Mardi, 24 Février, 2015
Verse of the Day: «Pour nous, nous
l'aimons, parce qu'il nous a aimés le premier.» 1 Jean 4.19
Quote of the Day: “Silence is a friend that will never betray you.”—Confucius
«Le silence est
un ami qui ne trahit jamais.»—Confucius
French Fun Fact:
Wearing a white wedding dress is a French tradition which began in 1499. (confessedtravelholic.com)
What’s Really
Happening Over Here:
Weather – Partly
Cloudy, Precip. 50%
Temperature – 40⁰F,
high of 45⁰
News – France's
Jewish and Muslim leaders fall out (thelocal.fr)
More News – http://rue89.nouvelobs.com/monde
A Day In the Life:
Recently I have spent a lot of time meditating on Psalm
37:4. “Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your
heart.” That’s a heavy statement. It’s a heavy promise too. I don’t think it’s
bad to want the desires of your heart (as long as they are for His glory); I
believe He put them there. In fact, I think it would be bad to deny those
desires (if they are for His glory). The important thing is to remember the
order of the underlying if-then statement above: “If you delight yourself in the LORD, then He will give you the desires of your heart.” Your desires cannot
become an idol. They are a means to an end – a means to His glory. So what does
it mean to delight yourself in the LORD? My guess is that it’s no different
than delighting yourself in anything else.
I think the tougher question is – how do I delight myself in something I cannot see, smell, touch,
taste or necessarily hear?
I heard a quote before I left the States which has been
floating in and out of my mind throughout my time here: “Right attitudes follow
right actions.”
God Himself said that if we seek Him we WILL find Him. I don’t
know how else to interpret that.
And, as He is the most infinitely interesting
and satisfying entity in the universe, clearly if I were to catch even a
glimpse of His nature I will inevitably want more.
Here’s a sort of syllogism I came up with relating the above
promise to the above quote to the above question. (Sorry…this is just the way
my brain works – I need logic. Maybe it will help you too!)
He says that if I seek Him, I will
find Him.
If I find Him, I will want more of
Him.
Therefore, if I want to want more
of Him, I need to seek Him.
You want the desires of your heart? Seek Him: Read His Word.
Spend time with His saints. Talk to Him. Not because you have to, not to try
and please (perhaps a better word would be appease) Him, but because you know
that through doing these things you will find Him. It’s an inevitable snowball
effect. But it takes effort (not works), and it takes time; just like any
relationship.
Louis Hennepin
Missionary and explorer, Father Louis Hennepin was a
Frenchman who shared the gospel and also had an impact on his world through the
gifts given him.
Father Louis Hennepin, O.F.M.
baptized Antoine, (12 May 1626 – c. 1705) was a Catholic priest and missionary
of the Franciscan Recollect order (French: Récollets)
and an explorer of the interior of North America.
Hennepin was born in Ath in the
Spanish Netherlands (now in the province of Hainaut, Belgium). In 1659 Béthune,
the town where he lived, was captured by the army of Louis XIV of France.
At the request of Louis XIV the
Récollets sent four missionaries to New France in May 1675, including Hennepin,
accompanied by René Robert Cavelier, Sieur de la Salle. In 1678, Hennepin was
ordered by his provincial superior to accompany La Salle on an expedition to
explore the western part of New France.
Hennepin was 39 when he departed in
1679 with La Salle from Quebec City to construct the 45-ton barque Le Griffon,
sail through the Great Lakes, and explore the unknown West.
 |
| Hennepin discovered Niagra Falls |
Hennepin was with La Salle at the
construction of Fort Crevecouer (near present-day Peoria, Illinois) in January,
1680. In February, La Salle sent Hennepin and two others as an advance party to
search for the Mississippi River. The party followed the Illinois River to its
junction with the Mississippi. Shortly thereafter, Hennepin was captured by a
Sioux war party and carried off for a time into what is now the state of
Minnesota. In September, Hennepin and the others were given canoes and allowed
to leave, eventually returning to Quebec. Hennepin returned to France and was
never allowed by his order to return to North America.
Local historians credit the
Franciscan Récollect friar as the first European to step ashore at the site of
present-day Hannibal, Missouri.
Two great waterfalls were brought
to the world's attention by Louis Hennepin: Niagara Falls, with the most
voluminous flow of any in North America, and the Saint Anthony Falls in what is
now Minneapolis, the only waterfall on the Mississippi River. In 1683, he
published a book about Niagara Falls called A
New Discovery.
(The above indented information is
a direct quote from an article
on Louis Hennepin found on Wikipedia.com.)
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