without story?

Reading:

“Expectation is the root of all heartache.”

— William Shakespeare

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“The great thing, then, in all education, is to make our nervous system our ally instead of our enemy.”

— William James

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“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD.”

— Isaiah 55:8 (KJV)

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I was looking for signs of your will for me, crying out for a way forward.

I did not see all the signs you had already sent my way: the word from a friend, the nudge from my neighbor, the coincidences, the dreams.

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And still I cried out, waiting for a sign.

Was I unwilling to see? Or unable?

Lord, open my eyes, open my heart, to the signs you have already placed in my life. Let me read them.

– from the mountain

Consider:

Can I look for and see the signs you have already sent?

Reading:

“The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes.”

— Marcel Proust

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“We do not see things as they are, we see them as we are.”

— Anaïs Nin

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“Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of thy law.”

— Psalm 119:18 (KJV)

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The way to town is crisscrossed by low stone fences, stacked stones, carefully laid by ones who came well before I was here.

The way up the mountain is covered with stones that fall from the hill. When walking along the mountain way, care must be taken lest I turn an ankle. The slow pace makes it easier to appreciate the views.

A quiet spot along a slow creek reveals an artfully stacked cairn, a surprise for the wanderer.

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The stones are all equal. One stone no better or stronger or prettier than its neighbor.

Let me be the stone, Lord, that you might use me for your purpose.

– from the mountain

Consider:

Can I be one among many?

Reading:

“Each stone has a story.”

— Andy Goldsworthy

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“The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn.”

— Ralph Waldo Emerson

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“Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house.”

— 1 Peter 2:5 (KJV)

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In dark of night, while the world slept, fear crept in. Its shadow fell across my room, looming large over me. My heart was gripped, pounding.

It was simply the angle of the moon that made such a long shadow. It had no substance. Like mist, it came, obscured vision, then left.

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Lord, let me give myself to you in easy times and hard, at noon and dark of night. Let not the shadows mist stop me.

Grant me knowledge of your will for me, and power to carry it out.

– from the mountain

Consider:

Can I see through the shadows?

Reading:

“We are more often frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination than from reality.”

— Seneca

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“I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear.”

— Rosa Parks

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“The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?”

— Psalm 27:1 (KJV)

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I tried to repair the shed door. Where it had shut only with difficulty, but still latched, after my work it no longer closed.

The job seemed simple. I did not know what I did not know.

Now: remorse over not leaving well enough alone. The shed stands open. I made it worse.

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Were my intentions ill? I meant well.

Lord, let me forgive myself for what I did not know.

– from the mountain

Consider:

Can I forgive myself?

Reading:

“The greatest obstacle to discovery is not ignorance—it is the illusion of knowledge.”

— Daniel J. Boorstin

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“Mistakes are the portals of discovery.”

— James Joyce

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“Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.”

— Luke 23:34 (KJV)

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Here at the edge of town, where few travel, I can feel alone. Yet I have neighbors.

Last night came a visitor, in need of aid. He knocked on my door. Why mine, not another’s? After the snowstorm, I had cleared a path from the road to my door.

My neighbors had not.

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I had no idea what felt simply fastidious would turn into a welcome.

Let my life be a welcome, Lord.

– from the mountain

Consider:

Can I create welcome everywhere I go?

Reading:

“Let my life be a small light for those who need it.”

— Rabindranath Tagore

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“Hospitality means primarily the creation of free space where the stranger can enter and become a friend.”

— Henri J. M. Nouwen

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“Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.”

— Hebrews 13:2 (KJV)

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I have duties. Yet I will instead live this day in retreat.

This shed used to be filled with tools and implements. Now it has a chair, a table, a small shelf. Here is where now the greatest work takes place.

I sit, and read, and study, and breathe, and reflect, and sit.

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You place no more burden upon me, Lord, than I can bear -- yet perhaps it is not strength I need but rest and respite.

What greater joy could there be, than to be with you in quietude?

– from the mountain

Consider:

Can I sit, and enjoy the stillness today?

Reading:

“Solitude is the furnace of transformation.”

— Henri J. M. Nouwen

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“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the sky, is by no means a waste of time.”

— John Lubbock

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“In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength.”

— Isaiah 30:15 (KJV)

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