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Posts from the ‘Faith’ Category

Jun 13

Look Up

“One's destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things.” – Henry Miller

“One’s destination is never a place but rather a new way of looking at things.” – Henry Miller

“I try to avoid looking forward or backward, and try to keep looking upward.” – Charlotte Bronte

When given the option of accepting worldly things or striving for something more, something meaningful, the only viable option that we have is to look up. Beyond ourselves, above the fray, higher than our assumptions and limited view.

Tough day, tough week, tough month. It’s but a blink in the eternity of time. And if we don’t let it go, it remains a stronghold and steals our days. So move on, let go of the need to figure it all out right now, trust with conviction and look up.

The universe, the beyond is so much greater than our imagination. Transcend your burdens and absorb the light of your blessings.

Jun 10

A Wonderful Life

“What a wonderful life I’ve had! I only wish I’d realized it sooner.” – Sidonie Gabrielle Colette

So much of life is made up of multitasking, noisy distractions and the busy pursuit of what’s next. The velvet rut of familiarity convinces us to stay put, going rapidly through the motions.

Speed suffocates gratitude and numbs our spirit.

Slow down and breath. Do something different, even the smallest thing, each day. Then again and again until each simple act transforms ordinary days into an extraordinary life. Let awe and possibility takes root again.

Make each day sacred and joyful by participating fully in the moment. Realize your wonderful life right now while you are in it.

“Be happy. It’s one way of being wise.” – Sidonie Gabrielle Colette

Jun 1

Strivings Cease, Prayer Ensues, Peace Enters

“If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough.” – Meister Eckhart

A simple glance, a quiet moment, a sliver of pause prompts a prayer. Of gratitude. Of depth. Of awareness. Sacred, holy and awe-filled moments surround us awaiting to be released into our very being. In play. In joy. In letting go of all that we carry that is not ours. A small, soothing voice of calm. Strivings cease, peace enters with ease. Amen.

“Drop Thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress.
And let our ordered live confess
The beauty of Thy peace.

Breathe through the hearts of our desire
Thy coolness and Thy balm;
Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
Speak through the earthquake,
wind, and fire.
O still, small Voice of calm.”
– John G. Whittier hymn, Dear Lord and Father of Mankind

May 21

Giants Fall

“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” – Walt Disney

The door handle to the garage has been slipping for a few months. Wear and tear, getting more difficult to open. About three weeks ago, it made it on the list to pick up and I reluctantly picked it up a last week. It sat in the box staring at me as I passed by. Each time, I told myself that I would get to it when I had time.

I’ve never put on a door handle and it looked complicated. So I procrastinated and created a wall that got bigger the longer I put it off, a giant stopping me in my tracks.

Well, the giant fell tonight. I put it in and it works. Victory! So often we create giants that prevent us from even trying. Or we believe others when they tell us that we can’t do it.

But when we move, those giants fall with the simple step of starting, of risking failure. And sometimes we do fail, but we never start in the same place when we try and start again. And so many times, if we dare to pursue the feat, the giant falls and we win.

Giants fall, doors open.

“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we’re curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” – Walt Disney

May 20

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Lilacs and Bubbles

“When it comes to life the critical thing is whether you take things for granted or take them with gratitude.” – Gilbert K. Chesterton

Bubbles, lilacs and children invite wonder, hope and joy. Lingering and delighting in the simplicity of the moment. Light, fragrant and awe without question or doubt.

Bubbles burst, the sweet aroma of lilacs fades swiftly and children grow up. Yet, the invitation, the calling remains within. A soft voice whispering us back to our most pure selves. To an acute awareness of the brevity of life and the promise of daily joy beyond our worries, our circumstances, our past, our future.

Our capacity for joy is far larger than we allow into our realm. Float like a bubble released into air, breathe in the fragrance of summer, leap with great abandon.

Dream BIG. LIVE BIGGER!

Lilacs and bubbles.

“The true object of all human life is play. Earth is a task garden; heaven is a playground.” – Gilbert K. Chesterton

“The true object of all human life is play. Earth is a task garden; heaven is a playground.” – Gilbert K. Chesterton

May 15

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Life While You Live It

“Do not waste time dreaming of great faraway opportunities; do the best you can where you are. Open your petals of power and beauty and fling out the fragrance of your life in the place that has been assigned to you.” – Orison Swett Marden

Chaos, busyness and circumstances eclipse gratitude, awe and joy. We put off living fully to the illusive someday. When you can dance and sing amidst difficulties, you have triumphed and achieved “a peace that passes all understanding.”

Don’t lose days, months, years waiting for perfect timing to start living. Today is the day to begin anew, to be present in each moment and see what’s right in front of you for the very first time. Hold your gaze a bit longer and witness the greatness in a mere petal of a flower, the solace in an embrace and the ease that grace offers.

In Act III of Thorton Wilder’s play Our Town, Emily views moments in her life after she is dead. “Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it?—every, every minute? Emily asks this question of the Stage Manager after she has revisited her twelfth birthday. The Stage Manager answers that humans indeed do not realize life, except for perhaps the “saints and poets, maybe.”

Realize your life fully each day while you live it – the sacred poetry.

May 13

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Pursue with Confidence

“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.” – Thorton Wilder

“We can only be said to be alive in those moments when our hearts are conscious of our treasures.” – Thorton Wilder

My niece Jenna graduated from law school yesterday. What a wonderful moment for her and for all of those in her life cheering her on. When we truly love, we share in each other’s struggles and triumphs.

As with all lasting victories, it was achieved through hard work, diligence, uncertainty and long hours. There are no short cuts and the daily journey is the substance of a meaningful life. So as I see this young confident woman, wide-eyed and enthusiastic, in the beginning of her career as I am on my 30th year of my own, I tell her and all other young women to keep up the hard work, never let your enthusiasm and optimism be depleted and keep diving in no matter what others say or think. Be your own person and be kind. Return to yourself again and again anchored in deep faith that you have a purpose here and be gratefully aware that God is behind you, aside you and ahead of you every single step of the way.

And on this day that we honor mothers and those who have given love like a mother to others, feast on your life now as you are in it and know that your love has carried so many to find their own journey. Pursue your life with confidence and light.

Love After Love by Derek Walcott

“The time will come
when, with elation,
you will greet yourself arriving
at your own door, in your own mirror,
and each will smile at the other’s welcome,
and say, sit here. Eat.
You will love again the stranger who was your self.
Give wine. Give bread. Give back your heart
to itself, to the stranger who has loved you

all your life, whom you ignored
for another, who knows you by heart.
Take down the love letters from the bookshelf,

the photographs, the desperate notes,
peel your own image from the mirror.
Sit. Feast on your life.”

May 7

The Rain before the Bow

“Be thou the rainbow in the storms of life. The evening beam that smiles the clouds away, and tints tomorrow with prophetic ray.” – Lord Byron

“Be thou the rainbow in the storms of life. The evening beam that smiles the clouds away, and tints tomorrow with prophetic ray.” – Lord Byron

“Try to be a rainbow in someone’s cloud.” – Maya Angelou

As we move through life’s many difficulties and worries, it’s often hard to see beyond the struggle, the light behind the clouds. And then suddenly, a brilliant bright rainbow breaks through the clouds and offers the gift of hope and the promise of grace to make our way through to the other side the only way we can. A day at a time.

Life goes both fast and slow as does death. We spend much of our time waiting and longing for what’s next, what may be easier. Even amidst the clouds and rain, we can give ourselves permission to find joy and light, if but for a moment. The bow after the rain comes when its purposes is complete, whether we understand it or not. When you are in the clouds, hold on and when you are not, be the rainbow.

Apr 28

Honor Thy Father

“It is not the honor that you take with you, but the heritage you leave behind.” – Branch Rickey

Today marks the two-year anniversary of Dad’s passing. Missing him is a daily occurrence that I don’t expect will ever change. But rather than focusing on what is lost, I am choosing today to focus on all that I am grateful for including what he instilled in me and my family.

A quiet unassuming work ethic, give your best and the outcome will take care of itself;
Love of family and friends, help others and expect nothing in return but the gift of generosity;
Have a sense of humor and don’t take yourself too seriously, the only way to joyfully get through this life;
Finish what you start, be resilient and find your grit;
A deep faith and pursuit of God, not so much through words but in our actions.

So Dad, I miss you every single day and thank you for remaining in all of us as we continue on our journey. And the best way I can honor you is living out what you have instilled in me. Be kind, humble, celebrate the wins, accept the losses gracefully and never underestimate the power of hope and faith. Cast Light.

Apr 24

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Run with Joy

“Never lose the childlike wonder. Show gratitude… Don’t complain; just work harder… Never give up.” – Randy Pausch

When we were young, we were light on our feet, untethered. Each day a new adventure filled with delight and awe. Naïve, they say. So we grew up and got “real.” We traded possibility and fun for rules and limitations. We allowed other voices in and proceeded to become “wise” by over-complicating it all. “Yes!” was swiftly replaced with “no.”

My great nephew Liam was born the same year that my Dad and my two dogs Molly and Lily passed away. He was and still is a bright light, an oasis in the desert. And he just keeps getting better by the day.

"Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all." – Mark 10:15

“Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it at all.” – Mark 10:15

He runs with joy. Uninhibited, pure sweet joy. And he invites me in to his world to be silly, to dance and sing like no one is watching. And if they are, who cares, they can join in too. I enter his beautiful, innocent world filled with wonder and all of the stuff that clutters and distorts life floats away with the bubbles he chases into the sky as he yells “bubbles!”

Each of us has the capacity and the calling to run with joy, to chase bubbles and to see the world through the eyes of our inner child who keeps asking us to come out and play.

Enjoy your life unbound and with splendor. And by doing so, you give others an invitation to join you and if but only for a moment to find solace in difficulty and the rainbow after the rain. Run with joy.

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