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Posts from the ‘Flowers’ Category

Aug 17

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By Surprise

“We seem to thinks that God speaks by seconding the ideas we’ve already adopted, but God nearly always catches us by surprise. If it’s God’s Spirit blowing, someone ends up having feathers ruffled in an unforeseen way. God tends to confound, astonish, and flabbergast. A Bethlehem stable, a Roman cross, an empty garden tomb. We might as well reconcile ourselves to the fact that God’s truth often turns up in ways we don’t expect.” – Sue Monk Kidd, When the Heart Waits

When reading books, I mark pages with flags when the words jump off the page and hug me like an old friend who knows my heart. Sue Monk Kidd is one of my favorite authors and I was drawn to pull When the Heart Waits off the shelf last night. As I turned each flagged page, the quote above called to me.

“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” – Confucius

“Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it.” – Confucius

May each day be filled with surprises, confident that each unforeseen encounter is leading you where you need to go. And while you are on your journey, you are also an important part of others journeys as well, helping them, if you choose, to unfold into their best self as well. Be kind and generous.

Last week, I wrote my 500th post on Cast Light. This journey that I tripped into, or rather was lead to, has been one of the most transforming and meaningful activities for me in many years. Each one of us is called beyond busily making a living to something much more. Whatever is whispering to you softly, get quiet enough to get clarity and follow it. There are so many reminders of life’s brevity. Start today, one new and simple step at a time.

Jun 28

the grace of sensibility

“Appreciation is the grace of sensibility, of really experiencing every moment for its uniqueness and its awe. It is what enables a person to stand on a street corner, arms out wide, head up, smiling the smile of the holy and giving thanks for the depth of every moment of it. It is the posture of the heart that says life is good, I am blessed, the universe is friendly, the world is beautiful.” – Joan Chittister, Between the Dark and the Daylight

“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.” – Denis Waitley

“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, worn or consumed. Happiness is the spiritual experience of living every minute with love, grace, and gratitude.” – Denis Waitley

May you see beauty in each petal, each smile, each glance, each touch, each moment. To be open to all that IS to be discovered and savored in the everyday-ness of life. When we recognize and realize that this moment, this hour, this day our life is unfolding, there is a yearning, a calling to be ever-present and awake.

May your mind, heart, spirit and soul be full today and each day by the grace of sensibility.

Jun 21

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Blooming in July

“Our real blessings often appear to us in the shape of pains, losses and disappointments; but let us have patience and we soon shall see them in their proper figures.” – Joseph Addison

“Have patience. All things are difficult before they become easy.” – Saadi

“Have patience. All things are difficult before they become easy.” – Saadi

Patience is taught through trial, practice, resistance, resilience, rain, sun and time. The struggle, the unknowing, reminds us that growth can’t be rushed, there are no short cuts to our becoming. There’s solace in the certainty of blooming.

And in the waiting, wandering, building and breaking, we often bloom in the spring on time but sometimes we bloom in July in our own way. But bloom we do.

May 7

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A Flower

“There is nothing you can see that is not a flower; there is nothing you can think that is not the moon.” – Matsuo Basho

“From a little spark may burst a flame.” – Dante Alighieri

“From a little spark may burst a flame.” – Dante Alighieri

Petals burst to full bloom, rain and sun setting the stage
A caterpillar patiently evolves into a butterfly, born again, taking flight
It takes but a moment, a turn, a twist, a push, a pull
Change, guaranteed
Growth, if we allow
Transformation, if we let go

Our story, ever-changing
New, old
Slow, fast
Turn a page at a time
Write the next sentence, one word, then the next.

Apr 18

Twigs, Buds and Blooms

“Life is lived on levels and arrived at in stages.” – Edwin Louis Cole

Life is a mix and often opposites – joy, sorrow; mountains, valleys; excitement, boredom; yin, yang. And each area at different stages and variations, cycles. Some areas are deep in quiet hibernation, some on the edge of budding and some in the brilliance of full bloom.

The full bloom moments pull us through the barren desert, giving hope and proof of our strength and resilience. And we are drawn out into full bloom by soaking up light and letting time do its job.

We never know what someone else is going through. We have the power to add to their burden or lighten the load. Pay attention, ask, listen. Kindness and light can transform twigs to beautiful fragrant flowers. Cast light.

“Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content.” – Helen Keller

“Everything has its wonders, even darkness and silence, and I learn, whatever state I may be in, therein to be content.” – Helen Keller

Feb 26

Underneath

Underneath the cold and bitterness outside and within, there’s hope in the quiet of winter and sweetness in the anticipation of spring. A bud ready to burst through the frozen ground, the warmth of the sun grows stronger, as do we. The blur takes shape and clarity ensues. Underneath will rise, if we allow, trust and believe.

“God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars.” – Martin Luther

“God writes the Gospel not in the Bible alone, but also on trees, and in the flowers and clouds and stars.” – Martin Luther

Feb 3

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See the Flower in the Tree

“No pessimist ever discovered the secret of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new doorway for the human spirit.” – Helen Keller

See the flower in the tree. Forget what has been, look with new eyes, a softer heart and a gentle touch. There is beauty and wonder everywhere and in everyone, hidden deep down, longing to be invited out, to be found, to be seen.

“Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God's handwriting.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Never lose an opportunity of seeing anything beautiful, for beauty is God’s handwriting.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

Choose to be optimistic, enthusiastic and excited about the promise of each day and your place in it. Life is overflowing with goodness and light, just behind the thin shadows and hollow cynicism. Finding the worst case scenario is a short trip. We find what we are looking for so look longer and deeper.

Cast light today and discover that life is more than your limited thoughts or limited to you. See the world as it should be and then make it that way, one smile, prayer, hug, word at a time. See the flower in the tree.

Aug 27

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Prune

“Everything has seasons, and we have to be able to recognize when something’s time has passed and be able to move into the next season. Everything that is alive requires pruning as well, which is a great metaphor for endings.” – Henry Cloud

I was about to throw out the dried up flower basket yesterday. It had its season. Instead, I removed the dead flowers and leaves to see if it would come back. Sure enough, new buds suddenly appeared overnight. Its season wasn’t quite over yet.

We delay making changes thinking that they must be big and drastic. Often times, it merely takes a bit of pruning to clear enough space for new beginnings to unfold. And there are times when a season really has passed and pruning won’t be enough.

Either way, we need only cut away the dried foliage of assumption, judgment, expectation, indecision and fear and watch love, joy, hope, delight and purpose bloom.

Prune.

“The gracious, eternal God permits the spirit to green and bloom and to bring forth the most marvelous fruit, surpassing anything a tongue can express and a heart conceive.” – Johannes Tauler

“The gracious, eternal God permits the spirit to green and bloom and to bring forth the most marvelous fruit, surpassing anything a tongue can express and a heart conceive.” – Johannes Tauler

Jul 26

12 Comments

Unfinished

“The purpose of human life is to serve, and to show compassion and the will to help others.” – Albert Schweitzer

Another email with a last minute request late in the day after a long week. Redoing work that wasn’t done right in the first place. Road construction that blocks every possible route. Someone talking when busy checking email for more unreasonable requests. Unending meetings. Frustrations, interruptions, irritations, unmet expectations, disappointments. All blocking us from where we “need” to be. But where is that exactly?

When we use our heart instead of our head, we soon discover that we are all unfinished. We aren’t meant to be complete with all of the pieces fitting together perfectly. That’s our journey – to become complete, to accept help and to help others along the way. To teach, to learn, to grow, to do it over and over again, with compassion and kindness. To engage in each others lives, not to check off our “to do” list and increase our efficiency. Where are we going so fast?

Our daily interruptions and frustrations are gifts in disguise. They slow us down, move us past and beyond our initial reactions, plans and expectations into something much deeper and more meaningful.

After this hit me last night, the woman and two kids who ran up to me this morning to see Molly and Lily became the gift of the day. It was no longer an interruption but an opportunity to stop and participate in life. They beamed as they petted them and the girls soaked it in as well. A simple moment, a simple act, a brighter day for all of us.

We are here to be instruments and channels of patience, love and light. To give and receive. Looking forward to some more “interrupting” moments tomorrow.

“Remember to be gentle with yourself and others. We are all children of chance and none can say why some fields will blossom while others lay brown beneath the August sun.” – Kent Nerburn

“Remember to be gentle with yourself and others. We are all children of chance and none can say why some fields will blossom while others lay brown beneath the August sun.” – Kent Nerburn

 

Jul 7

A Single Drop

“A jug fills drop by drop.” – Buddha

“Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby.” – Langston Hughes

“Let the rain kiss you. Let the rain beat upon your head with silver liquid drops. Let the rain sing you a lullaby.” – Langston Hughes

A drop, a gesture, a step, a smile, a glance, a song, a walk, a flower, a hug, a laugh, a beam, a rainbow, a moment. It all adds up and creates a life. Skies darken and the rain pours down. Clouds clear and the dark is overcome by warmth and light. A drop at a time.

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