When the Stunning Becomes Routine

Someone posted a photo of a colorburst sunset that filled the screen with vivid oranges and pinks and red splashed over both sky and the lake below. He followed it with, "I know sunsets are overdone, but I am so thankful I live here."

Overdone? Sunsets? I had to pause. 

A sunset if it happened but once in a lifetime would be a miraculous appearing, a spectacular sight inspiring music and poetry. It would be the stuff of legends and lore. But we get to see it every day.

So sunsets are overdone because they are plentiful and routine? That's like saying hugs are overdone or friendships or laughter. They are all richly abundant in our lives--until they are not. 

Instead perhaps it is posting that is overdone.

Posting a snapshot as a way of paying lip service to appreciation or pressing the like button as shorthand for expressing support for one undergoing great struggle lets us engage from the edges without taking the time to pray or to write a note the old fashioned way. It's easier that way.

It lets us get on with our day. 

We can feel informed but unencumbered. 

Now I've gone and done it here. 

In a culture awash with a preoccupation with each one's opinion, it's no surprise that the news stations and entertainment programs alike beckon, "Tweet us your thoughts, ""Vote for your favorite," "Tell us what you think." They are all trying to engage us, and the measure of engagement can be quantified immediately. It means big dollars.

And in the process it raised the ante on our opinion.


Many hold their opinion as highest authority; It matters little what shaped that opinion or whether critical thinking ever came into play. Whether one likes a thing or not is all that matters. But I digress.


On another note, I have been slow in posting and writing lately, not for lack of inspiration, but for lack of pensive time to actually get it down in writing. My mind and heart have been richly filled with challenges and jobs to do, with people to serve and blessings to enjoy. But the heart of a writer, even a late-born one who only writes to capture a thought and preserve it for herself, wants to write. The words will come again. There is so much to share.

So the apology over a sunset was the prompt today. And now a thought expressed in October 2011:

Let us never lose the sense of wonder at God's handiwork. When such a magnificent sight no longer gets our attention, we've gotten too preoccupied with ourselves. How many have I missed? More than I can say. But I am thankful for the time to turn aside and savor this one.

So Moses said, "I must turn aside now and see this marvelous sight, why the bush is not burned up." Exodus 3:3

Take the time to turn aside and see what great sights we might be missing.

Expressing appreciation anyway we do it is not overdone. And be generous with warm hugs while we're at it. We don't know what we have until it is gone.

Aslan is on the Move

“Aslan is a lion--the Lion, the great Lion." 

"Ooh" said Susan. "I'd thought he was a man. Is he-quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion"...

"Safe?" said Mr. Beaver ..."Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.”

― C.S. Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe

 C.S. Lewis is both poet and apologist: He is profoundly shaped by imagination and grounded in faith and rational argument. And he, like Aslan, is on the move in a sense into the South Transept of Westminster Abbey later this month.

Oxford novelist, literary critic, and apologist C.S. Lewis died 50  years ago, and his writings resound through the decades to teach and to encourage. Lewis believed that knowledge itself was fundamentally poetic— meaning shaped by the imagination. His was a creative genius using illustrations painted with words to communicate philosophy and truth. His approach to commending and defending the Christian faith still lights the way for us today. 

 

 "Every year you grow you will find me bigger." Aslan

 Aslan, the lion of Narnia, is often said to be 'on the move' as he communicates powerfully a story of divine seeking and provision.  Lewis's series The Chronicles of Narnia has entertained and educated people of all ages. If one would understand a great truth, distil it to its essence and tell it to a child.

His great strength, many say, was his ability to present Christianity both rationally and imaginatively. His rational approach is seen in The Abolition of Man, Miracles, and Mere Christianity. Those who are say they open-minded, if they truly are, will make room for considering the case for faith Lewis makes by reading carefully these works.  

Surprised by Joy contains more about the atheistic and agnostic viewpoint which he had proudly held as truth before he became a believer in Jesus as the son of God--quite a leap, but not at all an emotional experience as many characterize it today.

“Emotional” is perhaps the last word we can apply to some of the most important events. It was more like when a man, after a long sleep, still lying motionless in bed, becomes aware that he is now awake.”
― C.S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy

 “In reading Chesterton, as in reading MacDonald, I did not know what I was letting myself in for. A young man who wishes to remain a sound Atheist cannot be too careful of his reading. There are traps everywhere — "Bibles laid open, millions of surprises," as Herbert says, "fine nets and stratagems." God is, if I may say it, very unscrupulous.”
― C.S. Lewis, Surprised by Joy

 
Some of his works are non-theological and are devoted to his scholarly probing of the meaning of words and instructions on careful crafting of literature, as in The Allegory of Love.

Two powerful works that plumb the depth of despair that is an essential part of the human experience are The Problem of Pain and A Grief Observed, written twenty years later.

A Grief Observed is his reflection on the process of grieving for his wife who died of cancer after three years of marriage. His journal entries throughout the months following her death honestly describe his anger and bewilderment at God, his observations of his impressions of life without his beloved Joy, or H (for Helen) as he refers to her, and his process of moving in and out of stages of grieving and remembering her. His growth through pain,  his redefinition of his own characterization of God, and his ability to live gratefully for the gift of a rare true love, ring clearly in this work. This work was troubling for some because the intensity of his grief and profound loss caused him to question what he understood about God.

He is not alone. I believe that such a place of questioning comes to most of us: that time when we reckon with the veracity of that which we always thought to be true. 

There comes a time when we need to know what is bedrock and what is a merely a lovely platitude, but will no longer support the weight of a grief-stricken soul.

What is real, and what is shifting sand or a pacifying illusion? 

The death of illusion is not without value. That which is real can clearly be seen when that which was only illusion falls away, crumbled. If we are seeking the revealing of truth, much that is false must fall away.

The faith we hold and that Lewis recounts will withstand the strictest scrutiny, the closest inspection. What we believe matters. Our 'picture of God' underpinning our beliefs is flawed when we apply to it a saccharine coating--sweet but of no nutritive value--or when our cultural understanding shapes God in our own image.

Those who struggle with the claims of Christ but remain open-minded have pursued Lewis's writings, as well as those of G.K. Chesterton from the former days, and contemporary authors Maxie Dunnam, Ravi Zacharias and Tim Keller among others who embrace varying points of view in their professing Christ. Each of these has helped shape my understanding.

A memorial to Lewis will be unveiled in Poets Corner in the  South Transept of Westminster Abbey on November 22, 2013, honoring his place in history and memorializing his scholarly  contributions. It is fitting that the public announcement of this event says, "all are welcome to attend."

All are welcome indeed: that is what this search for life and faith and meaning is all about. All are invited to have a seat at the table, a place at the feast. The invitation from the Lord God to each of us is not based upon erudition, nobility, education, perfection, goodness, generosity or any measure or condition other than the contrite heart that can answer 'yes'.

 

 Happy Birthday, C.S. Lewis. And thank you.

 

 

Official announcement follows:

C S Lewis Symposium and Commemoration

Thursday 21st and Friday 22nd November 2013
St Margaret’s Church and Westminster Abbey

On the fiftieth anniversary of the death of C S Lewis, Westminster Abbey Institute hosts a series of events marking his career as one of the 20th century's most notable Christian writers and thinkers. As well as celebrating Lewis's remarkable achievements as a writer of fiction, apologetics and scholarship, the series will look at the question of how, in the 21st century, his example may be emulated and his legacy continued.
On Thursday 21st November, Alister McGrath and Malcolm Guite will deliver lectures examining Lewis's philosophical and fictional approaches to communicating the Christian faith.  Michael Ward will chair a panel discussing the strengths and weaknesses of Lewis's various endeavours and taking questions from the conferees. On the panel with be novelist Jeanette Sears, theologian Judith Wolfe, and apologists William Lane Craig, Peter S. Williams, and Michael Ramsden.

We Can't Stop This...

The door opened, and it was as though the curtain parted.

I thought she might be the one, but there was whisper of doubt.

I had not actually met her, you understand; I had only been one of thousands who had prayed for her over a long period of time when she was hanging precariously between life and death. Life lived from a distance creates that cushion that sometimes prevents our bridging a four-year gap. But still....there was an unsettling familiarity when she walked into the store where I worked today.

Something in the way she moves...

I am drawing closer, inexplicably. I step into her space and ask gently, Are you Nicole?

This healthy brunette with deep brown eyes speaks back to me, Yes. Her strong body today stands juxtaposed to the fragile one I had imagined during Nicole Marquez's journey back to the land of the living. Flashbacks to her mother's faithful entries flooded my memory as I remembered Susan Marquez's story of her daughter's most difficult performance yet on the stage of  New York Presbyterian Hospital.

Day after day. Week after grueling week. Then month after month... We have no idea what it was like to live it; I only observed from a distance, never as her parents.

I am especially mindful of similar struggles as we enter into the waiting, suffering and praying with others who are recovering from brain surgery and fighting back cancer among our close friends. To have compassion is to enter into suffering, and nothing parts the curtains like prayer. Prayer exposes suffering. 

Once exposed and made aware, we have a choice to make: Do we have empathy enough to take on another's burdens,  or do we merely stay informed about their status? Is it all about our convenience or about the others' needs? Compassion enables us to experience a portion of the shared burden when we willingly embrace the journey with another. Compassion is a mystery in the making.

I only wrote. I commented. I prayed. I hugged Larry. But I never met Nicole. I was merely a bystander, one of the masses, and I'm not proud of that as I realize that Nicole is standing with me today.

But there she is before me, and I know: I am in the presence of a miracle! A walking, dancing, speaking miracle of determination, guts and Grace of God.

My children know that I've always wanted to be a dancer. But today the real dancer entered stage right and let me rejoice in her spectacular role in this chapter of Nicole's life. It may not be the life she thought she prepared for, but it is the life she is fully prepared to live. Nicole is still bearing witness to the truth of her original rallying cry: You can't stop this dancer!

The day ends with thanksgiving for healing mercies for Nicole and for others among us for whom we pray faithfully. Let us not be too busy to share what we have, for the Lord God will multiply whatever we offer making it sufficient. I believe it. Our limited resources--time, money, talent--invested in God's economy produce an incalculable yield. There's no stopping it!

Thanks be to God.

Cruelty and selfishness in one painful act...

Recently I wrote about Rich Dixon who hand-cranked his bike from the headwaters of the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico, riding from Minnesota south on a lifetime journey to chronicle his story and to raise money for charity. Rich is the cousin of my friend, Rachel Kabukala, and a gifted, impassioned speaker. He dreams big dreams, and I was impressed in his wake as he pulled out of town.

He is also paralyzed after an injury left Rich unable to walk. But Rich's companions, his precious wife and trusted dog, Monty, are helping make his steps through life more than amazing.

Now, in a testament to the innate selfishness bound up in the hearts of humans, I see an update to his story.   Please pray for Rich. And maybe for the person who thought it funny to steal his bike and leave him an utterly worthless piece of junk in its place. I am saddened to hear the news found here this morning.

Let us approach the throne of grace with confidence so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in our time of need.  Hebrews 4:16


UPDATE: May 4, 2012 The Fort Collins, Colorado Police delivered the located bike to Rich - with great rejoicing from friends and concerned onlookers. The investigating on ongoing, so there is no comment yet, but I am so pleased to give a happy ending to this story in time for his planned journey this month.

Of Capes and Mantles

What is it about capes that fascinates boys and girls? We know how they love to drape themselves in a towel or sheet, and suddenly they become taller...braver....and boldly step into the persona of Superman or current superhero complete with sound effects? I witnessed it just this week with trick-or-treaters appearing at the front door.

I recall my cousin Clay's six-year old birthday party offered a garage filled with a dozen boys decked out in superman capes, exhibiting all their superpowers in the simple red capes his momma had zipped out on her machine. Etched in my memory, this scene is unforgettable in its simplicity and endures through the decades as I have watched the heart of his momma weave as a shuttle in the lives of her three sons, all grown, Godly men now with children of their own. There is something about that mantle that, when donned, gives them the confidence to step out as somebody other than who they are at the time. Imagination is invigorating! We can help children see beyond the limitations they face, or appear to face, each day.

I am suggesting that we give them an invisible mantle--one that doesn't come untied and will grow as they age-- an amazing mantle! Where do you get a cape like that? You can make it yourself, no sewing machine needed. I believe the daily prayers of a momma for her child availeth much, an old fashioned way of saying they are effective to provide clothing for the heart, growing soul and expanding mind of a boy or girl whose needs we cannot fully know, though we think we know them inside and out. There is, however, One whose Presence will serve as a shield and buckler, as a sure defense and strong tower--One whom they can learn to trust in time as much as a young child trusts the heart of his momma. Fathers and grandparents as well are capemakers to the little ones in our lives, daily bestowing the mantle that will clothe the interior life of a child.

We keep praying for God's shaping of the frame, God's instilling of dreams and desires, God's bringing to bear fruit in its season. It's not about us, though it is a steep challenge to extricate our identity from our children in this performance-driven society. It is also not about perfection, but you've probably already let that one go. It is the task of a lifetime, if you ask me. It will take everything you have to give. Praying for and with them models a life dependent on God to supply our deepest needs. I'm still doing it, even as I am delighting in a man-son who is grown and bearing witness in his own faith journey and see our daughters likewise living into their pursuit of God's call in their lives. God is faithful even though we are not.

Wow. This began as an early morning email to some young mothers I meet with weekly, but I thought it suitable to share with others. God works like that sometimes--stops us in our tracks while we were busy doing other things and brings to mind a new thing. I hope you find beauty in a new thing today!


(image credit: capes pictured are made by Erin of http://inevergrewup.net/birthday-bash-giveaway-15-cape/)

Dream Big Dreams

Have you ever had an idea to do something that was so implausible and success was so unlikely that the seed of the dream withered before you allowed its tendril of a root to burrow into the soil of your life? We have a way of suffocating God-size dreams, of snuffing out the life they might offer us because of our fears and insecurities. I met a man yesterday who is living into a dream bigger than he ever imagined. His example inspires and encourages me, and I must share his story.

A beautiful couple and their beloved service dog, Monte, are on an amazing ride. Rich Dixon is hand-cycling all the way from the headwaters of the Mississippi River in Minnesota on a 1,500 mile journey which recently took them through the lobby of the Peabody Hotel in Memphis and on through some Mississippi small towns before they arrived in Jackson. His story is too big to contain in my little blog, but his message is too powerful not to share here. Please see Rich's Ride to discover how a man who could not roll his chair ten feet down a hall tackles a journey such as this one!

His beautiful wife, Becky, is a part of this as well, and--though we only spoke for a morning--I can tell she exudes joy from a Source deep within. I will be reading Rich's story of God's Relentless Grace and hope you'll check on this book, which is not about Rich so much as it is a witness to faith in God who will not let us go.

Anyone who has ever had a deep loss or may ever face a deep loss (that about covers most of us) will benefit from Rich's journey of discovery that HOPE is an expectation rooted in faith.

Hope like this is not anemic wishing. Real hope is grounded in God's provision for us - providing presence, perseverance, and prompting dreams that spring up when we least expect them.

Forget the former things;
do not dwell on the past.
See, I am doing a new thing!
Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?
I am making a way in the wilderness
and streams in the wasteland (Isaiah 43:18,19).

I am only an amateur when it comes to dreaming dreams as I compare myself to Rich's life, but that is but one of the dangers of comparison: we can cower before the example of someone better/bigger/bolder and let fear of failure snuff out the flame of desire to do something. Sometimes the biggest step is the first--for Rich, the first ten feet were the hardest--and so we encourage one another to step out in faith and take that step . Let us strap on our walking shoes for the day and see what this day holds, emboldened by the example of someone whose life encourages us to do the same.

Living in the Real World

"Real spirituality dawns when our life with God becomes as real as the problems and joys we experience each day. Until then we live in two different worlds: one, a seemingly real, practical and demanding world; the other, a wistful, so-called 'spiritual' world... This separation cannot remain if all our life is to be filled with real meaning."

~ from Everyday Simplicity by Robert J.Wicks



Photo of sunrise over Mississippi dove field, September 2011

Dancing in the Field

Gratitude is contagious.

Like a benevolent airborne pathogen, it spreads from one person to another, changing hearts and filling empty spaces. I continue to discover its capacity to change our attitudes and re-frame our circumstances.

Gratitude is a sleeper in our culture. We do not know its power.

Practicing the art of noticing--the first step in learning to give thanks in all things--can be tough for busy folks in the fast lane.

Look others in the eye.

Listen.

Be fully present in the moment.

Take a moment to give thanks.

Shared experiences of gratitude fuel one person's day and then overflow into the lives of others. Such was the case with Kelly's beautiful call to savor the moment published this week. I have heard from so many of you about the impact of her words in your lives.

Hear this snippet from a wise and busy mother who, after reading Kelly's post, shared her moment with me:

It completely changed my attitude as I lived the day. And, because of that shift, [my little boy] and I shared a very special moment - one that I NEVER want to forget. It was something that he said to me - AND I STOPPED being busy and I LISTENED!! He said - "Mommy, watch me dance!"

And, I did and then we danced together!

Isn't that what we tell our children - dance! And then when they do, we are too busy to dance with them!?!

I say wise, because she knows all too well that the days of dancing in the field are numbered.
She will never regret taking a moment to make a memory.

I had the chance to make a memory with my grown girls this summer, and we still find delight in playful antics. One is pictured above dancing in a dreamy children's garden on the stepping stones etched, "Merrily...merrily...merrily...merrily...Life...is...but...a...dream."

Offering bright moments in someone's life need not be expensive or time-consuming. Giving thanks for a simple act fits in any budget. And noticing is the first step.

I believe as we live lives of gratitude, we will live with fewer regrets. It's just a hunch, mind you, but I'm willing to bet the farm on it.

Go make a moment or find one somewhere today, and pass it on. Catch a good case of gratitude!

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. Psalm 136:1 ESV

I do not cease to give thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. Ephesians 1:16 ESV

And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. Colossians 3:15 ESV

Seeing the Sacred in the Everyday

John "No Man is an Island" Donne

Seeing the sacred in the everyday calls for a new way of seeing for some of us.

A cursory glance will not suffice. Beating a path through one's to-do list in record time leaves little room for noticing our surroundings. When we live rushed, frantic lives, we miss too much.

In 1622, John Donne reflected on the miraculous in the everyday. Donne said that if the mundane occurrences all around us were rare, we'd be astonished.

If it were unique, we'd behold it with wonder! Think about that possibility.

The sky darkens with rolling clouds, thunder cracks the air, rain arrives, driving downward from the sky, and passes. A rainbow appears in the East. We pause a moment to catch a glimpse of it, then go about our business. We've seen rainbows before. If this sequence were done but once -- or even every 100 years -- we would stare in awe and wonder. We would try desperately to capture it and record it for others for they would otherwise find it incredulous.

But, it's just another spring rain. And so we move on without noticing.

How many times do we do this? The sun rises and sets each day. Glorious colors fill the sky, and we fail to lift our eyes. It's just another day.

Some will protest that our lives would grind to a halt if we beheld the wonder in the natural world, the miraculous in the everyday. I think not. Rather, I believe our lives would be greatly enhanced by a new awareness of all that we fail to notice when we move through life on autopilot. Our senses would be heightened and our hearts attuned to subtleties only perceived by those who choose to look carefully.

It takes no more time to live with an eye for wonder, but it does take desire. And living into our heart's desire infuses our time with intensity and meaning. I thought about the simple acts of nature that rolled into today's welcome summer rain, and gave thanks.

John Donne, 1572-1631, Jacobean metaphysical writer of songs, poems, sermons and translations.

Ready for a Fresh Start?

Overheard at the bank this afternoon: "...I'm just gonna have to start boilin' an' bakin'!"

The teller chimed in enthusiastically to agree with her customer who had lost some obvious poundage by taking matters into her own hands and changing her eating habits.

"I got tired of being hot and tired," the customer declared, "and I decided to do something about it." She needed a fresh start.

I thought about her as I left. Boilin' an' bakin echoed in my ears as I walked. She sat on the cusp of giving up fried foods and eating more fresh veggies, as she continued within earshot, and wisely knew something would have to take up the space and fill the vacuum of her old habits.

Something always does.

How many of us wish things were different? Wish we were different?

That we were healthier. Thinner. More secure.

Had a loving family.

A great job - or any job.

Had a home.

Had compliant children. Had any children.

Had a different skill set or coping mechanism for life's ups and downs.

When we contemplate all the things we collectively wish for, we see our longings represented all along a spectrum of life. The dream of one person fills the discard pile of another, who wishes for MORE.

Wishing it doesn't make it so.

On the other hand, to meditate on a thing...to prayerfully commit...to ponder and seek wise counsel, and step by step to act in regard to a possible new position--this gives wings to a new plan. The new plan may take root after its genesis.

Such a new start animates the drive within us which can propel us to action.

We will have many false starts along the way when we fail to follow through with our best intentions. Learn from them. Our mistakes and failures are probably more instructive than our successes. They, too, are part of the rhythm of life. But we are not tethered to the mirey pit feeling defeated and unable to budge.

One day we will cross over to the place where we are tired of being hot and tired about a pertinent issue. We will choose to do something. And it may start with a little help from our friends.

Some things we can change with courage and hard work. Other things, we learn to let go and pray for contentment to fill the void. That, too, is the task of a lifetime. But we must begin somewhere.

We may not need to start boilin' or bakin', but we may need another commitment to a lifestyle change for our good health--spiritually or physically. What is it that holds us back with invisible shackles?

Come to Jehovah Rapha, the God Who Heals, the One who loves us as we are--hot and tired!--and lovingly prepares for us a way when we cannot see clearly a path for ourselves.

Soul Stirrings

They took away what should have been my eyes

(But I remembered Milton's Paradise).

They took away what should have been my ears,

(Beethoven came and wiped away my tears).

They took away what should have been my tongue,

(But I had talked with God when I was young).

He would not let them take away my soul -

Possessing that, I still possess the whole.

-Helen Keller

Helen Keller writes of losing her sight and hearing, using the phrase "they took away." Such an immense loss at only 19 months of age must have been utterly confusing for little Helen and her parents. She spent the next four years blind, deaf, and unable to speak and was said to be half-wild. Can we imagine the trauma this family experienced? There were no social supports or schools in the late 1880's to offer help for them.

But a miracle worker emerged who relentlessly and passionately gave herself to the child, defying all odds, to teach language and communication to Helen through her fingertips. The breakthrough moment arrived with the pumping of w-a-t-e-r splashing onto Helen Keller's outstretched hand. Anne Sullivan stayed with her through childhood, adolescence, even through college at Radcliffe where Helen graduated cum laude in 1904, with Anne interpreting all lectures and class discussions.

Helen later traveled the world lecturing in 25 countries and bringing hope to millions of blind and deaf people. Though we may marvel that one person could do so much, we quickly remember that it was not one, but at least two -- two passionate, dedicated people who would not let 'no' be an obstacle.

Upon re-reading her lines above days later, I am struck by something new that was not apparent initially. She refers to her lost senses not as "my sight" or "my speech", but as "what should have been my sight..." Do we catch the difference? For all appearances, she had lost each one, but her declaration is that in entrusting her soul to God, she still possessed the whole. The essence of Helen Keller was intact. How beautiful.

We may have the sense of sight and be able to hear ambient sound, yet many of us are still living in darkness. We see, but have no vision. We hear, but do not listen. We tune out a call for self-denial and resist the whisper of a still, small voice.

May we consider the weight of this strong Southern woman's words over 100 years later as a point for thought when we are tempted to complain of all that we do not have. May we remember that there is unbridled beauty in even the most bleak circumstance if we look beyond our limitations. And how do we define our limitations? How do we set the boundary of what we cannot do? What would we do if we were not afraid of failing?

Let us not have our limitations define us. What a reminder her words present in a human example: think back to what we know first! If Helen Keller can find joy and power and inspiration and vision summed up in her brief words above, surely we can take courage and face our day with renewed grace and power from God's Presence.

Sometimes those who do not have a crisis looming or a huge, identifiable loss are the very ones living in the darkness.

We can become so acclimated to low-light conditions and low-level living that we are unaware that we move through our days with self-imposed limitations and unexamined minds. May light and truth penetrate our hearts as God 'draws in our palms' the message of unconditional love....of living w-a-t-e-r...and awakens our souls to live with the mighty power God provides.

Shared bounty

Love grows when shared.

It's almost time to cut back roses and remove the dried, stalky remnants of white mop-headed hydrangeas that litter our yard in February. Today's sunshine beckons but I'll not answer the call just yet; I can find much to do indoors. But just seeing the beautiful colors above reminds me that spring is not far away.

Mary Jane Henley, a dear lady and beloved grandmother of Mary Jane Davis Meyer, shared these delicate roses and wire fern from her yard with me in the fall. She also brought the luscious guava - an unusual fruit I had only known in a Barbara Streisand song decades ago - that she uses to make guava jelly. Her graciousness in giving in many ways touches the lives of anyone in her path. It is her roses that I am smelling today, even if only in a photo.

We stop and smell the roses anytime we pay attention to beauty...or we pause and take delight in our blessings...or we choose to look at something with a fresh appreciation for its value. I think it is a wise way to live.

Let us not run slipshod through life, content with hitting the high points as though we are skimming some required reading just before class, expecting we'll have time to get it right later. This is the real thing! This day is its own, never to come again. We KNOW that, but we rarely live its truth.

Except for a precious woman named Sarah. She gets it. Sarah knows the value of a day....of 'each second of my life' as she speaks into her laptop recording her blog note, sarahchidgey.blogspot.com/2011/02/252011.html. Sarah's sense of urgency in appreciating the day that is hers stimulates my own desire to make the most of the time we have.

When Sarah leaves M.D. Anderson hospital tomorrow, she will go 'home' to a home that is not familiar to her. She will move into Bennett and Sam's first floor home because she can no longer climb the stairs to her own. She and her husband, Eric, will begin a new chapter in their sixth month of marriage in a borrowed home with loving friends, Dustin and Elizabeth, who are helping to care for them. She displays great courage and faithfulness in her young life. I stand amazed. This is the body of Christ in action.

So maybe that welcome sunshine outside is calling my name after all on this Sunday afternoon, even if just for a brief walk. It has been icy and dreary and cold for so long. Sarah would walk in it if she could and not think twice. But she can no longer walk.

What am I waiting for? I'm taking my own advice....

Do something to savor this day. And pray for Sarah.

Fresh Insights

A foolish consistency
is the hobgoblin of little minds....

Ralph Waldo Emerson 1803-1882



Genius, in truth, means little more than the faculty of perceiving in an un-habitual way.

William James 1842-1910

Habits are hard to break. We can become addicted to our own habits and patterns, making them rituals in our day. There is both comfort and confinement in this routine. Emerson's excerpt from Self-Reliance mentions a foolish consistency. Note, he did not discourage consistency, only that which is unexamined.

Take a fresh look at what we do day to day that becomes the cumulative expression of our priorities and convictions. Let us examine our habits to see if our actions align with what we say we value and hold dear. If there is 'foolishness' there - unhealthy patterns and things that do not add to the quality of our relationships or support the needs of ourselves or others - then make a change.

Consistency is sorely needed in child-rearing, in communicating love and respect, and in maintaining healthy relationships, but that consistency is best fueled by wisdom. To be able to change course as needed and to alter our behavior and habits is not whimsical or ephemeral, but necessary as we respond to a changing landscape which is the terrain of our lives.

Be willing to be misunderstood by others, to be different and swim against the flow. A slavish adherence to popular culture and opinion binds the mind and heart. A heart and mind constricted results in small thinking. Be open to fresh insights in the day. God can touch us in the most unexpected moments when we are open to a fresh brush with the Spirit.

The Night Watch

Sometimes our best thoughts and most creative ideas come in the wee hours.

When we commit the day and the night to experiencing the Presence of God, we need not be surprised that we have breakthrough moments of spiritual inspiration when we least expect it. God is not bound by time or space nor limited by our clock. Psalm 63:6 has been a favorite: "On my bed I remember You; I think of You through the watching of the night."

I have been awakened with a gentle breath and eased into a thought of some new way to approach an issue I had been praying about. Such an episode years ago prompted me to keep a pen handy bedside so that when awakened with something on my mind, I could write it down and not fight sleep trying to remember. This process has brought peaceful sleep and helps whether the thoughts that come to mind appear as 'to do' reminders or offer a more striking brush with the Spirit.

When we diligently seek wisdom and discernment, we should not be surprised to find answers along the way. Allow the Spirit to teach us throughout the day and into the night. Writing reminds me of God's faithfulness in ways big and small. Thank you for joining me on the journey!

"In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for You alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety." Psalm 4:8