Your One Particular Life
Good morning... Yesterday, I received this precious birthday card from my parents in Ohio. It blended beautifully with the touching poem I received at 7:30 am. "Birth-day" by Lucille Clifton blessed my inbox. The poem's first words and final words sum up our life at every age. today we are possible. what we will become waits in us like an ache. The particulars of our uniquely possible life, these particulars lie beyond our [...]
The Art Of Aging
Good morning... A handful of people disagreed with a quote I shared in our last post, a quote from John Mark Comer's book Practicing the Way. On page 74, Comer writes: “The spiritual teacher Pete Scazzero once told me a maxim that was passed on to him by an older, wiser mentor: ‘The best decade of your life will be your seventies, the second best will be your eighties, and the third best [...]
As I Turn 62
Good morning... As I turn 62 on Sunday, March 23rd, I am learning so many marvelous, new things. The best birthday cake is shared. A friend in our therapeutic community group shared with us a homemade pound cake. My piece to eat and my piece to take home were instead sliced and shared with about eight young adult strangers playing basketball at PAWkids. 2) [...]
Feel Joy Expand
Good morning... The cards I chose in our art activity this week highlighted the wisdom of Victor Frankel, laid out in Man's Search for Meaning. "Will I choose to behave like a swine (greedy, selfish, overindulgent) or will I choose to behave like a saint (peaceful, prayerful, at home in God's light)?" Through his experience in the concentration camp, Frankel came to believe that all of us have both swine and saint potentialities [...]
One Barefoot Artist
Good morning... In the morning, I watched the trailer below, a trailer for The Barefoot Artist, an inspirational documentary about Lily Yeh. "Our world is full of darkness. What can an artist do?" asks Yeh. At 84 years old, Lily is fueled by the profound belief that people can instill social change by creating art projects in some of the world's most troubled areas and empowering weakened spirits in deeply broken communities. Then [...]
Coping In Our World
Good morning... After our life-giving discussion, she sent us all a text: "I just read this poem and it makes me think of our book and the special bond within this group, as we each remind each other that the sun does indeed shine." ****** "Coping" by Audre Lorde It has rained for five days running the world is a round puddle of sunless water where small islands are only beginning to cope [...]
We Decide Who We Are
Good morning... On my own, I did not understand the material assigned for Sunday's discussion of Man's Search for Meaning by Victor Frankel. I needed our small group to help spark wise thoughts, make real connections, and weave random words into a warm cloak of wisdom. About ten or twelve of us talked through the chapter, finding our way to these final words on page 134. "In the concentration camps, for example, in [...]
Love Is An Airplane
Happy St. Patrick's Day... Did you know what the three leaves of the shamrock symbolize? Faith. Hope. Love. I learned this truth at PAWkids during our art project last Monday. Using a large array of art supplies, I saw these three God-given qualities come to life. Art stirs up what exists within us. This is true with adults and with kids. From 4:00 to [...]
There Must Be More
Good morning... There’s more to come: We continue to shout our praise even when we’re hemmed in with troubles, because we know how troubles can develop passionate patience in us, and how that patience in turn forges the tempered steel of virtue, keeping us alert for whatever God will do next. In alert expectancy such as this, we’re never left feeling shortchanged. Quite the contrary—we can’t round up enough containers to hold everything [...]
I Expected More
Good morning... As I walked our dogs before bedtime last night, I marveled at the full moon. Then I went to sleep and I woke again, stepping outside at 12:55 am, expecting to see the highly touted "blood moon." Instead of the gorgeous reddish hue predicted, as the Earth eclipsed the moon, my eyes were greeted with the ordinary. The uneventful. The lackluster. When did the mystery of [...]
Who Are We?
Good morning... A friend sent me this image last night, and for some reasons it's etherial, earthy tones jogged my memory about tonight's unique full moon. A total lunar eclipse will occur at around 12:55 am tonight, taking up to 3 hours, 38 minutes for the Earth to pass in front of the moon. Because of the moon's tendency to turn a reddish hue when covered by Earth's shadow, this striking phenomenon will [...]
Lunch With Audrey
Good morning... Last week, it was delightful to share lunch with Audrey and our Fab Five friends. Having met at a Bible study in my living room many, many years ago, this group of amazing women has stayed in constant touch throughout Audrey's fourteen year journey with cancer, facing traditional treatments for neuroblastoma, repeated relapses, hospital stays in different cities, and endless rounds of painful trial treatments. A lot of you in our [...]