For Catherine, Rachel and Nicholas....
Tuesday, 15 July 2008
Wednesday, 9 July 2008
Rules or spirit?
Is G-d really interested in the rules? Or are they just tools to get us to finally, completely notice the splendor of creation and life? Your thoughts?
Monday, 7 July 2008
But surely we all have a good reason to hate
The Jews hate the Arabs.
The Arabs hate the Jews.
The Christians hate the Muslims.
The Iraqis hate the Americans.
You don't have to go far to hear one of these, complete with a dozen good reasons, all of which come down to one thing....
Does anyone else see the craziness in that?
And the political powers that be fan the flames for their own gain. Insanity.
The Arabs hate the Jews.
The Christians hate the Muslims.
The Iraqis hate the Americans.
You don't have to go far to hear one of these, complete with a dozen good reasons, all of which come down to one thing....
They hate us so we hate them
Does anyone else see the craziness in that?
And the political powers that be fan the flames for their own gain. Insanity.
Sunday, 6 July 2008
You Had Me From Hello by Kenny Chesney
Once in awhile, a song comes along that gets it so perfectly right. You sit and listen, amazed, and wonder how this song could so completely capture the feelings in your heart. This is one of those songs.
For everyone out there who has or can remember that special someone who captured their heart from the first minute, I dedicate this song to you and that love.
Saturday, 5 July 2008
On rainy holidays and long weekends
I started looking forward to this weekend somewhere around March or April. A long weekend...a day off without using precious leave days. Picnics, fireworks and friends.
Last night was the big show. Fireworks were planned for every city and town around here, but I was going to see the show at the beach. All those bright and beautiful colors and lights over the water, a tropical breeze. Then two days of beach and sunshine. Perfect!
'cept I did not count on a downpour. And lightening. LOTS of lightening. So after months of waiting, the night passed without the beach. Without fireworks. But I discovered something...I am still having fun!
Yesterday in the afternoon, there was a picnic in the park with the outdoor club. Veggie burgers, gelato, volleyball( gotta work off the gelato somehow!). A couple of new friends. Then later, dinner with P., a woman I met on a recent diving trip with the same club. Today, an article on assignment completed and sent off. Then breakfast with T., then Project Downtown. A trip to the market for fruits and veggies. Now I'm heading to the mall with T. to walk with her and get her out of her apartment for awhile. Later, I am making myself a yummy dinner. A good book, maybe a movie. A chance to talk with D. An early night and some well deserved rest while it rains again.
Tomorrow, jazz or something else fun outdoors. More time to unwind. More writing. Some time with someone I can't wait to see.
It's funny how this weekend doesn't look at all like what I expected. But somehow, some way, it's all exactly right.
Last night was the big show. Fireworks were planned for every city and town around here, but I was going to see the show at the beach. All those bright and beautiful colors and lights over the water, a tropical breeze. Then two days of beach and sunshine. Perfect!
'cept I did not count on a downpour. And lightening. LOTS of lightening. So after months of waiting, the night passed without the beach. Without fireworks. But I discovered something...I am still having fun!
Yesterday in the afternoon, there was a picnic in the park with the outdoor club. Veggie burgers, gelato, volleyball( gotta work off the gelato somehow!). A couple of new friends. Then later, dinner with P., a woman I met on a recent diving trip with the same club. Today, an article on assignment completed and sent off. Then breakfast with T., then Project Downtown. A trip to the market for fruits and veggies. Now I'm heading to the mall with T. to walk with her and get her out of her apartment for awhile. Later, I am making myself a yummy dinner. A good book, maybe a movie. A chance to talk with D. An early night and some well deserved rest while it rains again.
Tomorrow, jazz or something else fun outdoors. More time to unwind. More writing. Some time with someone I can't wait to see.
It's funny how this weekend doesn't look at all like what I expected. But somehow, some way, it's all exactly right.
Wednesday, 2 July 2008
Instant recognition
There are moments in life when we recognize something immediately....
An opportunity
A danger sign
A new idea that will solve an old problem
A person we just met but already know
Home, in a place where we may have only just arrived
Where do they come from?
Some people call them insights...seeing inside, literally. It's as though we somehow pierce the outer shell and for an instant, see the essence.
Some call it inspiration...a word which means "breathed upon,", as in breathed upon by G-d. For that moment, we are graced with the divine gift of G-d's life-giving breath.
Sometimes our recognition gets buried under a mountain of expectations and old habits.
The new and wonderful doesn't look like we expected, so we discard it and go on looking for what we thought truth (or beauty or love or home) SHOULD look like.
Sometimes we are so afraid of the intensity of this sudden breath or vision that we intellectualize it, analyze it. Kill it with living too much in our heads and not enough in our hearts.
And sometimes we just wait too long, thinking that such moments of grace can be put on hold until a more convenient time. Unattended, they vanish, so we convince ourselves that they were never really there in the first place.
Instead of all that, how wonderful it would be to live ALWAYS open to those moments. Always ready to receive that breath of the divine, that glimpse into the inner truth.
(Image from Soulbreath Pictures)
An opportunity
A danger sign
A new idea that will solve an old problem
A person we just met but already know
Home, in a place where we may have only just arrived
Where do they come from?
Some people call them insights...seeing inside, literally. It's as though we somehow pierce the outer shell and for an instant, see the essence.
Some call it inspiration...a word which means "breathed upon,", as in breathed upon by G-d. For that moment, we are graced with the divine gift of G-d's life-giving breath.
Sometimes our recognition gets buried under a mountain of expectations and old habits.
The new and wonderful doesn't look like we expected, so we discard it and go on looking for what we thought truth (or beauty or love or home) SHOULD look like.Sometimes we are so afraid of the intensity of this sudden breath or vision that we intellectualize it, analyze it. Kill it with living too much in our heads and not enough in our hearts.
And sometimes we just wait too long, thinking that such moments of grace can be put on hold until a more convenient time. Unattended, they vanish, so we convince ourselves that they were never really there in the first place.
Instead of all that, how wonderful it would be to live ALWAYS open to those moments. Always ready to receive that breath of the divine, that glimpse into the inner truth.
(Image from Soulbreath Pictures)
Tuesday, 1 July 2008
The road I never saw coming
Scott Peck wrote about the road less traveled.
But what about the road that just popped up out of the blue, no signs, no so many miles ahead, no welcome to.....just one minute I am one place, traveling along, and then WHAM, my life is headed down a whole different road. New scenery. New views. A new take on the whole journey.
I can't give details now. Suffice it to say, that a light went on, and when I looked around, I was not where I expected to be (all metaphorical, mind you. I am not lost!)
And what's weirder is that the place I soooooo wanted to be just a split second ago (okay, maybe a week or so ago), I now know I cannot be, do not want to be, and have no desire to go back. Lessons learned, moved on.
And now, excuse me while I am a virtual four year old and go off to play with the colorful and exciting possibilities that have just fallen into my life.
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