September, 2010
Wednesday, September 29th, 2010
I have come that they may might have life,
and that they may have it more abundantly.
(John 10:10)
Another beautiful day. Again it was in the 70’s. By the end of the week it will be in the 40’s. Knowing that made me enjoy today even more.
The leaves are just beginning to turn, reminding me that Winter is coming. I know that there will be only a few more warm days before Winter arrives to wrap us in ice and snow for several months.
I guess all of life is like that. We appreciate the good things even more when we think of the bad times that we have gone through and the bad times that will surely come again. Because we have fought through illness, injury, financial problems, relationship problems, disappointment and grief, worries and woe of all descriptions we are even more appreciative of the simple joy of a beautiful day.
Savoring each simple joy refreshes the soul. The joy of a chocolate brownie, a visit with a friend, a perfect rose, a new book to read won’t solve any of our problems now or prevent any problems in the future. But, taking the time to savor each joyful moment, helps us to be happy in the midst of whatever our lives are like right now.
An abundance of simple joys is a sacred gift. I wish you countless sacred gifts.
Tags: abundance, God, happiness, joy, sacred gifts
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Sunday, September 26th, 2010
Glory be to God for dappled things—
For skies of couple-colour as a brinded cow;
For rose-moles all in stipple upon trout that swim;
Fresh-firecoal chestnut-falls; finches’ wings;
Landscape plotted and pieced—fold, fallow, and plough;
And all trades, their gear and tackle and trim.
All things counter, original, spare, strange;
Whatever is fickle, freckled (who knows how?)
With swift, slow; sweet, sour; adazzle, dim;
He fathers-forth whose beauty is past change:
Praise him.
(Pied Beauty, Gerard Manley Hopkins)
I love this poem because it celebrates the diversity found in God’s creations. It celebrates cattle, trout, finches and falling chestnuts.
Then, it celebrates the work of man’s hand on God’s landscape, where the farmer plants his crops in fields that could be seen as squares in a quilt. It celebrates all the work of man’s hands.
I love the image of God fathering the unchanging beauty of our world. We give praise to our God for His creation, man, beast and the world itself.
Creation is a sacred gift. I wish you countless sacred gifts.
Tags: creation, sacred, sacred gifts
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Thursday, September 23rd, 2010
“When through the woods and forest glades I wander
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees;
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur
And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze;
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee; How great Thou art!
How great Thou art! Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee;
How great Thou art! How great Thou art!”
(How Great Thou Art)
Today was a picture-perfect day. Warm, sunny, just a hint of a gentle breeze. It was a great-to-be-alive day.
I had lunch with a friend who is having difficult health problems that will probably never be healed. She lives in pain and is limited in what she can do. We empathized with each other since I have been going though so many difficulties since my accident.
I felt guilty, though, because I will heal completely or almost completely. In a year I should be normal, whatever the new normal will be. She will always live in distress.
Despite our physical problems, temporary or permanent, we could, and did, enjoy the beauty of God’s creation. Even though I was walking with a cane and she was walking with a walker we could both walk.
My soul sang with the beauty of the day. I agree with the naturalist, John Muir, who wrote:
“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread,
places to play in and pray in, where nature may heal
and give strength to body and soul.”
Nature is a sacred gift. I wish you countless sacred gifts.
Tags: God, nature, sacred, sacred gifts
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Sunday, September 19th, 2010
What is your favorite smell?
Chocolate?
Pumpkin?
Cinnamon?
Gasoline?
New-mown grass?
Baby powder?
Fresh-baked bread?
I love all these smells.
A smell is such a little thing that can bring so much pleasure. Sometimes it is the pleasure of anticipation. The smell of chocolate brownies baking in the oven. The smell of aftershave. The smell of a new book filled with glossy photographs.
Sometimes it is the pleasure of memory. Oatmeal cookies make me remember one of my grandmothers. She used to make huge oatmeal cookies. Meatloaf reminds me of my other grandmother. She always made my favorite meal, meatloaf and red jello with bananas. Apple pie warm from the oven reminds me of my mother who made the best apple pie I have ever tasted.
The sense of smell is amazing. It is something we rarely think about, yet It is vital to our lives. Seventy to seventy-five percent of what we perceive as taste actually comes from our sense of smell. Without our sense of smell we would not only lose the joy of smelling the brownies as they bake, but we would also lose most of the joy we get from eating those brownies. Without the ability to smell our lives would be so different, so dull. How wondrous that God created us to fully enjoy the world He created.
The ability to smell is a sacred gift. I wish you countless sacred gifts.
Tags: sacred, sacred gifts, smell
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Tuesday, September 14th, 2010
I am blessed beyond measure. I have three amazingly wonderful daughters. Every day I thank God for each of them. This morning I gave an extra thank you as I spent time with a lovely young woman whose mother has Alzheimer’s.
I could feel her pain coming through the pores of her skin. She is sad about all the things she can no longer do with her mother. They can’t even do something as simple as sitting and talking to each other. Her mother thinks she is talking to her, but expressing coherent thoughts is beyond her now.
Erica wishes that she could spend time with her mother as she used to. She wishes that her mother could be involved in the lives of her own three young daughters as she always was before she became ill. As I had lunch with one of my daughters afterward, I appreciated what a blessing it is to know and love and be with your daughter in a way that her mother will never again be able to do.
Daughters are a sacred gift. I wish you countless sacred gifts.
Tags: Alzheimer's, daughters, God, sacred, sacred gifts
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Saturday, September 11th, 2010
We pray today that from the ashes will rise a new spirit of beauty and unity in America.
Already,
all across this nation our hearts have been knit together into a new tapestry of one America.
Because of this tragedy,
we have been bound together by a silver chord of hope and brotherhood and sisterhood.
What was meant to drive us apart has really drawn us together.
May we always remember.
-Reverend Wintley Phipps
Today I remember two people we knew who died on 9/11. One was a friend’s son. Brandon died in one of the towers. The other was Nick, one of my husband’s fraternity brothers. He died on one of the airplanes that flew into the towers. They are two of the nearly 3,000 people who died that day. We pray for each of the victims and the people who loved them. Life is the ultimate sacred gift. No one has a right to steal that gift.
Tags: 9/11, America, family, friends, prayer, sacred, sacred gifts
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Friday, September 10th, 2010
When I was in church this morning, the children sang “Servant Song” by Sr. Donna Marie McGargill. The first verse spoke directly to my heart.
What do you want of me, Lord?
Where do you want me to serve you?
Where can I sing your praises?
I am Your Song.
I often ask if the things I think the Lord is asking me to do are things that He is indeed asking. Sometimes I am sure of the answer. Loving people and helping them is a definite “yes.” Being thankful for all my blessings is a definite “yes.”Having more patience is a “yes.” Praying more and worrying less is a “yes.”
It is when I get to the creative area of my life that I am not always sure of the answer. One day I think that writing this blog is a “yes.” The next day I wonder if it is. One day I think that continuing to try to find a publisher for a little book that I believe He sent me is a “yes.” The next day I’m not sure.
I am always wondering, “What do you want of me, Lord?” I hope I have the wisdom to know when the thoughts I have are His voice in my head and when they are simply my thinking.
The chance to be His Song is a sacred gift. I wish you countless sacred gifts.
Tags: blessings, God, patience, publishing, sacred, sacred gifts
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Monday, September 6th, 2010
The greatest gifts that God has given me are His love, my family, my friends and photography. I receive unimaginable joy in taking pictures and even greater joy in sharing my photographs with others. Today I am simply going to share some pictures with you. I hope they make you smile or bring back a happy memory.
Being able to relive our happy moments is a sacred gift. I wish you countless sacred gifts.
Tags: family, friends, God, photography, sacred, sacred gifts
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Thursday, September 2nd, 2010
No one would ever have crossed the ocean if he could have gotten off the ship in the storm.
(Charles Kettering, 1876 – 1958)
Hurricane Earl and its potential for damage is all over the news. The people in The Outer Banks of North Carolina are preparing for Earl to hit landfall at midnight. People on the East Coast as far as Cape Cod are watching to see what path the storm will follow.
The hurricane makes me think of all the storms in our lives that we have weathered and how many more storms we may still have ahead of us. There are physical storms like hurricanes, relationship storms, money storms, job storms. There are the storms caused by illness and injury and aging. There are the storms we face when our bodies won’t work right or our minds overwhelm us.
In most cases there is no way to stop the storm from coming. All we can do is ride it out and pray for the Lord to help us. Remember the story of Jesus’ disciples in a boat on the Sea of Galilee? After several hours a storm came up. Because they were in a small boat in the midst of a great storm the disciples were terrified. It was only after Jesus walked across the water and climbed into the boat with them that the storm ceased.
This story reminds me that, with the Lord’s help, we can weather every storm. I wish it meant that there will be no more storms. It doesn’t. I wish it meant that we wouldn’t be afraid. It doesn’t. It means simply that if God is in the boat with us we can weather any storm.
Divine help in the storms of our lives is a sacred gift. I wish you countless sacred gifts.
Tags: God, sacred, sacred gifts, storms
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