Thanks

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This morning for breakfast I ate a toasted cheese, bacon, and tomato sandwich.

We drive for about 30 minutes, one way, to buy these tomatoes from a Hispanic family with a vegetable stand by the side of the road. Without doubt, they are the best tomatoes I have ever eaten. Once we bought their zucchini that came with advice for how to cook it on the grill. It was the first time my husband ever liked zucchini.

So this morning, with breakfast, I gave thanks for the Hispanic family with a vegetable stand by the side of the road.

What do you give thanks for today?

Patience

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With my increased leisure time, I am working wooden puzzles. Amazing, artistic puzzles with unique pieces that go together in delightful ways. A puzzle takes hours to work as I sit, look, and allow a silent, relaxed part of my brain to work.

It occurs to me that in labs throughout the world, scientists are working to find a vaccine and cure for Covid-19. They are putting the puzzle pieces together, slowly.

While we wait, let us together give thanks for our scientists and pray for their success.

What are you giving thanks for?

Truth Sets Us Free

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Recently I read about the Tulsa Massacre in 1921. Although I grew up in Oklahoma, I was unaware of this carnage of African-American citizens and businesses that wiped out an entire thriving community. My first response was horror and revulsion.

This morning I read about the largest slave auction in the U.S., held in Georgia in 1859—an auction in which 429 men, women, and children were sold. Each of their names was listed.

I’m moving through a range of emotions. I’ve passed through shame that kept me trapped in unknowing, and now I’m willing to see the whole truth. This is a necessary part of healing. Our nation simply has to do this.

Truth sets us free.

The Power of Love

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Each of us is a vibrational field, surrounded by other vibrational fields. What we feel affects these fields.We sense when others are uneasy—when they are truthful—when they are loving. Others sense us, as well. Truth and love have more power than falsity.

The challenge is to be true and to love, even in the face of lies and hatred.

You write it: When have you been changed through the power of love coming from someone else?

Accepting the Things I Cannot Change

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This weekend tourists came back to Sedona in droves without masks.

What this means to me is stay home. Wait for them to leave. Take precautions when I do go out again. Be patient. This, too, shall pass.

When things I don’t like happen, I have choices. I can write a letter to the editor or post a rant on Next Door or call someone to complain. But honestly, I’m tired of reactivity.

So I choose to be grateful that, for our merchants, business has picked up. Then I do what is needed to take care of myself.

Many years ago I learned that what I focus on gets stronger. I choose peace.

You write it: What’s your experience with accepting the things you cannot change?

A Parable

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A passage from The Gospel of Mary Magdalene by Jean-Yves Leloup, p. 69:

A woman was looking for her lost jewels in the village square. The other villagers wished her well and were trying to help her find this treasure in the area in and around the square. They had been searching fruitlessly for some time, when someone asked her: “But exactly where did you lose this treasure?”

“I lost it in my home,” the woman answered.

“But are you crazy? If you lost it in your home, why are you having us help you search out here in the square?”

“And you, my friend,” she replied, “is this not what you are always doing, searching for your treasure in the streets, in the square, when it is really in your own home that you lost what you most want? Don’t you go everywhere in vain search of peace and happiness, your greatest treasure, which you have lost in your own home? In your own heart—that is where you must search. It is there that your treasure has always been waiting to be found.”

You write it: During this time of more time at home, what are you finding to be true for you?

Let Life Be Life

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I often sit on our patio in the morning, watching and listening to the birds and enjoying the amazing scenery. This morning I noticed the loud “caw caw caw” of a raven across the golf course, diving at a juniper tree. Obviously, there was a nest in the tree, probably full of eggs because that’s what ravens love to eat.

In a moment, there were three ravens. Then five. Finally I counted ten, all cawing and diving at the top of that tree. After trying unsuccessfully to steal those eggs, finally the ravens started to disperse, one at a time, until there were none. Not one was able to steal an egg.

I chuckled as I thought about the little birds who built such a safe, secure nest. Ravens three times their size and outnumbering them five to one had not been able to dislodge the nest and steal the eggs.

The drama this morning brought to my mind these words I recently read: Let life be life.

I’m not angry with the ravens; they were doing what ravens do. I don’t pity the smaller birds because they were doing very well. I am writing on my heart, “Let life be life.”

What does “Let life be life” mean to you?

What's Right for Me?

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When I was growing up, Mother used to say, “Just because someone else is doing it, doesn’t make it right for you.”

Now I know that peer pressure isn’t just a teenage phenomenon. It never leaves. It just gets more subtle.

In these days of no contact with peers, I’ve been asking, “What’s right for me? When these days are over, what will I pick up again, and what will I let go?”

Recently I’ve had digestive issues, so I did an inventory of what my body needs and what it doesn’t tolerate well. I researched what works to alleviate my distress. I didn’t consider TV commercials or diet/exercise programs or foods that my husband likes. I simply asked, “What is my body telling me? What loving response am I ready to make?”

Yesterday I began making some adjustments, and I have a pathway going forward that’s right for me.

What’s your experience with peer pressure?

Flow

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Lately I’ve been working jigsaw puzzles. Wooden ones. The pieces of a wooden puzzle are interesting and fit together in unusual ways.

When I try to “figure out” what goes where in a wooden puzzle, it doesn’t work. But when I just sit back and look for awhile and be content not to know, eventually my hands start moving and some pieces fit together. It’s as if there’s another part of my brain that works on its own, without help from me.

Some people call this being “in flow.”

Flow is a delightful state to be in because it’s effortless. In these days, may you simply be content to flow in life.

Be Still

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Years ago I went through a 28-day program for every form of addiction. My drugs of choice were work and seeking other people’s approval. My roommate’s addictions were alcohol and drugs. She struggled with the discipline of this recovery program. Wherever she went was chaos.

Near the end of the program, she burst into our dorm room, frustrated. She had not been able to do a successful third step, which is “Made a decision to turn our will and our lives over to the care of God.” The way she put it was this, “They say I can’t leave until I find God.”

I was sitting on the little balcony off our room, gazing into the woods, listening to the birds, and wondering at the flowing stream. I didn’t know what to say to her, so I remained silent. There we sat, in silence.

After a bit, she straightened. “That’s it!” Then she turned to me and said, “Isn’t there something in the Bible about being still?” I said, “Be still, and know that I am God.” That was the aha moment that the directors of the program had been looking for in her.

I share this because our addictions are calling to us—our addictions to a bustling, frantic way of life. Our addiction to being with other people to distract us. Our addiction to work to give us a sense of worth. Our addiction to being able to have what we want when we want it.

These times are calling us to “Be still, and know that I am God.”

Slowing Down

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I give thanks that my family and friends are well. I pray for those who are not and those who minister to them. May they sense God’s presence and ease into grace.

As for me, when my calendar cleared, I slowed down. I’ve realized that nothing has to be done right now. My home is imperfectly clean, and that’s okay. What stopped for me is consumerism. Now, when I think I “need” something, I don’t order it. I think, “that will wait—or maybe I don’t really need it.” And, of course, I don’t “make a run to the store.” When I catch myself thinking, “What do I want to eat?” I shift to “What do we have?”

As these changes have happened, something within me found a place of greater peace.

How about you? What is changing for you?

Clearing

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Last night’s sky was so clear that I easily saw the Pleides and Orion’s Belt.

I know that at this moment, medical personnel are in harm’s way. Clerks are stocking grocery shelves. Truckers are barreling down highways and through neighborhoods to deliver what our lives need for sustenance. Financial advisors and business owners are absorbing stress. For all these, I pray for their safety and give thanks for their effort and dedication.

In my world, all is calm. My calendar is blank. No meetings. No must-have’s. I’m spending more time outdoors, paying attention to what the plants need, taking Teddy for regular walks, eliminating what is not necessary. Even in the midst of danger, I feel peace. That’s the power of clearing.

In the midst of all of this, how are you?

In All Things

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Recently an old friend mocked me for living such a privileged life that it is easy for me to live in meditative gratitude. Since, I’ve carefully considered what he said.

A book I read says, “In all things, give thanks.” Also, I know that gratitude is good for the human system, even boosting immunity.

Today the headlines are scary. Our life experiences have been altered. Still, the gambrel quail run across the yard. The sun rises and then shines and then sets. Spring’s pink and yellow blooms burst forth. This morning’s moon was a beautiful sliver. We have enough food.

Regardless of what happens tomorrow, I choose to live in love today.

In these days, what is your choice?

Opportunity

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The coronavirus pandemic is giving me the opportunity to spend more time at home—to cook, work a wooden puzzle, read, take a walk, do a bit of yard work. It’s also giving me the impetus for reflection—to take a look at what’s around me and ask if there’s anything I want to change that would improve the quality of my life.

When I asked myself this question, the answer that came was, “Sheets. Get rid of those sheets.” They are very nice sheets, but I don’t like the way they feel, and the top sheet is really too big even for our king-size bed.

Some things we tend to tolerate because they aren’t worn out or someone we love gave them to us—or “they are very nice sheets.” Since we’re all being reminded of how fragile our lives are, this is a good time to improve its quality.

Something New

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Last June I started working with clay. Quickly I learned that I prefer hand building to the wheel. I’ve also learned:

  • There isn’t just one right way to work with clay.

  • My teachers and fellow classmates are friendly and eager to share.

  • It’s okay to throw out something that didn’t work.

  • Inspiration will eventually come.

  • A creative glaze can mask flaws.

  • Even if I think I’m copying, what I make with my hands is original.

  • It’s really just mud.

You write it: Have you tried something that stretched you? What did you learn?