Often I wonder at human beings,
How much we base our lives on feelings,
Trying to fill our houses to ceiling,
With stuff so cheap; monuments building.
 
Often we complain about the killings,
Still with much violence our minds we’re filling,
Teaching our children this kind of living,
in games where rage, not love is winning.
 
To our own designs praises we’re singing,
And turn our backs to those who are sinning,
Phones of our lives endlessly ringing,
We won’t pick up, conscience burying.
 
We say ‘round sex our culture is spinning,
With tons of lust our hearts overfilling,
Then we’re surprised when all that we’re seeing,
Is that our men don’t respect our women.
 
Peace in our soul for noise we are changing,
And all our money for gold we are spending,
Don’t wanna lend, endlessly taking,
Our wounded hearts with knifes we are mending.
 
When we should stand, our backs are bending,
When we should bow, we remain standing,
When we see pain, we keep ignoring,
But every game surely attending.
 
And so I wonder where are we going?
Are we sincere or are we lying?
Is this called life or are we dying?
On wings of love we could be flying. 

               We are the most connected people in human history. Email, Facebook, Twitter… In just a few minutes I can write to every member of my family. I can say as many words as I want, I can even send a video, a document, a picture or call and speak to them anytime I want.
                Yes, we are the most connected culture, but in the same time we as people are the loneliest people in the history of human kind. How is that possible? I guess that, among all these words we say, we forget to say what is really important. The message of love and care gets somehow lost.
               
               Recently I decided to start writing letters; real letters written on paper and sent by post. Not my thing, I thought. As I was writing I realized I cannot say too many things, I had to choose what I want to say, what is important. In the end I found myself writing about different things than I planned. I wrote about what these people mean to me. I actually found lots of joy in writing and even more joy imagining how the people I’ve sent those letters to will react and what will they feel when they receive it.
                I also found that writing and sending letters is not the easiest thing. It takes effort, time and also it cost something. It is not a cheapest thing.
 
                Then I understood. We as a culture have lost a sense/understanding of friendship. It doesn’t mean too much to us anymore. I have over 6oo friends on Facebook, still I find myself lonely sometimes. We have friendships that don’t cost us anything and so we don’t make much effort to love. All is easy.
                But true friendship is hard work. It takes time, effort, investing into our friends and it always cost us something. Friendship that doesn’t demand anything is not real friendship.
 
                “Friendship is measured by Love and Love is measured by sacrifice, self-denial.”
 
                If I am not able or willing to sacrifice a bit of time, if I cannot give up something for my friends, do I really love them? I love just myself.
              I always heard that the true friend is the one who stays by your side when everyone else turns away. True friend is the one who gives his life for the other person.  Well, to give life may sound too heroic for some, maybe quite easy for others, maybe it is something we all hope to do if the opportunity comes. Not many of us will actually ever be in such a situation. But giving life means also small everyday things, like: giving time, lending a helping hand, listening, and correcting and being honest.
 
                Let us be true friends then. Let us invest into our friends, let us encourage each other, let us love.

        The season of Lent has started, time of fasting and abstinence. I have found a Lenten reflection I wrote about three years ago. It is reflection Isaiah 58:6-7
 
“The fasting that pleases Lord is:

• To break chains of injustice
• To undo the cords of the yoke
• To let the oppressed go free
• To share bread with the hungry
• To shelter the homeless
• To clothe those you see to be naked
• Not to turn from your own kin”

 
 
Fasting is to break chains of injustice, to undo the cords of the yoke
 
      Do I keep anyone in chains? Am I unjust to anyone or do I burden anyone through un-forgiveness, my pride or self-centredness?
    Lord, help me to decide to break those chains, to undo those yokes from anybody I may be subconsciously afflicting.
 
To let oppressed free
 
     Am I oppressing anyone? Am I misusing my authority on people? Am I oppressing myself through any bad habits, addictions, … ? Am I free? Do I put anything before God?
 
      Lord I pray, remind me of all things that bind me in any way, of anything that oppresses me. You are the one who sets prisoners free, may this time of lent becomes a liberating experience so I may be ready to do your will.
 
To share bread with the hungry, to shelter the homeless poor
 
      Lord, help me to be generous, help me to be aware of people around me. Give me strength to give even  when I don’t have enough. Help me also to be strong and eager to give “the bread of life” to those who hunger for you, for satisfaction and fulfilment and peace in their soul. Help me to share that “bread” so they may live.
 
To clothe those I see to be naked
 
     May I am always aware of the needs of people, material needs but also spiritual needs. May I clothe those who are naked, stripped of their dignity, those without honour, those who despair and those who pretend. Help me to clothe them in the garment of your love and righteousness, in the garment of your sonship, in the wedding dress of your bride.
 
Not to turn from your own kin
 
     Lord, help me to remember and love those you have given me, my family, my friends, my brothers and sisters in Christ, my neighbours,…
 
Then there is a promise:
 
     “If you fast in this way, then your light shine like the dawn and your wounds be quickly healed over; your integrity will go before you and the glory of the Lord behind you...Your light will rise in the darkness and your shadows become like noon… The Lord will always guide you, giving you relief in desert places.” Isa 58:8-…
 
                Lord, may your light, shine through us in the darkness so all people see your glory. Heal me and guide me, Lord, in the ways of perfection. 

              Life in community can be very dynamic. When you live everyday with the same people in a small place, often you live what they live. You carry each other’s burdens, and together you strive for perfection.
                It is as we read in 1 Corinthians 12:26; when one part of the body suffers, every part suffers with it, if one part of the body is well, all the body is well.  When one person is down, for any reason, often it brings others down. Everybody feels and carries that burden, often not knowing what it is they carry. When someone’s happy, then everybody is happy; life seems easier and the atmosphere is calm.  From my experience, that is the simple reality of everyday life in community.  There are obviously some people who are not affected by these feelings on such a level, and those who supress them. Some people don’t even notice. But that’s for another time.
 
                Well my question is, what happens when one person is feeling down and the other feels happy? That is when it can get real messy. When a person is down, feels sad or has a bad day, then the person who is happy at that moment can seem very annoying. That makes them upset even more and they may close themselves into their own place of safety within. On the other hand it can be quite difficult for the person who’s very happy to understand the sadness of the upset person, and because, of its nature, cheerfulness is to be shared, they try to share it with them. That often seems to have an opposite effect, which may bring them down too or make them avoid the sad one.  
                For everyone else it can be difficult too. They may become angry and annoyed with the happy, cheerful person for making the upset person even more upset. That can also bring them down, so everybody is upset. Then some may join the happy person and avoid the sad one, some hide, and some join the upset person trying to reach out and help them. They are often disappointed and upset with others for not caring enough.
 
                It obviously doesn’t have to be this way and most of time it is not. If this doesn’t resonate with you, that’s wonderful. I find myself in all of these roles, at different times. But let us be aware of what we project through our faces and our behaviour. Let us offer our suffering to Jesus. Let us be brave to ask for help when we’re in difficult mood. And let us always share joy with love and gentleness.  Let us choose joy in the most difficult and upsetting moments for, however we feel, we are chosen, loved, anointed and precious children of God, saved by Him and sent out to the whole world. The whole world starts at our neighbour.
 
                “Cheerfulness is a sign of a generous person who forgetting all things, even herself, tries to please her God in all she does for souls. Cheerfulness is often a cloak which hides a life of sacrifice, continual union with God, fervour and generosity.” (St Teresa of Calcutta)
               
                “If you only knew what goes on within my heart. Sometimes the pain is so great that I feel as if everything will break. The smile is a big cloak which covers a multitude of pains.” (St Teresa of Calcutta)
 
                “I want to smile even at Jesus and so hide if possible the pain and the darkness of my soul even from Him.”  (St Teresa of Calcutta)

                I am like a guitar string, made by a creator for a specific purpose to bring joy, love and peace in beautiful harmony; "the song of love." I am placed on specific place and I can’t determine the circumstances of my life. Like a string I am placed in exact place where my life makes sense in a bigger picture than I can see.  Same as a guitar string, I am unique but not alone, unique but equal to the others.
            I can spend all my life trying to be one of the other strings. I may try to be strong deep E, or gentle G, but then there would always be someone missing – me. I have a role to play in greater melody, bigger story than just myself.
            And then obviously I need to be tuned. As a string makes itself totally available to the player, I have to make myself fully available to the one who, through me, can play the song of love. I need to surrender myself totally to him and trust him that he knows what he is doing.
            And yes, often I feel that God is stretching me little too much, but he is the creator and the player, the original musician. He knows me and loves me, I am his work of art. He would never let me down. For without strings guitar would be an empty space, a sound without melody. Without us the world would be an empty place, a place without love of God.
            Let us be used as an instrument of love, let us make ourselves available so he can use us and through us, with our participation, bring the song of love, joy and peace into every heart. Let us play in harmony.
 

What is peace? A time of comfort, satisfaction, state of calm...?  
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                Somewhere I heard that peace is absence of war. I kind of agree with that, but peace is also so much more than it seems.
               In Czech language we have two words for peace. One is “Mír” – which is absence of war. The other is “Pokoj” – which seems to be a state of tranquility and stillness, moment of calm, comfort and lack of worries.
              But I do like the phrase: “Peace, absence of war.”  Though we need to define what kind of war we mean. The most obvious is probably the absence of physical war, fighting and killing. But there are bigger wars than that. They rage inside our hearts. We are constantly in battle. Peace in the world will never come about from the outside. It must come from the inside; from the heart. That peace is a gift, gift from God.
                Jesus said: “Peace I leave you, my peace I give you.” What is he giving us is the grace to stop the war inside our beings. This peace comes about, when spirit, mind, body and soul are in unity, rooted in Christ. In that peace we can find joy in any circumstances. We can find peace even in the middle of war. And we have a duty: “When you enter a house, first say: Peace to this house.”
                We need to give out peace to all the peoples and through that we can change the world, we can stop wars – from the inside.
                Let us pray then for peace in hearts of those who have none, peace in our hearts, our families, our nations, and peace in our world. 

I just found some thoughts about media, which I wrote down few years ago, using analogy from J.R.R. Tolkien’s fantasy book, “The Lord of the Rings.”

                I would compare media to a Palantír (sometimes translated as "Seeing Stone" but literally meaning "Farsighted" or "One that Sees from Afar"; something like a television). It is a fictional magical artefact a crystal ball, used for both communication and as a means of seeing events in other parts of the world.  
               Palantírs were made by elf Feanor for a long distance communication. They were given to people of Numenor and they were very good thing.  But as many powerful great things when in wrong hands, it became thing of destruction. Sauron, The Dark Lord, captured one of the Palantírs and used it against the people. And not being able to control people through it directly, he decided to attack in more secret but still very powerful way.
                He shown to Denethor, steward of Gondor, only what he wanted him to see and through that he attacked one of most precious virtues in our lives; his hope. Through Palantir, Denethor saw that there is no hope for humanity seeing only destruction, suffering and death and that led him to despair and to his death. For without hope any difficulty seems unbearable.
                Our media have the same power. They are great thing but in wrong hands they can be very destructive. People in media have ability to decide what to show us and what to keep secret. They dictate what we see and through fear they control our lives.
               
​                And so I appeal to everyone to look around, there is so much beauty everywhere. Do not let anything steal your hope. Focus on the positive and set your hope in Jesus. 

When I was younger I was quite interested in becoming professional soldier. I am not sure why, maybe it was the idea of protecting those who are weak and defenceless that attracted me or maybe I just wanted to be cool.
                Once in the school, we had a guy from army coming to speak to us. I would love to say that I listened very carefully everything he was saying but truth is that I didn’t listen at all. Instead I was very busy making fun of him, making noises and disturbing others. Why? Because I was free, I thought. I could do anything I wanted except what I really wanted. I did exactly what was expected of me. I lived in illusion of freedom, but I wasn’t free.
 
                In our lives there are often areas where we are not truly free. We are prisoners to our desires, to sin, to addictions…
                Today’s culture says: You can choose anything… anything we offer you. But don’t try to be different. Very often we don’t even realize that we are prisoners. Until we are challenged:
 
“The other day we were playing some music and I just felt like I really wanted to have a little dance. Just to move in the rhythm. However I looked around thinking what will other people think and didn’t do anything.”
 
                Jesus comes to us with great contradiction to our culture. He comes to bring liberation.
“I have come to set prisoners free” Luke 4:18, Isaiah 61:1
 
                He comes to bring freedom into every part of our lives. And he gives it for free. During the season of lent we quietened ourselves and gave up any distractions, anything that could keep us from freedom. Now we celebrate that freedom through Easter time. We celebrate the reality that the chains are broken and the prisons of our hearts are open. So let us accept and receive that freedom. Let us experience the Kingdom of God.
                In the letter to Romans is written that The Kingdom of God is in righteousness, joy and peace of the Holy Spirit, so every-time we experience true joy, peace or love we experience God’s kingdom in our lives.
                As St. Patrick says: “Christ be beside me, Christ be before me, Christ be around me …” He is here, everywhere, surrounding us in his loving embrace. Let us choose him.
                Choose freedom today...

What is your dream destination? Where would you like to spend holiday?
 
      The other week I went to do some shopping. I got in the car, got out the sat-nav, put the postcode down and started driving. At some point on the way I’ve got little bit distracted and missed my turning. But in my pride I decided that I actually know better than sat-nav for I’m still in my town.
As sat-nav was crying out “recalculating” I was trying to find my own way and was getting lost more and more. It didn’t take long and my frustration turned to poor little satnav and its disability to guide me where I need.
After some time I gave up. I stopped the car, turned around and follow the sat-nav back to that wrong turning, back on my route and happily arrived at the place… about 2 hours later.
 
      Our life is like a journey and our destination is heaven, the place of eternal happiness and ultimate fulfilment. But often on our way we take a wrong turn. We get distracted, we sin, we take our own road. Which reminds me of a quote from Isa 53,6:
 
     “we all like sheep have gone astray, each one of us turned to our own way.”
 
     But Jesus through his death made a way. He already dealt with our sins. He broke the chains of sin, we are free. All we need to do is to accept it. Accept that freedom.
 
            “The time is now, the kingdom of God is here, repent and believe in the good news.”
 
    It is time for each one of us to turn back to Jesus. Maybe we’ve done it thousand times, maybe never before, but now, now is the time to do it again.
 
                                                           “The kingdom of God is here.”
 
     It is time to experience God in a new way, to meet Him in our hearts for He is here. He is reaching to each one of us, just take His hand.
 
  How? Repent
     That means turn around, acknowledge that the road you’re taking is wrong and come back to the right one. Listen to that little voice inside your heart saying “recalculating”. That is The Holy Spirit trying to get us back on the track. He is the sat-nav.
      Make a decision today to recommit your life to Jesus, to the Way. Let us make decision in our hearts to trust, to carry on, to surrender to God again. Let us experience the fullness of God. And when we take His hand He will fill us with the Holy Spirit and gives us exactly what we need.
 
     Maybe you’ve heard things like this many times. I did, and sometimes it touched me but often I thought:  “This is nice but what does it mean to my daily life?”
 
Does God see what I’m going through?
Does He see the pain, the sorrow, the loneliness?
Does He know that I can’t make another step?
 
His answer is:
            “I am with you always, to the end of times.”
As Jesus never left the Father when He became a man, He never left anyone of us when He ascended back to heaven. He is much closer than we know. He is in our pain, in our sorrow, He is by our side.
 
But will you let Him to help you?
Will you take His hand?
Will you allow Him to fill you with the Holy Spirit, with the joy and strength, so you can make another step?
 
The time is now. 

                 I don’t believe that man and woman can be just friends for a long time. But I am not saying that there have to always be a romantic relationship.
                I think that in every friendship, when people are open to each other, trust and intimacy grows and love is being exchanged. I believe that that always leads to something more. But what that more is depends always on us. It could be a romantic relationship, but that will be just with one person. What about all others?
                I think friendship grows into relationship as brother and sister. Relationship that is deep and intimate, fully trustful and pure. A relationship of accompanying one another through life, understanding and obviously, self-offering and sacrifice. I believe that this kind of relationship is truest friendship.
                It is a life giving, refreshing oasis of love, acceptance, joy and peace.