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From Cardinal Cormac Murphy O'Connor:

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I would like to tell a story.听 It concerns a little boy of about ten growing up in an orphanage.听 One night, in the large dormitory, he wakes up in the dark but knows that the dawn can鈥檛 be far away.听听 It is summer time and there is a lake in the grounds of the orphanage.听 He feels a great urge to see the dawn at the lake-side because he is told that when the sun shines on the water it does something marvellous.听听 However, the rules are strict.听 No child can get up before the bell and it is strictly forbidden to leave the dormitory until the proper time.听听 But he decides to risk it.听 He dresses quickly, creeps out, holding his shoes in his hand so as not to wake the others.听听 The boy puts his head down and runs through the long corridor.听 He comes to the lake and waits in darkness for the dawn.听 And, sure enough, the drama of day begins and the colours change from orange to red to bright sun.听 He watches all this reflected in the water of the lake, absorbed by the sheer beauty of it.听 And suddenly he remembers the time.听 They will be up by now and he will be missed, he will be in trouble.听 So he gets up to return and he speaks his last words to the lake:听 鈥淚鈥檒l go back now.听 Thank you.听 I don鈥檛 care if I鈥檓 punished because I know something now 鈥� I know the God of the lake is much, much greater than the God of the orphanage鈥�.

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I tell that story because it illustrates something which I think is very normal.听 For most of us, life is not very exciting.听 It goes on, hour by hour, day by day, month by month, but every now and then something happens that makes us see that there is more to life than rules and duties and regulations.听 Something happens that makes the heart beat.听 Something like joy enters the heart.听 Maybe it is something quite simple, like a friend telling you he or she has recovered from a serious illness; or the first smile on a baby鈥檚 face, or someone ringing you to say they had missed you and want to be in contact again.听听 It could be any number of things that lift your heart.听 Indeed, before long, you may go out for a walk and see the first snowdrops or the first daffodils.听 There might have been a kind of depression or darkness in your heart.听 You will know the truth of the words of the poet, O wind, if winter comes, can spring be far behind?