I found myself thinking about a line that I wrote in my last blog. It was something like this.........”Christianity is not a “spiritual” affair......” I think I want to clarify what I meant by that. I certainly don’t wish to confuse people about their spirituality and I understand that to some it may seem a bit obtuse to say something like that. Everyone can be misunderstood, especially if you want to.
I guess that the above quote was used to suppress a lot of negative feelings and images that I have. It was a nice way of saying to the reader that we need to keep it simple. This is not something that was designed by God to be complicated, although we have founded entire Universities and Theological Seminaries in order to defend our different points of view. This is simple. As simple as love is.......or isn’t?
Have you ever wondered about love? Why do I love someone so much that I am willing to commit to an entire lifetime with them? How can love span 2,3,4,5 and 6 (or more) children and not be diluted and remain so strong? It is simple or not? It is. And it’s not. It is straight forward, doesn’t require a lot of thought and yet it is complex and can change the course of many lives.
I need to keep it simple. I also think that a lot of Christians need to keep it simple. We have spent centuries muddying the waters. We take what suits us and leave out the rest and that varies according to denomination and theology. Shame on us! What a legacy of hypocrisy and confusion, and in the wake of that, a trail of eviscerated corpses that have just a breath of life left in them.
Jesus upturned the tables in the temple because the moneychangers and merchants had turned the house of God into a business. Doesn’t sound too far off.......does it? I believe that He will again clean house and be aware that only He can, He took on that job once and He will certainly take it on again.
I once asked myself if I wanted to be a part of the multitudes. How great would it have been to sit through the sermon on the mount, the beatitudes, and the Lord’s prayer? To be a part of the five thousand fed by Jesus, to see the blind regain their sight, and the sick pick up their beds and go home....whole again. Then I remembered that the multitudes threw down palms at Jesus’ feet when He rode into Jerusalem and the next day they demanded He be crucified. I realized then that I didn’t want to be a part of the multitudes. I was not even happy with the behavior of the Disciples, how they scattered and were afraid and denied Jesus. Right then I wished I was a dog. A dog that would follow it’s Master regardless of public opinion, regardless of the status quo. I even imagined this dog with it’s tongue hanging out in the hottest part of the day, waiting and watching to see what He would do next, where He would go and I realized that I wanted to be like that.
Not blindly following, not stupid, but ever watchful, ever faithful, ever true to the Master I know. The Master who always has my best interest in mind even when I don’t know what that might be. Trusting, loyal and honest. Aren’t these the things we admire in animals and yet when a human being demonstrates these qualities we judge him to be weak.
It was the multitudes who were weak. It was they who refused to listen to what Jesus said when it got radical. “Too hard”, they thought. And with little thought to the consequences they had him crucified, which by the way turned out just fine. It was designed to turn out fine. The crucifixion wasn’t the problem, the change in consensus was. How entirely fickle.
I believe that if you know that you know the truth, then and only then can you be confident in it, and that confidence is not built on experiences or feelings, but rather on following and pursuing God “doggedly”. Knowing Him.
This is what I was getting at when I said that Christianity was not a “spiritual” affair. Yes, things move on a spiritual plane, yes we become grafted members of the Children of Israel, yes, yes, yes to a lot of things, but we don’t feel these things, we know these things. And we trust that God will continue to be and do that which He said He would do.
And the people said........Amen.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Friday, October 19, 2012
God
I have been asked to write down my thoughts on the subject of God after a conversation I had with my daughter. We talked for over 2 hours and I seriously doubt I can replicate the whole conversation, but I will try to cover some of the points that were interesting to her.
We were speaking of relationship to God, judgement within the Church, loosely quoted scripture and the Big Picture. We also touched on the difference between men and women in relationships in general and how that carries over into our relationship with God and how our very own expectations can get in the way of that relationship.
The first thing that comes to mind is that between the Old and New Testament God was silent. I believe that that was a total of 400 years. The Jews, chosen by God, had been in constant communication with God through the prophets, priests and kings. The last word they had was that the Messiah was coming.............then the silence began. I would call that a "killer" move on God's part. I have done all these things for you, called you out, chosen you, preserved you, protected you and shown you how much I love you................in other words, I have waited for you. Now you wait for me.
This to me is an example of the Big Picture. As a Jew you could either expect God to do what he always did in the past and when he didn't you could question Him or you could study what he was doing in the past, where he was going with all this and you could trust that because he always did what he said he was going to do, that he would continue operating in that vein. Even if it took 400 years.
I believe that this is what makes a believer a believer. They believe. They don't need signs and wonders..............they know God. They have spent time investigating, maybe even testing the character of God and seen that He is true. He never changes, He is always the same. Job demonstrates this. That is why God allowed Him to be tested, because to Job it wasn't about what God does, it was about Who God is. Job knew God, he knew that God was good, he knew that he was a part of the Big Picture and he never questioned what was going on even when it was as painful as it was. His only question was, what is the Big Picture here? He never cursed God because his perspective didn't allow for that! To curse God Job would have had to put aside all his convictions and all his knowledge of the character of God, he would have in essence had to lie to himself. It was impossible for him to do this and that is why God allowed Satan to test him.
As individuals and individual believers we pass through a myriad of experiences in a lifetime. We are formed by our upbringing, genetics and outside influences. We see life through this lense and make decisions and judgements accordingly. This is not wrong, this is life and God knows it! He made us this way and he put us here. Thus in my mind therein lies the reason. God is interested in a relationship, He wants you to want Him, just as we all long for this sense of belonging. He wants to meet you on common ground and that common ground is Love! Ask yourself what love is. Is it a fuzzy feeling? Is it uncontrollable urges? In my opinion love is commitment, putting someone else's needs before your own. That is what God wants for you and ultimately what you want for Him.
To recap: Relationship! God loves you, He wants you for Himself, He is committed to you, He knows you, He accepts you and He does not Judge you! Remember He put you in your skin, your family, and your community. He is not unaware of who you are.
The only responsibility we have, in my opinion, as Christians is know Who God is. It is in knowing Him that we can love Him. It is in knowing Him that we can rest securely in our faith. Write a research paper on God. Pick up the Old Testament and find out what kind of Person He is, how does he handle stuff, how does he feel about humanity, what was He like in the beginning and how does that compare to the end. Is He a liar, is He fair, how does He demonstrate His love. Try to be as objective as possible. We all have some Christian influences in our lives...........try to forget everything we learned, everything we heard, good and bad, try to see this as if for the very first time.
As far as judgement within the Church, well I don't really want to spend much time on that. I don't think that it is a "Christian" anomaly. Humans tend to practice this behavior whenever they form groups. A group of neo-Nazis judge non-whites, a group of environmentalists will judge industrialists, a group of Republicans judge Democrats, a group of farmers judge city dwellers and so on. This is inherent in our nature. Whenever a group of people get together they begin to seek out a leader and then move in flock formation. Uniformity creeps in and 'Voila" you have a Club! No big surprise there. The Church is not immune because it is made up of people. In other words don't be surprised when you are judged within the Church, you would be judged elsewhere too. Unfortunately this reflects back on God because many people have made Him the Villain.
As far as dealing with loosely quoted Scripture, I believe that the only way you'll be prepared for that coming at you is to know it yourself. Scripture is often quoted out of context and for all intents and purposes to make the one quoting it feel more important than the one being quoted to! This is not what scripture is for, it is designed to reveal the character of God to the believer so that we can boldly stand before Him. It is to help us with life's questions, to give us instruction so that we can attain wisdom.(not knowledge) And it is inspired which causes me to regard it highly. The Holy Spirit, according to Scripture itself, breathed the words which we read and we need to be careful with how we dole it out to others. This reminds me of how Jesus said, Don't worry about the inconsistencies of your neighbor until you have taken care of you own!
Relationship with God is personal. It is between you and Him. It is not something that you can make another person experience and it is not experienced in the same way as another person's relationship with God. We as finite creations have a tendency to anticipate what something will be like. We anticipate the movie to be great after hearing so much about it, our expectations rise and after having seen it we are often disappointed. Why would that be any different that what we hear about other people's relationship with God. We can only be disappointed if we have expectations. Without expectations we can live in complete freedom.
Jesus stated the His yoke is easy and his burden is light. Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, part of the Trinity, God Himself. God we know, from scripture, is truth, love, and unchanging. If these things are true about God and Jesus is telling us the truth, why are we having such a hard time? Why does it feel difficult? Why are we not experiencing freedom?
I would say that our expectations are keeping us from enjoying a real relationship with God. We need to take ourselves a few steps back...........as far as it takes to have an unadulterated look at God. We need a clean slate, need to imagine meeting Him as a person for the first time, we need to spend time getting to know Him, we need to put out of our minds all the things we may have learned as Christians and read scripture with a thirsty mind. And then we need to make a decision. Is Jesus Christ the Son of God? Did he sacrifice his life for my sin? Does he live? Is he coming back? And if the answer is yes then we need to know that we now walk in truth. That is all that matters.
God is not complicated. He has shown us all facets of His nature. He has been transparent telling us what happened in the beginning, where we are now and what will happen in the end. It doesn't get much simpler than that. He is not out to trick us, own us, abuse us, use us, abandon us or anything else like that. These are things we do to each other. God is not us He is divine and has saved us from ourselves.
I guess what I am trying to say is that being a Christian is not a "spiritual" affair. It is an acknowledgement of what is true. C.S. Lewis wrote of his conversion to Christianity and titled it "Surprised by Joy", and that was the sum of his expectations. He continued living his life although with a renewed sense of who he was in Christ and everything else was a bonus.
God is good isn't that enough?
We were speaking of relationship to God, judgement within the Church, loosely quoted scripture and the Big Picture. We also touched on the difference between men and women in relationships in general and how that carries over into our relationship with God and how our very own expectations can get in the way of that relationship.
The first thing that comes to mind is that between the Old and New Testament God was silent. I believe that that was a total of 400 years. The Jews, chosen by God, had been in constant communication with God through the prophets, priests and kings. The last word they had was that the Messiah was coming.............then the silence began. I would call that a "killer" move on God's part. I have done all these things for you, called you out, chosen you, preserved you, protected you and shown you how much I love you................in other words, I have waited for you. Now you wait for me.
This to me is an example of the Big Picture. As a Jew you could either expect God to do what he always did in the past and when he didn't you could question Him or you could study what he was doing in the past, where he was going with all this and you could trust that because he always did what he said he was going to do, that he would continue operating in that vein. Even if it took 400 years.
I believe that this is what makes a believer a believer. They believe. They don't need signs and wonders..............they know God. They have spent time investigating, maybe even testing the character of God and seen that He is true. He never changes, He is always the same. Job demonstrates this. That is why God allowed Him to be tested, because to Job it wasn't about what God does, it was about Who God is. Job knew God, he knew that God was good, he knew that he was a part of the Big Picture and he never questioned what was going on even when it was as painful as it was. His only question was, what is the Big Picture here? He never cursed God because his perspective didn't allow for that! To curse God Job would have had to put aside all his convictions and all his knowledge of the character of God, he would have in essence had to lie to himself. It was impossible for him to do this and that is why God allowed Satan to test him.
As individuals and individual believers we pass through a myriad of experiences in a lifetime. We are formed by our upbringing, genetics and outside influences. We see life through this lense and make decisions and judgements accordingly. This is not wrong, this is life and God knows it! He made us this way and he put us here. Thus in my mind therein lies the reason. God is interested in a relationship, He wants you to want Him, just as we all long for this sense of belonging. He wants to meet you on common ground and that common ground is Love! Ask yourself what love is. Is it a fuzzy feeling? Is it uncontrollable urges? In my opinion love is commitment, putting someone else's needs before your own. That is what God wants for you and ultimately what you want for Him.
To recap: Relationship! God loves you, He wants you for Himself, He is committed to you, He knows you, He accepts you and He does not Judge you! Remember He put you in your skin, your family, and your community. He is not unaware of who you are.
The only responsibility we have, in my opinion, as Christians is know Who God is. It is in knowing Him that we can love Him. It is in knowing Him that we can rest securely in our faith. Write a research paper on God. Pick up the Old Testament and find out what kind of Person He is, how does he handle stuff, how does he feel about humanity, what was He like in the beginning and how does that compare to the end. Is He a liar, is He fair, how does He demonstrate His love. Try to be as objective as possible. We all have some Christian influences in our lives...........try to forget everything we learned, everything we heard, good and bad, try to see this as if for the very first time.
As far as judgement within the Church, well I don't really want to spend much time on that. I don't think that it is a "Christian" anomaly. Humans tend to practice this behavior whenever they form groups. A group of neo-Nazis judge non-whites, a group of environmentalists will judge industrialists, a group of Republicans judge Democrats, a group of farmers judge city dwellers and so on. This is inherent in our nature. Whenever a group of people get together they begin to seek out a leader and then move in flock formation. Uniformity creeps in and 'Voila" you have a Club! No big surprise there. The Church is not immune because it is made up of people. In other words don't be surprised when you are judged within the Church, you would be judged elsewhere too. Unfortunately this reflects back on God because many people have made Him the Villain.
As far as dealing with loosely quoted Scripture, I believe that the only way you'll be prepared for that coming at you is to know it yourself. Scripture is often quoted out of context and for all intents and purposes to make the one quoting it feel more important than the one being quoted to! This is not what scripture is for, it is designed to reveal the character of God to the believer so that we can boldly stand before Him. It is to help us with life's questions, to give us instruction so that we can attain wisdom.(not knowledge) And it is inspired which causes me to regard it highly. The Holy Spirit, according to Scripture itself, breathed the words which we read and we need to be careful with how we dole it out to others. This reminds me of how Jesus said, Don't worry about the inconsistencies of your neighbor until you have taken care of you own!
Relationship with God is personal. It is between you and Him. It is not something that you can make another person experience and it is not experienced in the same way as another person's relationship with God. We as finite creations have a tendency to anticipate what something will be like. We anticipate the movie to be great after hearing so much about it, our expectations rise and after having seen it we are often disappointed. Why would that be any different that what we hear about other people's relationship with God. We can only be disappointed if we have expectations. Without expectations we can live in complete freedom.
Jesus stated the His yoke is easy and his burden is light. Jesus claimed to be the Son of God, part of the Trinity, God Himself. God we know, from scripture, is truth, love, and unchanging. If these things are true about God and Jesus is telling us the truth, why are we having such a hard time? Why does it feel difficult? Why are we not experiencing freedom?
I would say that our expectations are keeping us from enjoying a real relationship with God. We need to take ourselves a few steps back...........as far as it takes to have an unadulterated look at God. We need a clean slate, need to imagine meeting Him as a person for the first time, we need to spend time getting to know Him, we need to put out of our minds all the things we may have learned as Christians and read scripture with a thirsty mind. And then we need to make a decision. Is Jesus Christ the Son of God? Did he sacrifice his life for my sin? Does he live? Is he coming back? And if the answer is yes then we need to know that we now walk in truth. That is all that matters.
God is not complicated. He has shown us all facets of His nature. He has been transparent telling us what happened in the beginning, where we are now and what will happen in the end. It doesn't get much simpler than that. He is not out to trick us, own us, abuse us, use us, abandon us or anything else like that. These are things we do to each other. God is not us He is divine and has saved us from ourselves.
I guess what I am trying to say is that being a Christian is not a "spiritual" affair. It is an acknowledgement of what is true. C.S. Lewis wrote of his conversion to Christianity and titled it "Surprised by Joy", and that was the sum of his expectations. He continued living his life although with a renewed sense of who he was in Christ and everything else was a bonus.
God is good isn't that enough?
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Flickers
It seems to me that many of the birds here are now finished their nesting and are busy raising the young that have emerged. I watched two young flickers leave the nest 2 days ago and the parents are actively feeding them and caring for them where ever they may be. Thanks to all the wonderful bird sites on the internet I could gain a little more understanding as to the habits of some of these birds and have found my knowledge to be more than lacking. There are so many birds here.......chickadees, flickers, bluebirds, house finch, grosbeaks, wood ducks, swallows, great horned owls, sandhill cranes, mallards, canada geese, cedar waxwings, robins, cowbirds, yellow headed blackbirds, coots, red winged blackbirds, kestrels, all kinds of hawks and the list goes on!!!!! The sounds of young birds in the nest, young birds in the trees fills the forest with song during the long daylight hours we so enjoy at this time of the year!
There is one bird I have failed to mention who makes its presence known all through the day. The raven. The young were flighted quite early in the spring and spent most of their time making sure the parents knew where they were and that they were hungry! Now they make their rounds throughout the forest and farm learning all there is to learn and keeping us on our toes with their antics. I have observed the parents placing their young in the field near a small creek for the day. (daycare, I suppose) From here they come and go, feeding them throughout the day. While the parents are gone the young play with each other, toss sticks and pick through the piles of horse manure. Most of their activity seems to be more for entertainment value than anything else. They are able to fly and can fly to the nearest tree for safety but spend most of their time on the ground waiting for Mom and Dad to bring lunch. So interesting to watch.
I have always been observant of my surroundings and now taking the time to really observe has been so rewarding. I haven't had to go far as I am so blessed to live close to all of this, a walk through the woods, a quick canoe ride in the swamp meadow, and a horse back ride to the farther reaches of my home.
Taking time, breathing deep, watching the cycle of rain and sun, listening to the myriad of sounds around me and laughing along with the whatever strikes me as funny.
As species specific as some of these bird's behavior is, there is still an element of individuality. They seem to be able to judge what is right for them and it doesn't always match what is "normal" for them. They function within the parameters of their instincts, with a twist. Sometimes it works and sometimes it is a disaster. Like the young flickers that built their nest only 5 feet from the ground and all the young were later found pulled out and dead on the ground below. Or the young flickers that built their nest here by the tent, same distance above the ground, and all the young fledged out and flew away.
Why? Life is like that.
There is one bird I have failed to mention who makes its presence known all through the day. The raven. The young were flighted quite early in the spring and spent most of their time making sure the parents knew where they were and that they were hungry! Now they make their rounds throughout the forest and farm learning all there is to learn and keeping us on our toes with their antics. I have observed the parents placing their young in the field near a small creek for the day. (daycare, I suppose) From here they come and go, feeding them throughout the day. While the parents are gone the young play with each other, toss sticks and pick through the piles of horse manure. Most of their activity seems to be more for entertainment value than anything else. They are able to fly and can fly to the nearest tree for safety but spend most of their time on the ground waiting for Mom and Dad to bring lunch. So interesting to watch.
I have always been observant of my surroundings and now taking the time to really observe has been so rewarding. I haven't had to go far as I am so blessed to live close to all of this, a walk through the woods, a quick canoe ride in the swamp meadow, and a horse back ride to the farther reaches of my home.
Taking time, breathing deep, watching the cycle of rain and sun, listening to the myriad of sounds around me and laughing along with the whatever strikes me as funny.
As species specific as some of these bird's behavior is, there is still an element of individuality. They seem to be able to judge what is right for them and it doesn't always match what is "normal" for them. They function within the parameters of their instincts, with a twist. Sometimes it works and sometimes it is a disaster. Like the young flickers that built their nest only 5 feet from the ground and all the young were later found pulled out and dead on the ground below. Or the young flickers that built their nest here by the tent, same distance above the ground, and all the young fledged out and flew away.
Why? Life is like that.
Thursday, June 21, 2012
Practice
I hope I haven't lost my readership, it has been a while since I posted my last bit of "wisdom". Not that I was out of things to say but mostly because I was lazy! The weather was rainy and it just made for an easy excuse not to do anything.
I spent alot of time thinking about a lot of things like, youth, maturity, priorities, must-do's and things that we really don't need to do. I am not sure what exactly the thoughts around those things were but I do remember a sense of cliche! It funny how we hate cliches but they are often so true.
I have been watching my kids make decisions. I am very proud of them, they make good decisions. They have a sense that time is running out on them and that they need to do this or that before it is too late. For myself, on the contrary, time seems to slow down and it is never too late. Maybe it is all that forward thinking that many of us are caught up in, projecting ourselves down the road 10 years from now could be exciting, could also be scary!
Living in the present, is not just living, it is comprised of mindfulness, thankfulness, observation, and relaxation. Think of it as a 10 day vacation in 24 hours. Learning to enjoy what we have, when we have it, is an art. It must be practiced, as practice makes perfect!(there's a cliche). When we do this we extract every minute of every day. Nothing is lost, nothing is wasted and time does not slip past us unnoticed and untended. We have mastered time, we have made the Old Man slow down and sit a while and together we have walked through the day and savored it.
It is not rocket science this "living in the present" stuff. It is there for each and every one of us to have, we just need to reach out and take it. We may find excuses, like I did about my blog, but as we practice the newly found knowledge it becomes an integral part of our everyday life. It seeps in and saturates us and as we then move through our daily activities it oozes out towards the ones we love. Many thing become effortless, things that we thought we may never achieve, begin happening, taking shape, transpiring...........health, a sense of belonging, achievement, love,peace of mind and then some. What some might consider work to get to becomes a simple path that we are on, a river that we float down, filled with smells, sounds and memories that we will never forget.
Life has not passed us by.
I spent alot of time thinking about a lot of things like, youth, maturity, priorities, must-do's and things that we really don't need to do. I am not sure what exactly the thoughts around those things were but I do remember a sense of cliche! It funny how we hate cliches but they are often so true.
I have been watching my kids make decisions. I am very proud of them, they make good decisions. They have a sense that time is running out on them and that they need to do this or that before it is too late. For myself, on the contrary, time seems to slow down and it is never too late. Maybe it is all that forward thinking that many of us are caught up in, projecting ourselves down the road 10 years from now could be exciting, could also be scary!
Living in the present, is not just living, it is comprised of mindfulness, thankfulness, observation, and relaxation. Think of it as a 10 day vacation in 24 hours. Learning to enjoy what we have, when we have it, is an art. It must be practiced, as practice makes perfect!(there's a cliche). When we do this we extract every minute of every day. Nothing is lost, nothing is wasted and time does not slip past us unnoticed and untended. We have mastered time, we have made the Old Man slow down and sit a while and together we have walked through the day and savored it.
It is not rocket science this "living in the present" stuff. It is there for each and every one of us to have, we just need to reach out and take it. We may find excuses, like I did about my blog, but as we practice the newly found knowledge it becomes an integral part of our everyday life. It seeps in and saturates us and as we then move through our daily activities it oozes out towards the ones we love. Many thing become effortless, things that we thought we may never achieve, begin happening, taking shape, transpiring...........health, a sense of belonging, achievement, love,peace of mind and then some. What some might consider work to get to becomes a simple path that we are on, a river that we float down, filled with smells, sounds and memories that we will never forget.
Life has not passed us by.
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Carpe Diem
Another new day! Yesterday we had a wonderful thunderstorm all afternoon. So much rain fell that it grew in intensity at least five times! Little creeks formed and it fell off the roof in sheets. All the while I made jam over the woodstove and felt so cozy inside.
This morning everything is shining. The horses are just shimmering in the sunlight, their freshly, washed coats absolutely gleaming. I don't think I could even get them that clean.
The wind is picking up, which is not unusual here. As soon as moisture fills the air it's as if a vacuum is created whirling the wind into action. If it keeps up all day the ground will be as dry as a midsummer afternoon. At least my rain soaked laundry will be dry!
Last year we had a wet and windy June. It was good for the livestock as the grass grew unending and everything stayed a beautiful green............not the norm here. I can't tell if all this is a sign of global warming or not.........I am sure I could find out, but it would be better to just take each day as it comes.
Knowing something like that doesn't really change the way I do things. My life will still consist of living conscientiously.
Knowing something like that causes anxiety, fear, depression, a sense that everything I do is for nothing. I have observed that in this age of information we have concerned ourselves with our mortality, hung a noose around our necks and went looking for tree.
Sufficient today is the evil thereof.
Modern psychology teaches us to "take one day at a time", break things down into smaller tasks and live in the moment.
The world bombards us with tragedy, sickness, disaster, crime, and news of things that we can't possibly affect. We end up feeling frustrated, helpless and lost, as if someone or something stands at the helm and steers us to places we don't want to go. We become fatalists, self centered, paranoid, anxious, sad, angry, and inward.
It doesn't have to be that way. Each new day is new. Isn't that the point? It is ours for the taking to build that which is lasting and important, to love, to live, to breath in the fresh air, to have, to hold, to protect what is our own by nurturing it and passing on a life worth living.
Carpe diem!.........Seize the day.
This morning everything is shining. The horses are just shimmering in the sunlight, their freshly, washed coats absolutely gleaming. I don't think I could even get them that clean.
The wind is picking up, which is not unusual here. As soon as moisture fills the air it's as if a vacuum is created whirling the wind into action. If it keeps up all day the ground will be as dry as a midsummer afternoon. At least my rain soaked laundry will be dry!
Last year we had a wet and windy June. It was good for the livestock as the grass grew unending and everything stayed a beautiful green............not the norm here. I can't tell if all this is a sign of global warming or not.........I am sure I could find out, but it would be better to just take each day as it comes.
Knowing something like that doesn't really change the way I do things. My life will still consist of living conscientiously.
Knowing something like that causes anxiety, fear, depression, a sense that everything I do is for nothing. I have observed that in this age of information we have concerned ourselves with our mortality, hung a noose around our necks and went looking for tree.
Sufficient today is the evil thereof.
Modern psychology teaches us to "take one day at a time", break things down into smaller tasks and live in the moment.
The world bombards us with tragedy, sickness, disaster, crime, and news of things that we can't possibly affect. We end up feeling frustrated, helpless and lost, as if someone or something stands at the helm and steers us to places we don't want to go. We become fatalists, self centered, paranoid, anxious, sad, angry, and inward.
It doesn't have to be that way. Each new day is new. Isn't that the point? It is ours for the taking to build that which is lasting and important, to love, to live, to breath in the fresh air, to have, to hold, to protect what is our own by nurturing it and passing on a life worth living.
Carpe diem!.........Seize the day.
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Rain
The last couple of days have been lazy ones.......on my part. It rained and the weather got cooler and I jumped at the chance to rest.
Some people would consider this differently. They may say that they were so tired they couldn't get anything done. They may think that they "should have" done this or that. They may have blamed the rain and cooler temperatures for their lack of productivity and wished for the sun. They may have spent the last few days completely miserable and made others miserable in the process. That is what some people may have done.
I have learned that each day is a gift. Each day brings something to me that is new and refreshing as long as I look for it. When the sun shines we "make hay" as the old cliche goes, but what that implies is hard work. We work hard taking advantage of the long daylight hours. The rain comes and suddenly we are forced to wait.......wait for the sun.
If that is what is required, waiting, then I give that to myself. I give myself each day, conscientious of the gift that it is, I say to myself.........Take it, it is good! As a result I have noticed that everything comes right at the time that it is most needed......like the rain. The rain brings nourishment to the land, washes the dust and dirt away, fills up the puddles and ponds and numerous other things that we don't see or notice. For me the rain brings respite. A chance to charge up the batteries, think about things that need to be worked out, maybe even clean a few corners!
Rain. When it begins to patter on the rooftop, form puddles in the driveway, hang tenaciously to the clothesline and fill the air with that wonderful smell. Think of it for what it is..............life.
When I live in the moment, there is no monotony, everything moves in cycles, my life has been "inflated" by this discovery. Like inflating an air mattress, suddenly it becomes full and 3 dimensional and holds purpose..........how great is that?
Enjoy today, that is really what is most important, because there is something in it for you to discover, something just for you.
Some people would consider this differently. They may say that they were so tired they couldn't get anything done. They may think that they "should have" done this or that. They may have blamed the rain and cooler temperatures for their lack of productivity and wished for the sun. They may have spent the last few days completely miserable and made others miserable in the process. That is what some people may have done.
I have learned that each day is a gift. Each day brings something to me that is new and refreshing as long as I look for it. When the sun shines we "make hay" as the old cliche goes, but what that implies is hard work. We work hard taking advantage of the long daylight hours. The rain comes and suddenly we are forced to wait.......wait for the sun.
If that is what is required, waiting, then I give that to myself. I give myself each day, conscientious of the gift that it is, I say to myself.........Take it, it is good! As a result I have noticed that everything comes right at the time that it is most needed......like the rain. The rain brings nourishment to the land, washes the dust and dirt away, fills up the puddles and ponds and numerous other things that we don't see or notice. For me the rain brings respite. A chance to charge up the batteries, think about things that need to be worked out, maybe even clean a few corners!
Rain. When it begins to patter on the rooftop, form puddles in the driveway, hang tenaciously to the clothesline and fill the air with that wonderful smell. Think of it for what it is..............life.
When I live in the moment, there is no monotony, everything moves in cycles, my life has been "inflated" by this discovery. Like inflating an air mattress, suddenly it becomes full and 3 dimensional and holds purpose..........how great is that?
Enjoy today, that is really what is most important, because there is something in it for you to discover, something just for you.
Sunday, June 3, 2012
Mornings
Mornings are like midwives. They hand me the day, new, unspoiled and mine entirely. I will love today, I just know it.
Forts
This morning when I woke up the sun was blasting through the front wall of the tent. I thought that maybe I had slept in and it was some ridiculous hour like 10 or noon...........or something like that. A quick glance at the clock told me that it was 5:30. A sense of urgency overwhelmed me............I needed to get up, to greet the day, I didn't want to miss a minute of it. As I stepped out into the early morning sunrise I felt like a child again. Anticipation as to what the day would hold. 24 hours and it's all mine. I can do with it as I please and nothing will be wasted. I can be productive, organize something, clean, cook, build, or I can play. Play- so closely linked to role playing, children becoming adults practicing what will be important to them for their own survival. There was always a thrill in playing, and mostly in planning just what we would play. Then there was the preparation, the fort building, exploring, collecting and setting things up just the way we wanted them.
I went on a walk with my daughter the other day to see where her fort used to be. It was some scrub brush and a few dead logs along the side of a small creek. To her and her cousin (both in their 20's now) it was a kitchen, a living room and a bathroom (complete with running water!). And most importantly it was filled with memories. Memories of conversation, laughter and fights............relationships.
These children had hit on something big and their "unadulterated" wisdom taught me what was truly valuable.
They worked together, built something, laughed, resolved conflict, and made so many great memories. As adults it held something so magical for them that it called them back to see, smell, taste, touch and hear the world around them from that very spot. It was a reminder of what was critical to them. Relationships.
When she saw that her Dad had cleaned up around the creek, removing some of the very brush she had called her fort, and cutting up the dead logs, she mourned the loss of that special place..............a place she called home.
My fort was my home. My home is my fort. Living in the present like a little child, counting only what is vital to that moment creates such strong and scented memories. I want that. I want to make every minute count in my life. I will create a room full of memories that I can revisit over and over again....................just like I did my fort.
I went on a walk with my daughter the other day to see where her fort used to be. It was some scrub brush and a few dead logs along the side of a small creek. To her and her cousin (both in their 20's now) it was a kitchen, a living room and a bathroom (complete with running water!). And most importantly it was filled with memories. Memories of conversation, laughter and fights............relationships.
These children had hit on something big and their "unadulterated" wisdom taught me what was truly valuable.
They worked together, built something, laughed, resolved conflict, and made so many great memories. As adults it held something so magical for them that it called them back to see, smell, taste, touch and hear the world around them from that very spot. It was a reminder of what was critical to them. Relationships.
When she saw that her Dad had cleaned up around the creek, removing some of the very brush she had called her fort, and cutting up the dead logs, she mourned the loss of that special place..............a place she called home.
My fort was my home. My home is my fort. Living in the present like a little child, counting only what is vital to that moment creates such strong and scented memories. I want that. I want to make every minute count in my life. I will create a room full of memories that I can revisit over and over again....................just like I did my fort.
Friday, June 1, 2012
Birds
Every morning the birds shed the sleep from their feathers with a quick shake and get to work. They have very little time for leisure. First they must preen and present themselves as having the best genetics for the survival of their species,and then upon being accepted, comes the task of building a suitable home for their mate and certain family. Afterwards they are busy with sustaining their featherless bundles of joy. "Food, food, food" is the constant cry that rings in their little ears! Still this is not enough, they must teach their children! Teach them to fly, teach them to forage, teach them what is good and what is bad and teach them confidence. Once this goal is reached they then release their little band of ruffians on the world and hope for the best. Sound familiar?! If you think about it long enough it is almost eerie. If you observe you get to see it. If not, it passes you by, happening all the while.
Nature reflects truth.
The most important part of this analogy (in my humble opinion) is that all the time the birds are so hard at work, so diligent.............they are singing!
Can you hear them?
Nature reflects truth.
The most important part of this analogy (in my humble opinion) is that all the time the birds are so hard at work, so diligent.............they are singing!
Can you hear them?
Thursday, May 31, 2012
First Day on the Blog
Day 1 on this blog. I have always wanted to simply document the little things. Observations while sipping my coffee in the morning or untamed little thoughts that flit by upon first opening our eyes. And yes sometimes these are the best ideas!!!
There is a world of wonderful, fascinating and wild beauty out there, and in these dark and dreary times that many of us face, I would like to share them with you. We can so easily get caught up in the news, what is politically correct (but bugs us), parameters, opinions, peer pressure and whatever else hems us in. It is time to lay all those things aside and be a child again. Listen, to the sounds around us, look, at the good things, touch, someone's life, taste, of the bountiful gifts of mother nature and smell the fresh rain or the sunshine on the freshly washed sheets. Remember..........
It is not wrong to be observant.
It is not wrong to be quiet.
It is not wrong to smile at a stranger.
It is not wrong to work hard.
It is not wrong to care.
It is not wrong to put someone before yourself.
There is a world of wonderful, fascinating and wild beauty out there, and in these dark and dreary times that many of us face, I would like to share them with you. We can so easily get caught up in the news, what is politically correct (but bugs us), parameters, opinions, peer pressure and whatever else hems us in. It is time to lay all those things aside and be a child again. Listen, to the sounds around us, look, at the good things, touch, someone's life, taste, of the bountiful gifts of mother nature and smell the fresh rain or the sunshine on the freshly washed sheets. Remember..........
It is not wrong to be observant.
It is not wrong to be quiet.
It is not wrong to smile at a stranger.
It is not wrong to work hard.
It is not wrong to care.
It is not wrong to put someone before yourself.
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