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Posts from the ‘Love’ Category

Apr 28

Sheltering Tree

“If there is any immortality to be had among us human beings, it is certainly only in the love that we leave behind. Fathers like mine don’t ever die.” – Leo Buscaglia

A Blessing for a Father
by John O’Donohue

“The longer we live
The more your presence
We find, laid down
Within our lives.
The quiet constancy of your gentleness
Drew no attention to itself,
Yet filled our home
With a climate of kindness
Where each mind felt free
To seek its own direction.
As the fields of distance
Opened inside childhood,
Your presence was a sheltering tree
Where our fledgling hearts could rest.”

Nine years ago today my Dad passed away.
There’s not one day that has gone by since I don’t miss our daily calls.
If we allow, time gives perspective, demands reflection, deepens gratitude.
He taught us with actions more than words. Consistency and fidelity.
Fundamental principles, foundations, truths that don’t shift with the wind, the times.
Be kind, humble, work hard, play too, say I love you daily, character matters, quiet strength, faith, family, friendships, forgive, let it go-most of it, gratitude, steadfastness, generosity, resilience, laughter, ask good questions and listen, check your facts, the ends do not justify the means, keep going, eyes on the road ahead, defensive driving, always fill the gas tank when it’s half empty, keep your promises, girls can do anything and are not second class, do your best and let the outcomes be what they will, let it roll off your back like water off a duck, finish well… so much more woven into a lifetime of being a good Dad and best friend.
If your Mom and Dad are still here with you, call, spend time with them.
Things change in a flash from before to after.
Yet love rooted remains.
Love well today.

“Grief never ends … But it changes. It’s a passage, not a place to stay. Grief is not a sign of weakness, nor a lack of faith. It is the price of love” —Author Unknown

Apr 22

1 Comment

The Gospel of Love

“A person who thinks only about building walls, wherever they may be, and not building bridges is not Christian. This is not in the Gospel.” – Pope Francis

“We must restore hope to young people, help the old, be open to the future, spread love. Be poor among the poor. We need to include the excluded and preach peace.” – Pope Francis

The Gospel of love
Walked out daily
Small acts
A smile, an embrace, open arms
Bridges not walls
Peace, kindness, inclusion, hope, diversity, joy, grit, flipping tables, listening, optimism, goodness, love
Sowing seeds, casting light, spreading love
Our daily call
Rest in peace Pope Francis

“This is important: to get to know people, listen, expand the circle of ideas. The world is crisscrossed by roads that come closer together and move apart, but the important thing is that they lead towards the Good.” – Pope Francis

Apr 12

Pause, reflect, respond

“Lent comes providentially to awaken us, to shake us from our lethargy.” – Pope Francis

“The salvation of this human world lies nowhere else than in the human heart, in the human power to reflect, in human meekness and human responsibility.” – Vaclav Havel

Pause.
Reflect.
Respond.
Reverence and awe.
Desert. Cross. Resurrection.
No shorts to the Third Day.
Relationship not religion.
Winter to spring.
Desert to life.
Love, hope, grace, peace in all moments, days, weeks, seasons.

“You learn to speak by speaking, to study by studying, to run by running, to work by working, and just so, you learn to love by loving. All those who think to learn in any other way deceive themselves.” – St. Francis de Sales

 

Mar 29

Might as Well Love

“Peace isn’t a feeling. It’s a practice, a daily choosing a stubborn, sacred hope. But even in our deepest divisions, something new is still possible…may we find the courage to be peacemakers. To stay at the table. To believe, against all odds, that love still has work to do here. And maybe, just maybe, that it starts with us. – Kate Bowler

The Facts of Life by Pádraig Ó Tuama

“That you were born
and you will die.

That you will sometimes love enough
and sometimes not.

That you will lie
if only to yourself.

That you will get tired.

That you will learn most from the situations
you did not choose.

That there will be some things that move you
more than you can say.

That you will live
that you must be loved.

That you will avoid questions most urgently in need of
your attention.

That you began as the fusion of a sperm and an egg
of two people who once were strangers
and may well still be.

That life isn’t fair.
That life is sometimes good
and sometimes better than good.

That life is often not so good.

That life is real
and if you can survive it, well,
survive it well
with love
and art
and meaning given
where meaning’s scarce.

That you will learn to live with regret.
That you will learn to live with respect.

That the structures that constrict you
may not be permanently constraining.

That you will probably be okay.

That you must accept change
before you die
but you will die anyway.

So you might as well live
and you might as well love.
You might as well love.
You might as well love.”

Poetry to lift.
Kindness to connect.
Laughter to lighten.
Music to dance.
Wonder to awaken.
Awe to reverence.
Patience to wait.
Joy to steady.
Hope to pull.
Peace to offer.
Light to cast.
Love to live well.
Is there a better place?
Might as well love.

“To accept the lively, the messy, and the unexpected things in our days, knowing that God sees them and has an eternal perspective, is to say with confidence I receive your timing.”― Emily P. Freeman, Grace for the Good Girl: Letting Go of the Try-Hard Life

Mar 20

Wearing through Stone

“[Poetry] is the liquid voice that can wear through stone.”― Adrienne Rich, What is Found There: Notebooks on Poetry and Politics

“Love is not primarily a relationship to a specific person; it is an attitude, an orientation of character which determines the relatedness of a person to the world as a whole, not toward one “object” of love. If a person loves only one other person and is indifferent to the rest of his fellow men, his love is not love but a symbiotic attachment, or an enlarged egotism. Yet, most people believe that love is constituted by the object, not by the faculty.”― Erich Fromm, The Art of Loving

Not soft or fluffy
Naïve or ignorant
Rather tough, gritty, hard, work, impossible
The question and the answer
The only plan, strategy, resistance, meaningful action, what moves the needle
Overcomes, confronts, carries, challenges, pushes, pulls, turns upside down, transforms
A posture to take
A daily discipline
A decision to make again and again
Unfolding, deepening, surprising
Overflowing, abundant, refreshing
Poetry in motion
Love

“Love isn’t something natural. Rather it requires discipline, concentration, patience, faith, and the overcoming of narcissism. It isn’t a feeling, it is a practice.”― Fromm, Eric, The Art of Loving

Mar 7

Woven into Each Day, Love

“The person who can bring the spirit of laughter into a room is indeed blessed.” – Bennet Cerf

“Remember Me:
To the living, I am gone.
To the sorrowful, I will never return.
To the angry, I was cheated,
But to the happy, I am at peace,
And to the faithful, I have never left.
I cannot be seen, but I can be heard.
So as you stand upon a shore, gazing at a beautiful sea – remember me.
As you look in awe at a mighty forest and its grand majesty – remember me.
As you look upon a flower and admire its simplicity – remember me.
Remember me in your heart, your thoughts, your memories of the times we loved,
the times we cried, the times we fought, the times we laughed.
For if you always think of me, I will never be gone.” – Margaret Mead

“You’ve gotta dance like there’s nobody watching,
Love like you’ll never be hurt,
Sing like there’s nobody listening,
And live like it’s heaven on earth.”― William W. Purkey

Two years ago today, Mom passed.
Not a day goes by that I/we don’t miss and think of her, and smile.
Dad, coming up on 9 years in April.
From loss, to grief, to laughter and sweet memories.
And then back through it all again in different ways.
The shape and substance of love.
Time goes slow, then fast.
Really fast.
Befores and afters.
No do-overs.
Know what’s important and put your time and attention there
Faith, family, friends, humanity.
Be kind, patient, listen, generous, forgive, forget, remember, grateful, be present this day.
Invite awe, fun, wonder, joy, laughter, light in and cast it back out.
Love well.
The only act that truly changes the world and gives meaning and purpose to our days.

“Let parents bequeath to their children not riches, but the spirit of reverence.” – Plato

Feb 21

It Matters Not How Straight the Gate

“Never let anyone dull your sparkle”― Marilyn Monroe

“Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be

For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.”
― William Ernest Henley, Invictus

Unafraid
Unbowed
Unconquerable
Renewed
Refreshed
Resilient
Joy
Peace
Sparkle
Choose daily
Fight the good fight
Fear defeated by love
Again and again
Captain of my soul.

“Many a time freedom has been rolled back – and always for the same sorry reason: fear.” – Molly Ivins

Feb 14

Remember the Light, Be the Light

“No darkness lasts forever. And even there, there are stars.”― Ursula K. Le Guin, The Farthest Shore

“I had forgotten how much light there is in the world, till you gave it back to me.”― Ursula K. Le Guin, A Wizard of Earthsea

Kindness given.
Hand extended.
Laughter shared.
Warm embrace.
Listening ear.
Gentle words.
Generous spirit.
Soft heart.
Scatter seeds, cast light.
Again, again, again.
The stars in the night sky.
Steady, certain, true.
Love is action, a choice to be made again, again, again.
Kneaded like bread.
Food for the soul.
Cast light.

“Love doesn’t just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.”― Ursula K. Le Guin, The Lathe of Heaven

Feb 9

Bread for the Eyes and Soul

“The sky is the daily bread for the eyes.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson

“Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive.”— Dalai Lama

Look up and around.
Within and deep.
The question and the answer.
Love.
Necessity, not luxury.
Return to love.
Again and again.

“The canvas of the sky is painted with hues of limitless love.” – Sukhan-Var

Jan 25

One Precious Life

“Thank you, God, for this good life and forgive us if we do not love it enough.” – Garrison Keillor

“I don’t know exactly what a prayer is.
I do know how to pay attention, how to fall down
into the grass, how to kneel down in the grass,
how to be idle and blessed, how to stroll through the fields,
which is what I have been doing all day.
Tell me, what else should I have done?
Doesn’t everything die at last, and too soon?
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?” – Mary Oliver

My sister-in-law’s Dad passed away on Monday
Looking through my photos to find some for the funeral next week
Going through, laughing, remembering, witnessing lives intertwined
The old neighborhood in winter, weddings, graduations, summers on water, gatherings
Joy and ease of youth, weathering of time, family and friends woven through it all
The important “stuff” of relationships, love, what makes a good life
So much more to say and reflect on
Truths not platitudes
But the short list…
Let go of your need to be right
Don’t demand that everyone agree or think your way
Don’t be an ass
And when you are one, apologize
Forgive, again and again
Go first, again and again
Lighten up
Stop being so angry about every damn thing, so easily offended
Let it go and focus on what’s most important, discard the rest
Laugh more, everyday, seriously
Hunt for beauty, wonder, joy
It’s hidden right in front of you
Be kind, gracious, generous, fun, unassuming, playful, silly
Keep learning, growing, changing to the very last breath
Resist growing old, stale, set in your ways
Life is in the ordinary, our job is to make it extraordinary with our attention, reverence and awe
No one gets out of here alive so live and love well
Every single day.

“Life is half spent before we know what it is.”― George Herbert

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