Light In Our Darkness
Good morning... What we actually know is such a tiny sliver. What we know we don't know is also quite small. The biggest portion of our hidden, inner world is what we don't know we don't know. Knowledge and mystery lie beyond like beacons of light magnetically drawing us. This slide, used by Michael Begeman in a recent presentation at St. Dunstan's Episcopal Church, helps us to understand our innate drive to constantly [...]
Why I Like Tax Season
Good morning... April 15th comes every year. An anxious date I used to hate, now I kinda enjoy tax season. In recent years, I have noticed that preparing taxes blends really well with Lent and Easter, winter tipping into spring, and my March 23rd birthday season. Since beginning my own small business as a daily blogger in 2015, I have gradually learned to like tax season. Here is why. Being an everyday blogger [...]
Our Unpleasant Emotions
Good morning... "Our normal response to unpleasant emotions is to do whatever we can to push them out of our awareness," says the David Benner quote we read aloud in class. "Something quite remarkable happens when, instead of following this well-worn path, we welcome them as a guest in the home of our self." Of course, this insight led me to share one of my favorite poems. ****** The Guest House by Rumi [...]
We Harvest Hope
Good morning... It happened again. One message miraculously seeped into another. Yesterday's post ended with this wisdom: "As our self-protective shell comes completely undone, everything, everything changes." I pushed "send" on our blog then immediately opened a new email containing the poem below. It's as if the Holy Spirit had more to share with us about the "seed" analogy and the true self gradually maturing in our soul. ****** Whenever you see a [...]
Everything, Everything Changes
Good morning... "Here's another reminder of our 'seed' analogies in our reading lately," texted a friend, sharing the image above. I love the organic wisdom revealed. As we continue to explore our spiritual growth into Christlikeness, as measured by an ancient personality tool called the Enneagram, might we embody the "seed" quote by Cynthia Occellia? "For my true, authentic self to achieve its greatest expression, my false, adapted self must come completely undone. [...]
Calm In Life’s Chaos
Good morning... "Do you know what you will write about each night when you wake?" she asked. "No, I really don't," I said. "I just trust the Spirit to illuminate something I need to ponder." The winds of inspiration pick up as I take our little dog out to relieve herself. Walking back inside, I see a white bag of cut magazine photos a friend left on the front porch for our next [...]
One Full Day Of Life
Good morning... Beneath the beaming sliver of yesterday's partial solar eclipse, I experienced one fun, full day of life. We are thoroughly enjoying a three-day visit from life-long friends whose son is ringing the bell at the Chick-fil-a headquarters today as he becomes an owner/operator. Together, we took in the sky's amazing marvel at the Lovett School, which has been my husband's loyal work home for twenty-nine years. [...]
A Total Eclipse Of Our Heart
Good morning... In much of Mexico, the U.S. and Canada, the enormity and regularity of God's rhythms, set in motion before the beginning of time, will be on full display today, April 8th, 2024. Now up in the middle of the night, I prayerfully research and happily discover. Wikipedia tells us that "a solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between Earth and the Sun, briefly obscuring the view of the Sun from [...]
Surrender Everything Now
Good morning... This meaningful hand-hewn birthday gift became the central figure in our Friday class yesterday. With all of us wired very differently to thrive in this world, but the one thing we all have in common is our deep need to surrender everything to God, if we are to grow up into our God-gifted true self. We turned over the card and read this prayer on the back. [...]
Read Slow And Breathe
Good morning... Spending quality time with a friend who is seventy-eight years old, I read aloud to her this poem written by Becky Hemsley. "I have spent my whole life trying to please people," she responded. "It's exhausting and impossible. This poem gives me permission to just breathe and be me." Now as you read aloud this life-giving poem, slow and soft, might you also sense the same invitation? [...]
Feel Everything Often
Good morning... Returning to our collective wisdom, I pulled out my page of notes from our therapeutic community group at PAWkids on Tuesday morning. These words strengthened me for unexpectedly hard moments ahead. We can’t selectively feel our emotions. We can’t choose the “good” ones without dealing with the “bad" ones. Our feelings are all intertwined. I don’t like feeling… lonely, angry, confused, depressed. I do like feeling… hopeful, amazed, peaceful, bonded. Might [...]
My Heart Feels Broken
Good morning... On Monday during the wee hours of the morning, I posted a Scripture referring to "all the broken and dislocated pieces of the universe." Then on Tuesday night when I woke to write, our website was weirdly "broken." Unable to craft a blog message, yesterday our written word community went without. Later in the day, with the help of our web designer, we were able to create a template for this post, [...]