Blessing of These Times

On one of our walks this week, we came upon a woman in a hat and sunglasses, waiting for her dog (Miss Kitty) to relieve herself, so my husband struck up a conversation.

Before long, we discovered we knew several of the same people from my days in Texas education. Then, as I listened more carefully, I realized I had this same conversation with a woman I met at a neighborhood party a couple of years ago—a gathering of about 75 people, all talking loudly, eating, and drinking.

Having the same conversation with the same person in nature’s quiet, was actually a different conversation. I could take in her words and reminisce about those people we knew in common. And I felt I knew my fellow walker in a new way.

Parties—crowds—noise—visual stimuli—are distractions that keep me from fully appreciating what someone is saying. This is a blessing of these times.

What is a blessing of these times for you?

Timeless

Last week I learned of the death of a friend from Covid-19. The first death of someone I know. The numbers are now real, and I’m drawn towards despair. Alan Isaacson was only 62 years old. One of the good guys. The husband of my friend. Someone who helped the mentally ill and the desperate. Someone with a lot more love to give.

So what can I do? First, send my love to the family, who are experiencing unimaginable, unexpected grief.

Then what?

Ironically, the answer comes from Martin Luther in a 1527 letter to a friend, who had asked what a Christian should do during the plague. Luther wrote, "I shall ask God mercifully to protect us. Then I shall fumigate, help purify the air, administer medicine, and take it. I shall avoid places and persons where my presence is not needed in order to not become contaminated and thus perchance infect and pollute others."  493 years later, a reminder of another way to express love—keeping ourselves and others as safe as possible. Thanks to Pastor David Brandfass for calling this quotation to my attention.

You write it: How do you express love for yourself and others during this time?

One Day at a Time

Twenty years ago my husband and I embarked on programs of recovery based on the Twelve Steps. One of the first slogans we learned was “One day at a time.” Most of the time we truly live in the day, not worrying about what lies ahead or what is outside of our control. It’s been so helpful for both of us to be on the same page because when one of us slips, the other is there to remind to stay in the moment.

You write it: What do you do to stay out of worry?

Thanks

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

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?

Intention for Today

In gratitude we go forth in safety, acceptance, and love.

New Days

The old days of rushing through an experience to get to the next one left me devoid of either. Those days are gone.

Today I ate a long, leisurely, thoughtful breakfast in an open air restaurant with few other diners.

What are your days like?

Truth Sets Us Free

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

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?

A Prayer with Intention

Out of our brokenness, allow the compassionate human spirit to rise.

Accepting the Things I Cannot Change

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

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

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?

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

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

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

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?

Simple Prayer/Intention

Today please join me in a prayer/intention for scientists all over the world—that their minds, brains, hearts, and souls open with clarity to find an effective solution for testing, treating, and preventing coronovirus. May it be so.

Clearing

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

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?