Being in the world

In the Clouds…

A calm peaceful feeling stirs within as I watch the clouds make their way across the light blue sky on a breezy, sunny Sunday morning. Looking on I see clouds that vary in size, some even appearing to stretch…grow…spread out as they drift by. How similar to life.

Each event in one’s life varies. Although some experiences may seem to be the same or “repeats,” oftentimes there is something, even if ever so slight, that differs. The opportunity for change, of any kind, is always within and around us.

Some days there are storm clouds. Other days there are puffy, cotton ball clouds that seem like a soft place to rest. Then there are the streaking, strained or dissipating clouds, and still, other days there are no clouds at all. Whatever the day, the clouds are always passing. Sometimes they pass slowly and sometimes more quickly. What remains throughout and beyond though, is hope…possibility…Light.

“Keep your face always toward the sunshine – and shadows will fall behind you.”
– Walt Whitman

Clouds

A Broad View…

Sometimes the happenings in the world, or even in one’s own family, can seem so big or unmanageable. They can bear down, throwing things out of whack, making them, and us, off balance or unsettled. We all can experience times of feeling swallowed up or spit out and washed up.

In such times it can be easy to place a lot of importance and attention on where we are and what is happening rather than on whom we really are and, “all that we can be.” Still, we must remember, calling ourselves to the truth, that we are much more than the happenings in our lives and times. They, the externals, are not a reflection of who we are. However, the way in which we respond is.

Oftentimes stepping back and taking the time to look within enables us to look up, and out, with a renewed perspective, a greater sense of inner strength and insight or wisdom…making it possible to once again, carry on with greater confidence and hope.

“I am the eagle, I live in high country in rocky cathedrals that reach to the sky.
I am the hawk, and there’s blood on my feathers.
But time is still turning, they soon will be dry.
And all those who see me, and all who believe in me
share in the freedom I feel when I fly.

Come dance with the west wind and touch on the mountain tops.
Sail o’er the canyons and up to the stars.
And reach for the heavens and hope for the future
and all that we can be, and not what we are.”

– “The Eagle and the Hawk” by John Denver

MountainView

We are all teachers…

There is a saying that people learn what they live…what they experience. As I have gone through life there are many people who have had an impact on me through both their words and actions. With the month of August mid-way through and faith formation registrations in progress, I think of my first Sunday school teacher. I recall the love and care with which she taught and interacted with me and my fellow kindergarten classmates. I can still hear the sound of her voice as she taught and as she sang to us, and with us, “Yes, Jesus loves me. Yes, Jesus loves me…”

Years ago while I was driving, out of the blue, that long forgotten song came into my mind; a much needed reminder at the time. Only as I reminisced about that time in my life, did I realize how deeply touched I was by Mrs. Lahage’s words and actions, and the way they reflected her faith. Most of all, I remember her gentle, loving presence and the generosity with which she shared her faith with us; a faith so genuine and far greater than any obstacle that might occur.

As I think about how much I learned from that experience, I feel grateful to God for the gift that Mrs. Lahage was. I also feel thankful for the grace that has enabled something that happened so long ago to become a source of strength and inspiration today. There really is an appointed time and place for everything.

Continuing to reflect, there are many others who have made an impression on me and from whom I have learned. There are some who have made a more profound impact than others and some in more positive ways than others. There are also some who have done so perhaps knowingly and others not. Similarly, I also have impacted others along my journey. There are some of which I am aware and others of which I am sure that I am not.

In a sense we are all teachers in one way or another. Sometimes it is through a specific role and sometimes it is unknowingly as our words and actions may simply be observed by another. Rare, if it all, is the person whose life does not touch that of others. And, more often than not, it is the spirit in which we live and share with others rather than what we know or exactly how we do what we do that makes a difference as we make our way. Then, again, isn’t that what being a disciple is all about?

“Jesus passed through towns and villages, teaching as he went and making his way to Jerusalem.” – Luke 13:22

When you see a chance…

Over the weekend, I had the opportunity to visit with a sibling who resides out of state, but who was unexpectedly going to be in town for part of the day. The visit was on very short notice and was going to be very short in length too. However, it was wonderful to see and experience how in those few hours, there was so much quality. We had such an enjoyable visit. What a blessing.

When our time together was over, my sibling and her family headed back from where they came. We all felt so grateful for the time we had. It was amazing to me that such a brief time together could kindle such feelings of love, warmth and gratitude, strengthening the bond between us.

So often, brief and/or simple encounters with others can have such a profound effect. Oftentimes, though, it can be tempting to think that a small amount of time makes no difference or is not worth the effort. However, nothing could be further from the truth. In matters of life and death minutes…seconds or less, can be crucial, to the overall outcome.

I wonder, what might the world look like if time and use of time, no matter how small or big, was considered more in terms of life and death? While this may seem radical to some, and obvious to others, it is in essence what my faith calls me to…hoping for me to do.

As I journey, I am called to choose between life and death along the way. I (we) are called to be aware and to move toward the opportunities to be with, and to be there for others. Maybe more often than not, those opportunities come in small ways requiring a short amount of time, but in the middle, or in the heat of, our hectic lives. How do we recognize them? How do we allow ourselves to let go and to be guided to the opportunities before us?

PurpleNiagara

Hope Lake…

Just as the sun draws the mist rising up from the lake on a crisp, cool summer morning in the mountains, I feel hope rising from the depths of my soul. I feel a spirit of inner strength building within as I take in the beauty of creation before me. How good God is!

Of all the things I might say or do, of all the things I might witness or experience, God is the one Truth on which I (we) can always count. So much in the world can be hard, or difficult to understand. There are so many choices, and sometimes, none of them can seem good…noble…just…faithful.

Whether religious or not, we all have some sort of principles that guide us, leading us to make the decisions that we make. The question is who and what is served by the principles that I hold? …and, how do I live by them?

HopeLakeGreekPeakVirgilNYHope Lake ~ New York

 

Blue Jay Way…

For the past number of weeks, almost every afternoon around the same time of day a blue jay has been visiting my back yard. The other day, as I spotted it, I was thinking about how each day, faithfully, around the same time, like clockwork, this bird visits my back yard. Its behavior and routine is kind of curious and amusing. And, some days it brings a companion, another blue jay, with it.

Now, how do I know all of this? Well, I guess, I also am a creature of habit. Around the same time this blue jay visits my back yard each afternoon, I am looking out the window that is over the kitchen sink as I wash my children’s lunch and snack containers.

While I can guess how long I’ve been washing lunch and snack containers, I’m not sure how long this blue jay has been coming around my yard. However, since first noticing its daily presence, I have come to see other things about it too. The coloring and pattern across its body is beautiful. Sometimes it flies from branch to branch or to different parts of the swing set (even hopping up the ladder), and sometimes it hops around the lawn pecking and “hunting.”

It’s interesting how things can become a habit, or second nature, without any intention for them to be so. Sometimes tendencies or personality traits, such as “favorite spots for birds to watch” or “clean as you go along” approaches can be a good thing. Other times they can create a blind spot(s) perhaps causing one to be on a kind of auto-pilot (zoned in on a particular thing to the exclusion of other things). They can cause one to move through the day, or parts of it, with limited openness to a change of course or location. In other words, they can cause me to become stubborn or fixed, or to get stuck in a rut without me even realizing it.

Sometimes I need to pause and ask myself, am I open to being re-directed to something that might be of greater importance as I go about my day? Or, what is it that gets in the way or causes me to be closed off to insight, awareness, or a different view as I go along?

At times, the things that we like to do, or that we started out liking to do, can feel like an obligation. Similarly responsibilities that we may have come to embrace with a sense peace or joy can again, at times, feel like a chore or even a burden. Oftentimes that feeling can be a blessing, leading one to pause and ask, “What am I really doing here?”, “What am I looking for?” or “Why am I doing this?” Then I remember, “There is need of only one thing.” (Luke 10:42).

 

Jesus entered a village
where a woman whose name was Martha welcomed him.
She had a sister named Mary
who sat beside the Lord at his feet listening to him speak.
Martha, burdened with much serving, came to him and said,
“Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me by myself to do the serving?
Tell her to help me.”
The Lord said to her in reply,
“Martha, Martha, you are anxious and worried about many things.
There is need of only one thing.
Mary has chosen the better part
and it will not be taken from her.”
– Luke 10:38-42

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.

LilyPadFlower2

“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

 

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

treeovercreek

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)