Author: Carissa A. Kane

Carissa A. Kanehttps://hopethatfloats.wordpress.comI am passionate about spirituality and the journey to deepen and grow in relationship with God. My desire to live a life rooted in the Divine, and to journey with others who wish to do so, has grown, as have I, through the joys and sorrows, the struggles, victories and challenges of life. I feel blessed to be a child of God, wife, mother, writer, spiritual director, and retreat director.
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How Now?

Sometime ago I came across a poem titled “Wage Peace,” by Judyth Hill*. I found the title so striking as I had never seen the words “wage” and “peace” side-by-side before. How fitting. Given the current state of civilization, it seems to be exactly what we need. Instead of each person’s outrage, disbelief or heartache turning to anger, a sense of helplessness, hopelessness, or even worse, indifference, imagine what could be if it was turned into a passion for peace….a drive toward love.

While it may seem impossible or too big for individuals to make a difference in such a way, it is not, nor has it ever been. Throughout time, many an obstacle has been overcome and humankind been made better off through movements begun by an individual(s). In much the same way, movements that have led to our falling down…to our detriment, have been started. As always, the choice of which movement is ours, but indifference is not.

Movements fueled by hate and intolerance at the center can only continue if we allow them to be bigger and brighter than our passion for peace, love, and all that is truly good. There is no limit to the power of God. We have to believe in order to retrieve the passion to withstand and rise above the chaos and confusion…to stand up for what is right and just…to restore unity in our homes, in our communities, in our country, and in our world.

We are One. We need to take that to heart, to own it and promote it, before we are none.

How? Know yourself. Dive deep down into your core. Rediscover who you are, who you were created to be. Be rooted in that place, and be sincere to your true self in all your endeavors. By doing so, no matter what comes your way, you will be saved as will the world around you, through you. For God is faithful to those who are faithful to God.

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“Believe! Everything is possible to one who has faith.” – Jesus Christ

“Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without.” – Buddha

“Just as ripples spread out when a single pebble is dropped into water, the actions of individuals can have far-reaching effects.” – Dalai Lama

“You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop.” – Rumi

“There is no way to peace. Peace is the way.” – Mahatma Ghandi

“How wonderful is it that nobody need wait a single moment
before starting to improve the world.” – Anne Frank

“To put the world right in order, we must first put the nation in order; To put the nation in order, we must first put the family in order; To put the family in order, we must first cultivate our personal life; We must first set our hearts right.” – Confucius

“I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the water
to create many ripples.” – Blessed Mother Teresa.

“You can’t cross the sea merely by standing and staring at the water.” – Rabindranath Tagore

“We cannot live in a world that is not our own, in a world that is interpreted for us by others. An interpreted world is not a home. Part of the terror is to take back our own listening, to use our own voice, to see our own light.” – Hildegard of Bingen

“There is a candle in your heart, ready to be kindled.” – Rumi

“So I say to you, ‘Ask and it will be given to you; search, and you will find;
knock, and the door will be opened for you.’” – Jesus Christ

 

*http://voiceseducation.org/content/38-judyth-hill-wage-peace

 

Angels Among Us…

This past week as my daughter celebrated a birthday, I found myself recalling an experience I had on the day that she was born. The circumstances were such that my husband needed to stay with our 2-year-old son and so my daughter and I were alone at the hospital that night. I remember being exhausted as well as happy and then later, so sad.

No explanation beyond labor for being exhausted. I was happy…grateful…that my daughter had been born and was doing okay and then I felt so sad that my husband wasn’t able to be there for the birth of our daughter. He was able to come for a short visit afterward, but now as the day was coming to end, it was just me and my daughter. We were alone in the room and she still wouldn’t nurse. She kept falling asleep.

At one point, I remember wishing so badly that my husband was there. I was feeling very overwhelmed by the experience of the whole day, and so alone. Then a nurse, one who I had not seen before, came into the room to check on us. She had such a peaceful presence and a gentle smile. During the brief time we interacted my feelings of being overwhelmed disappeared completely. As she was wrapping up and preparing to leave the room, she re-swaddled my daughter and gently handed her to me with a smile. She left and my daughter and I fell sound asleep. When I awoke a few hours later, I felt so refreshed and so at peace, and as my daughter continued not to nurse, I found myself with a renewed patience, and strengthened spirit. It turned out that I never saw the nurse with the peaceful spirit and gentle smile again, but to this day, each time I think of that experience I feel blessed and grateful for the angel sent to me in that hour of need.

As one goes through life, there are many signs; some are acknowledged perhaps almost immediately, some are recognized in time, and some remain hanging in the balance, waiting to be discovered.

“Then Peter recovered his senses and said, ‘Now I know for certain that [the] Lord sent his angel and rescued me…’.” – Acts 12:11

Wisdom from the woods…

As a child I recall playing with friends in the woods and walking across fallen trees or planks of wood from one point to another and sometimes over water. I don’t recall how high up “the bridges” were, but I do remember us pretending that we were walking on a tightrope high up in the air. I also recall sledding down what seemed like a mountain in those same woods while trying to avoid the many trees of varying size that were all around and between us.

Sometimes situations in life can feel like walking on a tightrope or through a mine field. It’s interesting how as a child the idea of walking a tightrope or sledding downhill and maneuvering around many obstacles can seem so much more exciting and feel so much more inviting and adventurous compared to as an adult. It’s as if once one realizes all that could go wrong, a door is shut, or at least becomes one that is not so readily opened or chosen. This is not necessarily a bad thing in terms of physical activities as older bodies are not often as agile and quick to bounce back as youthful ones. However, it can become a bad thing if it spreads into other areas of life and limits one’s openness.

An aging body does not need to become an aging spirit. So while I can no longer move through the woods with almost reckless…carefree abandon as I used to, I can still move through each day that life has to offer with a youthful, free spirit. I can continue to become both stronger in spirit and wiser with each year even when I don’t feel full of the almost boundless energy of my younger years. Despite my increasing age, I can continue to carry on with youthful hope and optimism, celebrating life, channeling the energy that I do have, and being grateful. Through the grace of God, no matter the circumstances, I can always live life to the fullest whether walking on a tightrope or standing on solid ground in ways that perhaps were not possible in my youth. The choice is mine.

“The child grew and became strong in spirit…” – Luke 1:80

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The Cross…

OurFather

Just the other day I was thinking about the school year ending, summer beginning and how I look forward to the down time with my children, but I do not look forward to the increased bickering that is likely to accompany it. I guess that’s par for the course as a parent. Even more than that though, perhaps it is part of carrying one’s cross.

“Then Jesus said to all, ‘If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.’” – Luke 9:23-24.

So often when I think of carrying a cross I think of the big trials and challenges. However, to take up one’s cross daily means the small things too. Each time I make a sacrifice, even if it is minute, I am in a sense carrying a cross. Often I think, “Can I just have one day without bickering!” However, the way I respond or react to my children bickering, can be part of taking up a parent’s cross. How different the experience can be when I catch myself and remember this, asking God to help me to find joy, or at least a sense of peace, in moments of bickering.

How improved each moment can be when I hand it over to God. Although it can be against the grain, especially in the times in which we live, surrender is sometimes the most powerful thing one can do. It often leads to victory; that is peace. It is in the “Letting go and letting God” that people most often get through both the big and the small crosses of life, and in doing so come to appreciate more deeply all that is theirs.

A year or two ago, someone asked me why I held my hands out and upward while saying the Lord’s Prayer. The person asked, “Is that something new?” I responded, “No. Not for me.” Then I went on to explain that this was the way I was taught to say the Lord’s Prayer as a child. I continued saying that I wasn’t sure why I was taught to do it that way, but that as an adult I had come to see this gesture as a symbolic kind of opening myself up to the Lord and the Lord’s will. A silent, “Here I am, Lord. I come to do your will.” An acknowledgment that it’s not all about me. A surrendering to the idea that my life…what I say…what I do…has an impact far beyond me (and often in ways that I may never know). And, an invitation to the Lord to guide me and teach me, to lead me so that by the grace of God, I might do God’s will despite my imperfections.

Open My Eyes by Jesse Manibusan

Open my eyes, Lord
Help me to see your face
Open my eyes, Lord
Help me to see

Open my ears, Lord
Help me to hear your voice
Open my ears, Lord
Help me to hear

Open my heart, Lord
Help me to love like you
Open my heart, Lord
Help me to love

And the last shall be first
And our eyes are opened
And we’ll hear like never before
And we’ll speak in new ways
And we’ll see God’s face in places we’ve never known

I live within you
Deep in your heart, O Love
I live within you
Rest now in me

Somehow…Someway…

“But the sky knows the reasons and the patterns behind all clouds, and you will know, too, when you lift yourself high enough to see beyond horizons.” – Richard Bach

As the school year winds down and the parental spiral into full-fledged teenage years moves steadily ahead, I find myself understanding more and more why it is important to write down, photograph…to memorialize in some way the moments of everyday life—both the challenges and the joys.

Sometimes I think back to the sleepless nights or days when it seemed like we were swimming in diapers and I think, “How did we get through that?” I chuckle as I remember moments of seeing glimpses of preferences, mannerisms and personality that are now more pronounced, part-and-parcel, of who my children are. What a blessing to be able to see and be part of all of those moments. Yes, even the diapers and sleepless nights—although I also feel very blessed to have moved beyond that stage of parenthood.

No matter what one’s stage or station in life, it can be so helpful to recall past moments when feeling uncertain, overwhelmed or simply wondering, “How is this going to work out?” or, “What’s this all about?” in the current moment or situation. Somehow, doing so makes it easier to keep things in perspective and refrain from falling prey to the trap that is “worry” or the superhero syndrome that leads me to falsely thinking or acting as if I can control all things.

It is remarkable how, somehow, we can get through what we need to get through and someway we accomplish and overcome what at times might seem insurmountable. Then I think, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” (Luke 7:50)

A Needle Pulling Thread…

At times, it can seem like there is a pervasive parasite on the face of society…a force intent on squashing any semblance of collaboration and working with, and out of, a spirit of love. These days it seems to be so rampant, penetrating more and more organizations. It can be disheartening to be involved in organizations where there has been a shift away from what originally drew one to become involved.

It can be challenging when what was once open and above board becomes secretive and closed off or when a place becomes one where who one knows or what one owns holds more weight than doing the work to be done. Even more than trying, it can be downright troubling, in an environment where one would expect the very opposite of what is experienced…sad to feel like one can no longer be involved in something that once brought great joy, meaning and sense of purpose.

So while one may become stuck in the muck that seems to rule the day—politics and ego…territorialism…greed…jealousy, etc.—or surrounded by it, one may also detach from it and look to do good in other ways and in other places. Doing what one can, where one can, as one can, and then perhaps, moving on.

The other day I was speaking with a lifelong friend and she was telling me about some sewing she had done for her niece. She was commenting on how she enjoyed what she had done and was surprised at how the little work she had done (in her eyes) seemed to bring much joy to her niece who was thrilled with the new hemline on her dress. My friend sewed that hemline with joy and love in her heart and her niece received it in kind.

It was uplifting to hear my friend speak of this simple experience. As I listened to her, and in light of some of our prior conversation, I thought, “That is God’s work.” It is not necessarily in a building, through an organization, or even in big things noticeable far and wide, but so often in the little things done with love and joy, and with sincerity in one’s heart.

NeedlePullingThread

We Have Each Other…

About 15 years ago, my husband and I attended a party celebrating the anniversary of one of our relatives. It was a joyous occasion for a person who has been fulfilling her vocation with great devotion and passion, and most often with a smile on her face. At the end of our time together and as we were exchanging hugs and “so longs,” she said to us, “thank you for coming, for being part of this occasion. Did you get your gift?” We had not, but almost as soon as our faces shifted to what must have been quizzical expressions, she was off to get the gift, and before we knew it, we had it. The gift, a framed saying – “Joy shared is joy multiplied” – so appropriate for the person who gave it and the occasion on which it was given.

JoyShared

Over the past week, this saying and different variations of it have come to mind so frequently, across a number of settings. As I have stayed with it, I am reminded how through the years, in sharing, most definitely, joy has been multiplied, grief has been made bearable, and faith has been strengthened. As I look around, it seems we have everything we need…we have each other.

You Raise Me Up by Josh Groban 

When I am down and, oh, my soul, so weary;
When troubles come and my heart burdened be;
Then I am still and wait here in the silence,
Until you come and sit awhile with me.

You raise me up, so I can stand on mountains;
You raise me up to walk on stormy seas;
I am strong when I am on your shoulders;
You raise me up to more than I can be.

 

 

Dinosaurs and Birds…

“None of us is as smart as all of us.” – Ken Blanchard

In the course of being part of many different kinds of groups over the years, in both the for profit and non-profit arenas, as well as for business, ministry, and pleasure, it has been interesting to see how the spirit in which the group members come together far outweighs any talent, intellect, or circumstances that may come into play. More often than not, it does not matter how difficult the goal is to reach or the obstacles that may be present so much as it does the spirit and attitude with which each member enters and participates in the group.

In groups where members have helped to shape a clearly stated purpose(s) and remained focused on it while embracing diversity, listening to one another, and being open to the sharing of ideas and different approaches, seeing them as opportunities from which something might be gleaned, even if they seemed foreign to some within the group, much has been accomplished. Not only that, but through meaningful communication and working together, bonds have developed between group members. Through a spirit of cooperation, each individual has been better for having been part of the group. In addition, the fruit of the group has served a greater purpose; it reaches beyond the group.

In groups where this has not happened, far less has been accomplished and members have often either walked away in frustration or stayed, but with a diminished spirit and sense of purpose. Usually, these members become occasional participants or observers (more on the outside) rather than an active, engaged part of the group. Also operating within these kinds of groups, and larger than the collective purpose of the group, is often a smaller group of two or three driving things mostly to the exclusion of the rest of the group and all that others might bring to the table. There is not much working together in a sustainable way and the fruit of the group, as related to its purpose, doesn’t reach very far and is little to none.

The other day, a friend and I were talking about how sometimes it can be hard to know when to walk away and when to stay. Initially we talked about what would happen if more often than not people walked away. Then we discussed what it is like when they stay, diminished in spirit, present but not really vested; an environment of apathy. The more we talked the more we agreed that the latter was worse, but still as with most situations, for each seeker, eventually the path becomes clear and the way made known.

As I continue to reflect on our discussion, I think about how people and things come and go…as they have since the beginning. Then, I remember, as another friend said a while ago, sometimes it has to die in order to be born again with a new, enlivened spirit. Perhaps the choice is not to leave or to stay, but to embrace and face the unknown and the uncertain (death of what is known and of what we are sure) or to become extinct. For that, the location makes no difference…only the spirit.

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Gifts from God are Everlasting…

About a week ago, it was the month and date of the last time I was together with all of my siblings. A number of us had traveled a good distance south to be there. The six of us were present and engaged, laughing and talking with each other.

I don’t recall what the weather was like that day, but the sun was shining. At least I remember feeling that way…surrounded by warmth and love. We were gathered in a room, eating lunch and spending time together prior to the youngest of us starting preparations for another bone marrow transplant. Despite the impending procedure, I recall feeling joy in the moments of our togetherness.

Our time together that day ended and some of us returned north. Afterward, I spoke with my younger brother by phone. We were talking about our lunch together with all of our older siblings. We spoke about how much we enjoyed being together. Then he said, “I wish we could be together all the time.” I remember saying, “Yeah, but we would probably get on each other’s nerves if we were together all the time.” Then we joked about how it would be fine as long as we had space to retreat to, we could live on a cul-de-sac with a house for each of us, numbered 1 through 6 of course…we laughed. Growing up many a thing was labeled with our birth order number so as for us to easily identify our belongings.

While seven years have passed now since that day in May, sometimes it seems as if it were just yesterday. None of us knew that day, that the next time we would be together would come so soon…and with one less voice. My brother passed away a little more than a month later.

Every year around the anniversary of that day, I feel such sadness and heartache at first. Then, as I recall the day and the spirit in which we were together I feel so grateful for that one last time all together, and all the days we had together leading up to it. Each time I recall that experience, or any other time with my younger brother, I can picture his handsome face and mischievous smile. It is as if, in that moment, our spirits bow to each other and I know he lives on…encouraging me to remember there is beauty in each moment…to embrace and cherish it. Reminding me that what really matters cannot be taken away, not even by death.

One Voice by The Wailin’ Jennys – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bc6HloRYZGc

This is the sound of one voice
One spirit, one voice
The sound of one who makes a choice
This is the sound of one voice

This is the sound of voices two
The sound of me singing with you
Helping each other to make it through
This is the sound of voices two

This is the sound of voices three
Singing together in harmony
Surrendering to the mystery
This is the sound of voices three

This is the sound of all of us
Singing with love and the will to trust
Leave the rest behind it will turn to dust
This is the sound of all of us

This is the sound of one voice
One people, one voice
A song for every one of us
This is the sound of one voice

This is the sound of one voice

DJM2Drum

Ask and You Shall Receive…

There I stood…my heart deeply moved, tears forming, feeling so grateful for what I was experiencing once more. This feeling had seemed absent for quite some time…missing for so long. Wow! To think I did not wake with the intention to be in the location that I was standing. There was too much to do and not enough time to do it, but still I felt a nudge, pushing me…rather pulling me toward this very spot. So here I was, thinking, “How good it feels to be present here, at this very moment!” Remembering what a Spirit-filled celebration it used to be. Remembering what it was like to be filled up and sent forth with this Spirit…the presence that drew me in and brought me back daily to this communal practice.

As I stood, I could feel the river flowing once again, drought no more, at least temporarily. Then, I recalled how I expressed a desire for the same Spirit of life, light and truth that was present at a friend’s home the prior week to also be present once more in the place in which I was now standing…a place in which it had been feeling next to intolerable to experience such a void. Aaah! Answered prayer…my heart once more filled with gratitude, and in awe of the Lord. All that was left, to pray. May the Spirit be upon and flow through all who enter this sacred space, and all who lead…replacing any darkness, with God’s grace.

“Yet I will rejoice in the LORD and exult in my saving God.” – Habakkuk 3:18

OpenDoors