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{"id":12234,"date":"2016-12-31T04:40:14","date_gmt":"2016-12-31T12:40:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.strategicmonk.com\/?p=12234"},"modified":"2016-12-31T04:40:14","modified_gmt":"2016-12-31T12:40:14","slug":"beginning-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/strategicmonk\/2016\/12\/31\/beginning-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Beginning Again"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

$\"\"$ <\/a><\/p>\n

Each moment, each hour, each day, each week, each month, each year, we begin again.<\/p>\n

We do not start over because we want everything to be perfect. We do not continue beginning again to demonstrate our stubbornness, our determination. It is not as if we are refusing to stop, refusing to quit. We do not keep trying because we are so perseverant\u00a0or our will is so strong. We are not trying, trying again because we have not succeeded on our first attempt.<\/p>\n

We begin again, and again, because we learn and grow each time we try. We want to continue growing, and apply what we learned when\u00a0we tried before.<\/p>\n

As we put what we have learned into practice, we continue to grow and learn.<\/p>\n

Spiritual life is not a test of endurance. We explore, and practice what we discover. When we recognize spiritual life in us and the people\u00a0around us, we see spiritual life more fully. We learn to discern more clearly, and spiritual life reveals itself to us in more depth.<\/p>\n

We do not earn spiritual life or health through our own persistence or hard work. Spiritual life fills us because we are beginners. We begin, and begin again. In the words of Benedict\u2019s rule,\u00a0Always we begin again<\/strong>. Each new beginning gives us opportunities to learn and to practice what we have learned.<\/p>\n

We may pause to rest, to reflect, to catch our breath, to recover. Always, we begin again. We stand, look around us, and decide to take another first step. We start each new\u00a0beginning from a new place.<\/p>\n

No two New Year\u2019s are exactly the same. Each year prepares us to begin again.<\/p>\n

How will we begin again today and tomorrow?<\/p>\n

Who inspires us to continue beginning again?<\/p>\n

[Image by\u00a0Trekking Rinjani<\/a><\/strong>]<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"