Daily Devotional for November 1

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November 1                                                   Matthew 5:1-12

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               The Feast of All Saints

     "Seeing the crowds, Jesus went up on the mountain
           and sat down; and the disciples came to him."

As this new month begins, I seek you out, Jesus. Leaving the
crowds, I climb the holy mountain, that place within which
gives a perspective on all the constituent parts of my life, where
you sit waiting for the disciple who chooses to draw near to
you, where you restore harmony to the crowded chaos of my
life with words of beauty and of truth. Today I climb the holy
mountain in my heart to sit at your feet, attentive.

"Jesus," I ask, "teach me the secret of happiness."

"It is well that you ask this, my friend," you reply, "for you
have often sought happiness in the wrong places. You have
learned to seek happiness in power, possessions, and self-
gratification. But if you wish true happiness, you must allow
yourself to experience the pain in your life. This will not over-
whelm you as you fear, but at the bottom of your pain you
will find a well of joy.

"You have learned to be aggressive and controlling; but this
leaves no room for God's work." Then you add, with a twinkle
in your eye: "If you wish to inherit the earth, you must allow
God to give it to you."

And so you continue turning my world upside down, teaching
me that where I am poor, sad, hungry, thirsty, harassed, and
persecuted, there is precisely where I can expect happiness
to break forth.

Jesus, today I remember that you sit enthroned on the holy
mountain in my heart, teaching me the truth about happiness.

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From The Road to Emmaus - An inclusive devotional Edited by Joseph W. Houle

Emmaus House of Prayer - Washington D.C.19