New Year's Day Feast of the Circumcision

 Rev. Fr. Leonard Goffine's

The Church's Year

Why is this day so called?

Because the secular year begins with this day, as the Church year begins with the First Sunday in Advent.

What should we do on this day?

An offering of the new year should be made to God, asking His grace that we may spend the year in a holy manner, for the welfare of the soul.

Why do we wish each other a "happy new year"?

Because to do so is an act of Christian love; but this wish should come from the heart, and not merely from worldly politeness, otherwise we would be like the heathens (Mt. 5:47), and receive no other reward than they.

What feast of the Church is celebrated today?

The Feast of the Circumcision of our Lord, Who, for love of us, voluntarily subjected Himself to the painful law of the Old Covenant, that we might be freed from the same.

What was the Circumcision?

It was an external sign of the Old Law, by which the people of that day were numbered among the chosen people of God, as now they become, by baptism, members of the Church of Christ.

What is the signification of Circumcision in the moral or spiritual sense?

It signifies the mortification of the senses, of evil desires, and inclinations. This must be practiced by Christians now, since they have promised it in baptism which would be useless to them without the practice of mortification; just as little as the Jew by exterior Circumcision is a true Jew, just so little is the baptized a true Christian without a virtuous life. Beg of Christ, therefore, today, to give you the grace of the true Circumcision of heart.

PRAYER I thank Thee, O Lord Jesus, because Thou hast shed Thy blood for me in Circumcision, and beg Thee that by Thy precious blood I may receive the grace to circumcise my heart and all my senses, so that I may lead a life of mortification in this world, and attain eternal joys in the next. Amen.

[The INTROIT of the Mass is the same as is said in the Third Mass on Christmas.]

COLLECT O God, Who, by the fruitful virginity of blessed Mary, hast bestowed upon mankind the rewards of eternal salvation; grant, we beseech Thee, that we may feel the benefit of her intercession for us, through whom we have deserved to receive the author of life, our Lord Jesus Christ, Thy Son, who livest and reignest, etc.

[The EPSTLE is the same as is said in the First Mass on Christmas.]

GOSPEL (Lk. 2:21). At that time, after eight days were accomplished that the child should be circumcised, his name was called Jesus, which was called by the angel before he was conceived in the womb.

Why did Jesus submit to Circumcision?

That He might show His great love for us, which caused Him even at the very beginning of His life, to shed His blood to cleanse us thereby from all our sins. Furthermore to teach us obedience to the commandments of God and His Church, since He voluntarily subjected Himself to the Jewish law, although He was not in the least bound by it, which ordered that every male child should be circumcised on the eighth day after its birth (Lev. 12:3).

Why was He named Jesus?

Because Jesus means Redeemer and Savior, and He had come to redeem and save the world (Mt. 1:21). This is the holiest, most venerable, and most powerful name by which we can be saved.

What power has this name?

The greatest power, for it repels all attacks of the evil Spirit, as Jesus Himself says (Mk. 16:17). And so great is the efficacy of this most holy name that even those who are not righteous, can by it expel devils (Mt. 7:22). It has power to cure physical pains and evils, as when used by the apostles (Acts. 3:3-7), and Christ promised that the faithful by using it could do the same (Mk. 16:17). St. Bernard calls the name of Jesus a "Medicine"; and St. Chrysostom says, "This name cures all ills; it gives succor in all the ailments of the soul, in temptations, in faintheartedness, in sorrow, and in all evil desires, etc." "Let him who cannot excite contrition in his heart for the sins he has committed, think of the loving, meek, and suffering Jesus, invoke His holy name with fervor and confidence, and he will feel his heart touched and made better," says St. Lawrence Justinian. It overcomes and dispels the temptations of the enemy: "When we fight against Satan in the name of Jesus," says the martyr St. Justin, "Jesus fights for us, in us, and with us, and the enemies must flee as soon as they hear the name of Jesus." It secures us help and blessings in all corporal and spiritual necessities, because nothing is impossible to him who asks in the name of Jesus, whatever tends to his salvation will be given him (Jn. 14:13). Therefore it is useful above all things, to invoke this holy name in all dangers of body and soul, in doubts, in temptations, especially in temptations against holy chastity, and still more so when one has fallen into sin, from which he desires to be delivered; for this name is like oil (Cant. 1:2) which cures, nourishes, and illumines.

How must this name be pronounced to experience its power?

With lively faith, with steadfast, unshaken confidence, with deep­est reverence and devotion, for in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth (Phil. 2:10). What wickedness, then, is theirs who habitually pronounce this name carelessly and irreverently, upon every occasion! Such a habit is certainly diabolical; for the damned and the devils constantly abuse God and His holy name.

Why does this name so seldom manifest its power in our days?

Because Christian faith is daily becoming weaker, and confidence less, while perfect submission to the will of God is wanting. When faith grows stronger among people, and confidence greater, then will the power of this most sacred name manifest itself in more wonderful and consoling aspects.

PRAYER TO JESUS IN DIFFICULTIES

O Jesus! Consolation of the afflicted! Thy name is indeed poured out like oil; for Thou dost illumine those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death; Thou dost disperse the blindness of the soul and dost cure its ills; Thou givest food and drink to those who hunger and thirst after justice. Be also, O Jesus! my Savior, the phy­sician of my soul, the healer of its wounds. O Jesus! Succor of those who are in need, be my protector in temptations! O Jesus! Father of the poor, do Thou nourish me! O Jesus! joy of the angels, do Thou comfort me! O Jesus! my only hope and refuge, be my helper in the hour of death, for there is given us no other name beneath the sun by which we may be saved, but Thy most blessed name Jesus!

EXHORTATION St. Paul says: All whatsoever you do in word or in work, all things do ye in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ (Col. 3:17). We should, therefore, follow the example of the saints, and continually say, at least in our hearts: "For love of Thee, O Jesus, I rise; for love of Thee I lie down; for love of Thee I eat, drink, and enjoy myself; for love of Thee I work, speak, or am silent." Thus we will accustom ourselves to do all in the name of Jesus, by which everything is easily or at least meritoriously accomplished.

PRAYER TO BE SAID ON NEW YEAR'S DAY

O God, Heavenly Father of Mercy, God of all Consolation! we thank Thee that from our birth to this day, Thou hast so well pre­served us, and hast protected us in so many dangers; we beseech Thee, through the merits of Thy beloved Son, and by His sacred blood which He shed for us on this day in His circumcision, to for­give all the sins which, during the past year, we have committed against Thy commandments, by which we have aroused Thy indig­nation and wrath against ourselves. Preserve us in the coming year from all sins, and misfortunes of body and soul. Grant that from this day to the end of our lives, all our senses, thoughts, words, and works, which we here dedicate to Thee for all time, may be directed in accordance with Thy will, and that we may finally die in the true Catholic faith, and enjoy with Thee in Thy kingdom a joyful new year, that shall know no end. Amen.

To Everyone in All Our Assemblies

 By Anna Von Reitz

The depth and duration of The Great Fraud is being uncovered on an almost daily basis, and if you are following the International Public Notices, you are being kept in the loop and following the general outlines of this discovery phase and the various issues and arguments that are current. 

No doubt many people are astonished to learn that the British System is just as messed up, fraudulent, corrupt, and criminal as our own, and that it has been so for approximately twice as long. 

And no doubt there is a lot of dismay and confusion and even fear in some quarters as many are contemplating the immensity of the fraud and the implications of the fraud for the first time. 

What does this mean for our government?  

Our actual government isn't involved. 

Our foreign subcontractors are the ones up to their necks in it. 

Another aspect of this which has to be taken in, is that their National Debt is our National Credit. 

As a result, Donald Trump is pulling the long face and talking about a Great Depression predicted to fall upon Federal Citizens, Janet Yellen is pulling every dollar of cash out of the system possible,  and the Federal Reserve is rolling up like a carpet.  

But in tandem with this gloom and doom, we are preparing for a very different future.  

Their "National Debt" is our "National Credit".  

Say that as often as necessary until it sinks in.  

On top of that, we are the legitimate inheritors not only of our own form of government and contracts and treaties, but all the cashiered wealth --- the land held in trust, the gold and silver, the cash, the beneficial bonds and stock certificates.  

Even if we forgive all the British Territorial and Municipal Debt, which we can easily do, the American people and living people worldwide, will be relieved of phony debts and mortgages and taxes and stand to inherit the assets and credit they have been owed for six generations. 

We, the living people, are not looking at any Great Depression. 

We are looking at the opposite side of the ledger --- the positive side. 

In trade and commerce, there is always an equitable exchange envisioned, but in our case, thanks to the Great Fraud and our public employees purloining and using our assets without our knowledge or consent, their corporate debt has been palmed off onto the living men and women, who have already paid for everything with actual goods and services. 

So we are doubly the creditors of all the corporations and trusts and public bonds that have been issued--- for six generations back.  

The transfer of wealth that has to occur to "balance the books" will radically rewrite not only the economic and financial world, but the infrastructure of the government subcontractors and bureaucracy associated with them. 

It's all okay. 

Nobody has to suffer, except for those who went mad with power, and knowingly committed criminal acts under color of law.  

Your wealth is coming home.  Your banks and prosperity centers are opening.  Your American Federation Treasury is open. Everything necessary is being prepared for you.  

So, be comforted. The world we have known in the past is fading away and that's a good thing.  The world of the future is being built on a firm foundation and it is right on time and on track to rescue the living people, the animals, and the Earth.  

Let all those of goodwill join with us in affirming our fair and peaceable solution to the problems that have been visited upon us and join together to share the true abundance that is naturally ours. 

Spread the word and the safety net.  

Remember that I told you that this is a rescue operation?  It is.  

The more people you can reach, the more people you can rescue. 

Each one who is rescued becomes an anchoring point to rescue others, and so, the work of restoration and compassion grows. 

Get ready.  There's rough water ahead, but our Old Boat has weathered many storms and the hand of Divine Providence has carried us through and brought us to the present moment. 

May all the living people and innocent souls be blessed.  May Nature's God be with us and all good things come to us in the New Year. 

Granna 

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International Public Notice: Besides the Fraud, There's the Murder

 By Anna Von Reitz

In one of our most recent Notices to the International Public, we noted that "Britain" as a country does not exist, does not possess sovereignty, and never did.  

England is a sovereign nation-state.  Scotland is a sovereign nation-state.  Ireland is a sovereign nation-state.  Wales is a sovereign nation-state.  

There is or was a King of England at one time, but the historical record indicates that the office has been deliberately left vacant since the early 1700s, with the result that the only actual representative of England's sovereignty has been the hereditary Lord High Steward. 

This circumstance in England was reprised here in America, where the same gang of criminal miscreants finagled to claim that the actual sovereign People of this country had disappeared "over the sea" and similarly leaving only the hereditary Head of State as a placeholder. 

Now these False Representatives are attempting to overturn the sovereignty of many nation-states based on the corporations they have used to provide "government services" in the meantime. 

None of these cozy arrangements were ever approved by any of the actual populations of any of these countries; this constructive and coercive fraud has been carried out under conditions of non-disclosure, deceit, and color of law.  

Everyone knowingly involved in this gargantuan multi-generational fraud against the public interest is guilty of fraud, treason, and a great many other crimes.  They have no granted authority to do any of the things they've done. 

The Office of "King of England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales" is a joke, a hoax, a literal impossibility, as sovereignty is indivisible. 

Like other oxymorons these con men use, such as "civilian military" and "sovereign citizen", this deceptive Title has been used to bilk the public and create the assumption that an individual sat as King and functioned as the Sovereign of all these countries, when in fact no such thing occurred. 

The exact opposite occurred.  

All these land and soil jurisdiction offices were vacated by the purported Kings and Queens who evaded their duties and the Public Law by operating entirely in the jurisdiction of the Sea and depending on Public Ignorance to accept the assumption that a British Monarch was the equivalent of an English King.  

On the basis of this facile deception the government of "Great Britain" --- which is Company, not a country --- has been functioning under conditions of fraud and evasion of their Constitutional Limitations for over three hundred years. 

This hidden adjournment from the land and soil and its law, to the watery jurisdiction of the sea and its law, is being attempted again, as "King" Charles III is attempting to do a similar maneuver now, and adjourn from the jurisdiction of the sea to the jurisdiction of the air, and pass this all off by giving away sovereignty that he neither embodies nor possesses. 

Just as the actual office of "King" or "Queen" was secretly vacated in favor of standing as a "British Monarch" they are now attempting to vacate the jurisdiction of the sea in favor of the Office "Imperial Majesty" in the jurisdiction of the air. 

And it is all deliberate fraud upon the people.  It is all treason. This is true in England and true in The United States as well. 

Our research indicates that this same scam based on jurisdictional manipulation has impacted the entire former Commonwealth, the seventeen Western European countries occupied by the Allies after World War II, Japan, South Korea, Iraq, Libya.... and every other country that has suffered either occupation or "administration" by this Crime Syndicate. 

This would all be bad enough, but there is a lengthy history of murder-for-profit, insurance fraud, inland piracy and other violent crimes attached to these fraudulent "governments", which are all actually commercial or municipal corporations in the business of providing "essential government services" under contract.  

The current "Excess Death Toll" caused by their latest war profiteering stands at 31 million and is increasing each day; they have knowingly polluted the human genome to deliberately cause death, chronic disease, and sterility. 

This was avoidable and the potential for it was known thirty years ago.  Anthony Fauci's bad character and lack of credibility as a scientist has been known for three decades; the NIH's complicity in his lunacy has also been known, and no responsible action was taken, no investigation conducted by the bought-and-paid-for media: 

https://rumble.com/v20cpi0-entire-speech-dr-robert-willner-accused-anthony-fauci-of-genocide-30-years-.html

Issued by: 

Anna Maria Riezinger, Fiduciary

The United States of America

In care of: Box 520994

Big Lake, Alaska 99652

December 31st 2024

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International Public Notice: A Short Reply to "King Charles III"

 By Anna Von Reitz

An examination of history reveals that the Throne of England was acquired as a property interest by the German Hanoverian Dynasty shortly after the English Civil War.  

There followed the ugly interlude known as The War of the Spanish Succession, with the result that German Queen Anne ascended the English Throne.  She was the last Sovereign of any stripe to sit on it. 

That was over 300 years ago.  

Queen Anne --- probably unknowingly --- vacated the land and soil of England and became a "Queen" in name only of a Company calling itself "Great Britain".  Deft deceits, then, and now, have served to hide these facts from the public. 

As an example, people have been deluded by the appearance of a "combined monarchy" --- "Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth the Second, Queen of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales" gives the impression that Elizabeth II was the Queen of all four countries, but in fact, this was a deceitfully named foreign office operated under this distinct, separate name.  

She never actually sat on the Throne of England despite the complex and extravagant Coronation Ruse, as the records of the High Court admit.  Nor did she sit on the  actual Thrones of any of the other countries.  

Good sense should tell anyone who thinks about it for five seconds, that a Sovereign Office is not divisible.  

But we should hardly be surprised that Elizabeth II never sat on the land and soil of England as Queen: 250 years-worth of her Predecessors never did, either.  

And neither is her Son, Charles III, sitting on the Throne of England. 

So who has actually been operating the vacated land and soil jurisdictions of these countries for the past 300 years?  In the case of England, the hereditary Lord High Steward has held the land and soil of England "for" the absent Kings and Queens.  

Please notice that this was exactly the same playbook and narrative that was used by these criminals and con artists to usurp against the American Government.  As with the English Civil War, an illegal mercenary conflict was disguised as an actual war.  The English Civil War was supposed to be about religion and the American Civil War was purportedly about slavery, but neither one of these events were actual wars and they weren't about religion or slavery, either one. 

They were about money and debt and Continental business interests, especially German banks.  

So the tangled web takes another gyration.  

Not only did the Windsors inherit a foreign office as the Pope's Overseer of Church lands  (and were given a crown by him as such), but they had no natural tie to England or English soil at all, and were actually German Interlopers and not English Sovereigns at all.  

So here we are, fast-forward 300 years, and here is "King" Charles III, signing a "Treaty" with the corporations that are members of the World Economic Forum and declaring that "national sovereignty must end".   

https://open.substack.com/pub/forbiddennews/p/king-charles-signs-wef-treaty-authorizing

Spoken like a true Piker, considering that he couldn't sign an actual Treaty if his life depended on it (actual Treaties bind countries and nations, euphemistic "Sea Treaties" like this one bind business interests) and also as he never was a Sovereign of England, Scotland, Ireland or Wales.  

From his standpoint as a Business Manager for the Pope and various German / Austria-Hungarian interests, he has no "national sovereignty" to offer and his opinion, like his signature, has no authority outside the narrow interests of certain criminal corporations and their business concerns.  

In our opinion, the farcical nature of these Pretensions and attempts to delude and defraud the people of many nations of their own natural national sovereignty deserves a swift arrest not only of "King" Charles III, but the members of the Privy Council and Parliament that went along with and profited from this multi-generational fraud scheme.  

When someone calls himself the "King of England" and presents himself as the "King of England", he'd better jolly well be the King of England, and not a German Knock Off or Undeclared Agent of the Holy Roman Empire.

Arrest them.  Arrest them all. 

Notice to Agents is Notice to Principals.  Notice to Principals is Notice to Agents. 

Issued by: 

Anna Maria Riezinger, Fiduciary

The United States of America

In care of: Box 520994

Big Lake, Alaska 99652

December 31st 2024

----------------------------

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Ground Zero North Carolina

 https://rumble.com/v61m9ah-ground-zero-north-carolina-fighting-globalism-to-restore-the-republic-by-an.html

International Public Notice: No Cold War

 By Anna Von Reitz

Like everything else in this country, information about the economy and the world economy is surprisingly difficult for the general populace to access and analyze.  Part of this is a compartmentalization of information by the academics.  Part of this is ignorance and therefore, disinterest on the part of the public.  Part of this is merely the press-ganged nature of life in "the states" -- whichever states may be referred to.  

People are kept too busy responding to every misguided alarm sponsored by the Mainstream Media, too strained to make enough money to live at peace, and too busy trying to find a life with the few hours left of their days to worry about economic issues. It's only when they wake up and realize that the price of nearly every food and drug item has doubled or tripled that they nudge grudgingly toward interest in the economy. 

The attitude has been--- we work night and day to hire experts to take care of all that economic stuff for us.  We're not economists, right? Our employees should be taking care of all that for us.  That's the job of the Federal Reserve, the Securities and Exchange Commission, the New York Stock Exchange, the Comptroller of the Currency, the Secretary of the Treasury, the..... 

Unfortunately, all these institutions and offices are politicized and corrupt and largely incompetent, seduced by the post-World War II occupation accommodations in Europe and Japan, and the creation of the Federal Reserve Note as the "reserve currency" of the world, the establishment of the Economic Security Fund, and other measures, into thinking that the US Empire would last forever. 

As Richard Wolff points out in this video (below), such an expectation was never rational, and yet, the politicians and institutions of this country seem stuck in the past, unable to correctly analyze either the present or the future.  This has resulted in economic and policy blunders of epic magnitude, which, strangely enough to the uninitiated, are not American at all. 

They are the result of the myopic, elitist, bully boy politics of the British Parliament and British Crown, which continue to use and abuse American military muscle and economic resources for their own agendas --- thinly disguised as "American" initiatives. 

As Wolff observes, there were already 149 countries out of 196 opposed to Israel's aggression against the Palestinians and in favor of a Palestinian homeland BEFORE the most recent genocide in Gaza, and invasions of Lebanon and Syria began.  The atrocities committed by Israel have led to Norway, Spain, and Ireland withdrawing their support and joining the countries in support of a Palestinian homeland. 

This is largely political reality, because the people have seen and heard enough of what Israel is doing to take a stand against it, while in this country the bought-and-paid-for Zionist controlled media, like the media in Britain, covers up the truth and feeds us a constant narrative about the noble Israelis and their endless struggle against Anti-Semitism. 

Maybe if they would stop wholesale murdering their neighbors we would feel more warm and fuzzy toward them.  

That makes it 152 out of 196 countries standing against Israeli violence and aggression. The only major power acting in Israel's pocket is The United States, and The United States is being worked like a sock puppet by Britain --- the Company --- that caused the whole Mess in the Middle East in the first place. 

Please spend the brief amount of time that it will require for you to understand the economics. the insanity of the current situation, and the history of tariffs --- just in time for Donald Trump to start threatening everyone in sight with tariffs. 

This threatens to further isolate the American economy and damage our position worldwide, but like all the other moves that USA, Inc., and NATO have made, the abusive use of tariffs will reliably fuel inflation, shortages, loss of buying power and a faster and more violent demise of America as a world leader. 

This is not coming at the hands of Russia or China.  This is the result of population growth, earlier boneheaded economic sanctions that shoved the BRICs nations together, and lack of a realistic plan to adjust and coexist and maybe even respect and support each other as peaceable and responsible neighbors. 

Please listen to Richard Wolff's practical, sensible, easy-to-grasp explanation of the economics and the politics of the present situation. Realize that this is not the Cold War and that China and Russia have moved on, along with India and Brazil and the other member nations of BRICs.  

Notice also that Britain has joined BRICs and left us to suffer on our own little pity potty, yet another example of Britain's malicious and self-interested chiseling, seeking benefit from both sides of every situation that their agents have created.  

Isolating America and making us their scapegoat with one hand, and cozying up to and securing a place for themselves at the BRICs table with the other, Britain continues to play a deceitful two-handed and fork-tongued game of misdirection, malfeasance, and abuse, and continues to ignore the will of the British People, regarding BREXIT and nearly everything else. 

We have to ask --- in what sense is this Company calling itself "Great Britain" a nation or a country?  And by what right does it continually meddle with and occupy other countries using deceit, color of law, and other tactics reeking of secretive criminality?  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bxfW-jNbf0&t=658s

The one thing that Richard Wolff doesn't cover is the fact that the United Nations has stood by and profited from the illegal British Territorial military occupation of the British Homelands, the former Commonwealth, seventeen European countries, Japan, Iraq, Libya, and numerous other sovereign countries which have been usurped against in breach of trust and violation of international law by this same Company calling itself "Great Britain".  

When you add this to Richard Wolff's brilliant and brief summation of world economic history and current conditions, it is apparent why the United Nations has failed its mission and why it and all its Municipal Corporation franchises, including WHO, Inc.,  should be dissolved. 

Beginning now, we should all stop and consider the fact that Companies and Corporations are not now, and never were, the governments of countries.  All this rot has been brought to us by criminal corporate interests and corrupt corporate bureaucrats seeking to defraud their own employers. 

Notice to Agents is Notice to Principals; Notice to Principals is Notice to Agents. 

Issued by: 

Anna Maria Riezinger, Fiduciary

The United States of America

In care of: Box 520994

Big Lake, Alaska 99652

December 31st 2024

----------------------------

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The Broken Cookies Plate

 By Anna Von Reitz

Every year, no matter what you do, you bake cookies and some of them break.  So, you have a whole plate of broken cookies in the kitchen, while their unbroken cousins are on the sideboard for the guests. 

This is called "The Broken Cookies Plate" which causes endless grammar arguments.  Is it a plate that is broken, or a plate full of broken cookies, or a plate intended to hold broken cookies, or, or, or.... but in our house, everyone knows that it's the repository for all damaged desserts.  

Broken cookies, smashed cream puffs, and gooey caramel imperfections all land on this one plate, and despite all good sense and decorum to the contrary, it is always the most popular cookie platter in the house.  Always.  

Everyone loves broken cookies.  They are more approachable, less substantial, and perhaps, that missing corner of the lemon bar or one absent raisin on a rum tart invites the subliminal idea that they contain fewer calories. 

We have observed this phenomenon for many years and have no cause to think that our house is unique in this respect.  We have gone so far as to advance "The Broken Cookie Theory" --- that is, that the edibility of a cookie is enhanced by a factor of three, if it is broken into three pieces. 

This year, there was no time to bake anything. None. Nada. 

We were not dismayed when The Minnesota Assembly decided to bake a dozen kinds of Christmas cookies and send them all the way to Alaska just in time for the holidays. And doubly not dismayed when ten of the twelve packages had a broken cookie or two. 

(Thank you!) 

While the guests were picking among the dainties, the hosts were having their share, quietly observing the fact that broken cookies taste the same as those that are intact. 

Sometimes it's our broken hearts that fill the Broken Cookies Plate of life, that make us feel compassion, that teach us humility, and give us vision to see beyond mere appearances. 

A haughty young man saw a drunk staggering along the wintry street just before Christmas.  He wrinkled his nose and said, "What purpose does such a man have?"  

"He gives us an opportunity to feel compassion and to do good works," we replied without blinking. "The poor and the sick and the miserable teach us compassion, just like our own sufferings." 

The rapid, practical, non-rhetorical reply startled our young friend right out of his complacent assumptions. 

As soon as we learn to have compassion without the need for suffering -- our own or anyone else's -- suffering will disappear.

Until then, we have our share of misery and our Broken Cookies to teach us what we need to learn.   

Whether you are a Christian or a Muslim or a Buddhist, the lessons are the same:

Learn the mysteries of compassion, so that it grows in this world. Study it and nurture it.  Learn its lessons well. 

Value the "Broken Cookies". 

Sometimes people try to fix broken cookies and are upset when they discover that this is not possible, no matter how they try to paste and glue the parts together, no matter how frustrated they get. 

A broken cookie is a broken cookie. 

The same may be true of the other kinds of Broken Cookies we encounter; some may be beyond repair, while others may mysteriously recover from what ails them, from resources hidden within.   

Invest your compassion freely, without any expectations of recovery.  It's okay to ask for miracles, but accept the Broken Cookies in your life for what they are, as they are. 

Love is a decision.  So decide in their favor.  Accept as is.  This doesn't mean you support them in self-destructive behaviors. It means you love them and see their beauty anyway. 

Just because. 

When you learn to do this, the miracle that will surely happen, is a miracle --- not for them --- but for you.  You catch a glimpse of the love of our Creator.  You learn what unconditional love is.  

The real McCoy. 

This understanding sets you free from what passes for "love" in the world of Barbie dolls and Disney heroes.

Love is not a quid pro quo.  It is not a good bargain, not a matter of what someone else can add to your world at a price you can afford. Love isn't commercial at all.  

Love doesn't care if you're broken or perfect.  Love sees beyond the fashion cycle. Love simply is, eternal, the same; love stays and bends and sways as the years fly away. 

And then one day, you are staring at the Broken Cookies Plate and the beauty of it all overwhelms you, and you know that this broken imperfection is perfect after all.  

When life gets challenging and you don't know what comes next, and all the terrors of unpaid bills and unknown futures and sudden turns come to visit, when you are alone and staring at the ceiling --- know this: love remains steadfast.  Love is right there beside you. 

Open your arms to the great Unseen and ask for what you think you need, but let that Greater Wisdom guide you.  Sometimes what you need is a blind cat, or a crippled dog or a broken cookie, and not what the tabloids advertise at all.  Sometimes what you need is something so unimaginable, so grand, that you can't even imagine it. 

Just stand there before the love that created you, that knows you far better than you know yourself, and ask for help, and help will come. Be sure of that. 

Granna

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