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From Father Brian D鈥橝rcy, a Catholic Passionist priest:

They say that religion is for those who fear hell; spirituality is for those who鈥檝e already been there. To put it another way, when fear governs everything I do, life is miserable; when I choose the right thing simply because it鈥檚 the right to do, my life is filled with joy. Attitude is everything.

I鈥檝e always seen myself as being of average ability at best. I realised early on that hard work would be necessary. Hard work became a habit for me and remains so to this day. Now I鈥檓 convinced that hard work will always beat talent when talent refuses to work hard. I see hard work as a precious gift which helps me achieve what I once thought impossible.

The secret is to be content with small steps.

Many years ago a wise teacher gave me the most valuable mantra of all. He said-: 鈥渂y the yard it鈥檚 hard; by the inch it鈥檚 a cinch.鈥� That simple statement allowed me to see that it is better to take one small step in the right direction than to make a huge leap in the wrong direction. I was content to take small steps on the journey of life without getting caught up in destination addiction. When I got tired I learned to rest, not to quit.

As the poet John Dryden wrote-:鈥漌e first make our habits and then our habits make us.鈥� Little things make big things happen.

In our Christian churches we are still in Easter mode. What strikes me, reading about the events of that first Easter, is how Jesus greets those he meets with the salutation 鈥淧eace be with you.鈥� That greeting is repeated over and over again. It tells me making peace is hard work and comes about after a multitude of small difficult steps of forgiveness.

I believe making peace starts today and it starts with you and me. The hard work of peace transforms and renews us through the daily grind of respecting difference. I shouldn鈥檛 allow cynicism to destroy my spirit. Be-Big听 and don鈥檛 be-Little.

听