“We may find ourselves drawn to creative expression because it taps into what is most vital and alive in us. This burning in our blood seeks expression in the world, whether through art, song, cooking, gardening, our work, relationships, or in our presence to others. Becoming fire means saying yes to life by the very way we live.”
— Christine Valters Paintner, PhD Water, Wind, Earth, & Fire: The Practice of Praying with the Elements
Heartbreaking and true… these are God’s children… they must not remain invisible to us!
Thrown Away
As we were talking to some of our homeless friends on the street yesterday I saw a young man shivering and walking down the middle of the street. He has the name of an archangel.
“I have some coats, gloves and beanies. Do you need anything?”
“Yeah, I’ll take anything. I just got here.”
“Where are you going?” I ask after we outfit him with some warmer clothes.
“I’m going to the hills,” he says.
“It’s still freezing at night. Do you have a sleeping bag or blanket?” I ask.
“No, I have nothing,” he says.
We direct him toward a place that gives out sleeping bags. I hand him my last backpack with some food, water, gloves, and beanie. He puts on two coats.
His eyes are unfocused and seem in shock. We say goodbye.
Later I…
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The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
Thank you Lord, for the beauty of this Lord’s day
For wonderful worship and fellowship
For time to study and prepare for officer training
For time to simply be with my sweetheart
For time spent enjoying music and friendship
For all of these gifts, I thank you, Lord
Now, as my eyelids grow heavy
I lift this humble prayer to you
Dona Nobis Pacem
Grant Us Peace
A wee prayer from the heart of your Padre…
Wise words from Ronnie!
“WIWAK” is an anagram for, “When I Was A Kid.” I’ve discovered that one repeats it with even greater frequency as one grows older. Prefacing a comment with “WIWAK,” serves a two-fold purpose: It challenges the foolishness of the current age (Surely, we were never as empty-headed as today’s youth). And second, it makes old-timers nostalgic, reminiscing over days gone by (Note: I do not include myself as an “old-timer;” I continue to relish my mid-life status).
Still, “WIWAK,” life did indeed seem simpler. I could leave on my single-speed bicycle on a summer day and roam for miles unimpeded, so long as I got home before the front porch light was flipped on at dusk. No phones. No texts. No check-ins.
“WIWAK,” there were no rubber pellets lining the playground for our safety. If you fell, it hurt. You “rubbed some dirt on it” and carried on. “WIWAK,” we…
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A poignant reflection, Shirley ❣️
My older brother and I were in our teens when we decided to explore the shoreline in an area we were not familiar with. Our fishing jaunt was not going well and the forested land intrigued us. Our search uncovered an old cemetery overgrown with weeds. We were fascinated as we looked through the tombstones, all but forgotten in this out-of-the-way place. The problem was, we were so engrossed in our exploring that we didn’t notice clouds rolling in. A sharp clap of thunder told us we needed to hurry back.
By then, the storm was coming quickly. We had almost three miles of lake to cover and nowhere to stop. After attempting to outrace the storm, we realized about two-thirds of the way home we needed to find some shelter quickly. Wind and rain picked up, lightning flashed, thunder boomed. We knew enough to get out…
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The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
At the end of a long, yet fruitful day
We were blessed by fellowship and wonderful music
Now, as our weary hearts and souls prepare for sleep
As our eyelids grow heavy
We lift this humble prayer to you
Dona Nobis Pacem
Grant Us Peace
A wee prayer from the heart of your Padre…
In the middle of Winter I often think of the trips we make up Old Fall River Road. It is a very special place to us and as the winter winds blow and snow closes the road in the park, I sometimes close my eyes and reflect on the beauty of that spot. That spot is indeed a blessing for us and a place of rest and refreshment.
I must say though, the reading from Jeremiah and Luke are far from restful and refreshing. If you find them to be restful and refreshing, I am afraid you may be missing something in translation. The two passages do indeed talk about blessings and rewards, but they also give us a warning that should be heeded.
Jeremiah warns us that to trust in our own selves is not necessarily a good thing. If we trust in our own “good” and our own “smarts”, we may find ourselves to be like a shrub in the desert. The first sign of drought and we will be shriveled up. But if we trust in God, even thought we may be in the desert, we will find sustenance and hope. Jeremiah’s commentary almost echoes the challenge of Joshua. Choose this day whom you will serve…
How often I have found myself to be in a situation where I am overconfident and, to a degree, arrogant about my situation. God has blessed me and it is all mine! Then, at the first sign of “trouble”, I moan and groan at how God has “abandoned” me!
Jesus took a slightly different approach when he addressed wants and needs and blessings. When he said that the poor, hungry, weeping, mourning, and despised were blessed, I don’t believe they were blessed because of their suffering. Jesus said that they were blessed in spite of their suffering! They are blessed for they shall receive their reward “in heaven.” However, is that what he really meant?
If you look back, Jesus has healed the sick, cast out demons, and shared his healing and blessing with those who were considered outsiders and unclean. I think he was telling them that despite their status as outsiders and rejects, God has not abandoned them. Yes, society may have ditched them, but God hadn’t ditched them. I think that despite society looking down its nose at them, God never looked down on them. Their blessing is the fact that God has not abandoned them. Even though society had abandoned them, God had not.
The flip side is that those who had been “blessed” according to the world’s standards weren’t necessarily blessed. Perhaps they figured that they had earned their blessings. Perhaps they had forgotten where those blessings had come from. In the end, if they were too busy congratulating themselves on a job well done and hoarding all of their treasure, they were missing out on a call from God.
In Luke 12:48, we read the following: “…Much will be demanded from everyone who has been given much, and from the one who has been entrusted with much, even more will be asked.” The gifts and the blessings they had were to be shared, not hoarded.
So, in the end, I have to consider both those who have nothing and those who have much. God has always been on the side of the oppressed and the downtrodden. Yet, God has also been on the side of the more fortunate. Bottom line? God is on the side of all God’s children. The point is, how do we, as God’s children, treat each other?
How do we share the blessings we have? How do we treat our Sisters and Brothers, created as we are, in the image of God? It is in loving God and loving neighbor that we will truly find the blessings.
Growing up I remember reading A. A. Milne’s books, Winnie the Pooh and House at Pooh Corner. Pooh was first introduced to me by my Canadian Mother and the books I read were hers when she was a little girl in Vancouver, British Columbia.
I next remember Pooh when we were raising my son Alec. Instead of the books, we watched the Disney Videos. When I was stationed in England from 1994-1997, Alec and I got to play “Pooh Sticks” in the real 100 Acre Woods (The Real 100 Acre Woods) in Ashdown Forest in East Sussex. One of my favorite tea mugs came from a shop in the 100 Acre Woods.
When the movie, Christopher Robin, came out last year, we went to see it in Boulder. I admit that my eyes were red and hardly dry when the lights came up after the closing credits. Watching the grown up Christopher Robin as a survivor of World War 1 (A. A. Milne served in Europe during that War) with PTSD and an overwhelming sense of having to be grown up from a very early age made my heart ache.
The relationship with his wife and daughter as he tried to be “the provider” for his family despite the emptiness in his own soul was heart wrenching. When he meets Pooh again, the struggle to remember his childhood friend and reconcile who he was and who Pooh was is poignant.
As I laughed and wept through the movie, I realized that this is a lesson for all of us. When we leave our childhood behind, somehow we leave behind our innocence and brighter outlook on life. But we don’t have to leave it behind. We can, instead, integrate it into who we become as adults.
As an adult, I realize that Pooh and Piglet and the rest of the gang in the 100 Acre Woods are still my friends and they are still teaching me if I only take the opportunity to listen.
Will we be friends forever? Silly Old Bear, of course we will! And you will continue to teach me much about life.
The sun has set and the Vesper Lights flicker and glow
It has been a long day of planning and preparation
It has also been a long day of traveling
Yet in the midst of it all, so many blessings
The blessing of friends and family
The blessing of meeting new people
The blessing of seeing the fruits of our labors
The blessing of love and laughter
For all of these blessings, I thank you, Lord
In your mercy, hear this humble prayer
Dona Nobis Pacem
Grant Us Peace
A wee prayer from the heart of your Padre…
