Journey

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

Take your mark…

The other day I saw a photograph of two swimmers competing in the Olympics. The caption underneath the picture called attention to the fact that one of the swimmers was so focused, his head straight ahead, while the other swimmer’s head was turned in the direction of his competitor rather than toward the “finish line.” The picture and accompanying story made me think about focus and attention in everyday life.

What catches my attention? Or more importantly, what do I allow to hold my attention? On what do I focus and to what does it lead?

The ability to focus is a gift. How do I use it? How do I recognize when I have become too focused, or when my attention has shifted to something of little or lesser importance in a particular situation?

Most often, there are clues when I am drifting (or about to) away rather than toward that which is good, or better, for me. To see or sense them though, is not necessarily easy especially with all the distractions that society offers. What is one to do?

Looking back to the Olympics, with the dedication, discipline and focus required to get there, it is clear that there is something far greater than a bunch of sports being played. It’s as if we are all pulling for each other without necessarily even trying all that hard. There is something that pulls us out of our own world…our own country as we often watch other countries competing and begin cheering them on, too. There is a Spirit that transcends all that is visible. One that propels and lifts both the athletes, enabling them to dig deep down, and the spectators, allowing them to enter the journey.

That same Spirit, creating a sense of unity and providing inner strength, and so much more, is available and waiting to capture our attention. Waiting to lead and guide us whether we are competing in the Olympics, going to school, working a job…doing anything at all…or doing nothing.

It’s a matter of Light…

Each afternoon as the sun begins its descent, it shines in through one of the side windows on our house. As it does, it reflects off of a crystal prism that resides on the windowsill. The result is an array of light and rainbow spots on the walls and ceiling of the living room. The pattern that is displayed changes depending on whether there is a breeze and the branches of the nearby trees are swaying, and therefore interrupting the flow of light. Whatever the pattern may be, it’s always quite beautiful.

On this particular day as I sit and observe, I wonder to myself, “What do I reflect?” As I think of a particular situation, there is much that quickly comes to mind. I slow down and look more closely. Then, I catch myself. “The things I am afraid of”; that is the category on which I have landed. Could it be that my fears are leading me and guiding my responses when it comes to this situation?

As I look up and around at the reflection of light and color, it becomes clear. Zoom out. Re-focus. “What are my hopes regarding this situation?”

“May your choices reflect your hopes not your fears.” – Nelson Mandela

Prism

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

 

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

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