daydreaming

I listened to a program on the radio recently that discussed daydreaming... and whether we do enough of it in this day and age. We have cellphones that demand our immediate attention whether from a text, social media site or app we can't seem to live without. News is broadcast 24 hours a day.  We live in a false sense of security thinking all is okay as long as we didn't get a message or text or email telling us otherwise.

Years ago people would leave their homes and their telephones when out doing other things. If there was news it could wait a while. I have found we often make better decisions if we don't respond immediately to "news" but take some times to think things over before responding in a knee-jerk way.

How many of us can't sleep at night because we lay wide awake thinking. It's the time we are the most still and quiet... and our minds can wander. Often my best thoughts are at this time, but it's not when I want them to come. I want to sleep!

When I take a walk I also have my best creative ideas because I am not distracted by other things coming at me...like other peoples' thoughts or ideas ... from TV, social media, texts, emails, phone calls, etc.

These things aren't bad but there is a time and a place for them.

I remember once asking Edd in the morning how he slept. He said he hadn't slept well but then told me it was okay because he solved a few work problems as he lay there awake. It seems my mind wanders the most at night and keeps me awake because I'm thinking on things I didn't give myself a chance to during the day. There were too many things I was allowing myself to be distracted by. We have some of our most creative, original thoughts and problem-solving abilities when we are still, quiet, and undisturbed.

As I look around I see people never far from their cell phones as though they are going to miss something. We are afraid of being cut off and unaware of what is going on....when in reality we are often missing what is actually happening all around us.  We become worried and anxious without our little electronic crack. It really is an addiction of sorts. We are okay again once we check our phones and see no one called or texted us with bad news, etc.

I'm guilty... or should I say I am prone to be a little too attached to my phone. Maybe those wires weren't such a bad thing years ago that kept a phone in its proper place. At least we didn't lose them or drop them in the washing machine or the thousand other ways people waste money having to replace them!

But I plan to change that. I am becoming more mindful of its over-importance in my life and I am going to detach. Walk away from the phone more. Have it with me for emergencies but make a conscious effort to leave it in the bottom of my purse, OFF, more often. Leave it in a certain place at home. Have some original thoughts. Remove Facebook as an Ap. Done. Do I really need to read all that stuff from my phone anyway? No. I don't.

And so it begins. I may be on to something. I will daydream more.

a few thoughts about the week's events

Gay marriage is now legal in all 50 of our states. I really don't understand why some are so uptight about this. They feel so threatened and combative. As though God isn't going to be in charge anymore if gay marriage is allowed. As though they are being forced to believe differently. As if their faith is being attacked. They make it into an ugly fight. Those claiming to be followers of Christ don't have to agree with the ruling but shouldn't they still be kind and "love our neighbors as ourselves"? They (we all) can still believe what we want to believe. What is changed is that some feel threatened and insecure as though they are being forced to change their own beliefs as society changes. 

You can still believe whatever you feel to be right, but the hateful comments by those claiming to be the moral consciousness only pushes people away from wanting to be like them. It only breeds arrogance and unkindness and everything that love is NOT. Loving one another is always the right choice. I know, I know, some believe this is only the beginning...that soon we will not be able to practice our own "religion" and our freedoms will be taken away, but I don't really buy that. Prayer taken out of school? Yes, that was unfortunate and certainly didn't make the school system better, but I can still pray in school. No one can stop me from doing that. In fact, now I can homeschool my children if I want to. I am free to do that. I can still bow my head. I may not be able to stand up and pray leading a group in a formal public setting in some instances, but I can still pray! Maybe those praying quietly and sincerely without all the fanfare are accomplishing more because of their gentle spirits anyway. Just maybe.

This world is not our home. It's not our heaven. We are only passing through. We can only do what we can do on a personal one-person-at-a-time basis. Check your own attitude. Is it loving? It is kind? Or is it arrogant and self righteous and hateful. Are we representing the Christ we profess to believe in and follow? Are we going to throw stones when Jesus clearly showed us another way?

God is still on the throne. He really is.

I love the movie, book, play, Fiddler on the Roof. The father had such a hard time with change. And if we live long enough the world will change for all of us and we are always having to reevaluate what we believe. We don't have to change our beliefs with society's norms, but we can still accept and love those who are different. We CAN. God will sort all of these things out one day. He will.

I remember a story told by Corrie ten Boom. Her family hid Jews during World War II in Holland. They had such a love for all people. When she was a ten year old girl riding on a train with her father she asked him, “Father, what is sex sin?” He turned to look at her, as he always did when answering a question, but to her surprise he said nothing. At last he stood up, lifted his traveling case from the rack over their heads, and set it on the floor. “Will you carry it off the train, Corrie?” he said. “It's too heavy,” Corrie said. “Yes,” he said. “And it would be a pretty poor father who would ask his little girl to carry such a load. It's the same way, Corrie, with knowledge. Some knowledge is too heavy for children. When you are older and stronger you can bear it. For now you must trust me to carry it for you.” And she was satisfied. More than satisfied – wonderfully at peace. There were answers to this and all her hard questions. For now she was content to leave them in her father's keeping. (From The Hiding Place)

As is the case with many issues in society, some things are still best left in our Father's keeping.

acceptance

Dealing with ACCEPTANCE today... Accepting and dealing with what life throws our way.... it sometimes makes me angry... and disappointed... and sad ... It's a process... finding that place of comfort when life feels messy and unkempt and strange.... when you just don't feel like you're home... 


We cannot change our past.
We cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way.
We cannot change the inevitable.
The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have,
and that is our attitude.
I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me
and 90% how I react to it.
- Charles R. Swindoll

We all have our thorns. We, and Life, have our moments.
Life occurs before our morning coffee.
Life occurs in our bathrobe with our hair uncombed.
Bless and give thanks for All of Life - the bloom and the thorns.
- Jonathan Lockwood Huie

When you have got an elephant by the hind legs
and he is trying to run away, it's best to let him run.
- Abraham Lincoln

Deal with the faults of others as gently as with your own.
- Chinese proverb

truths that came with clarity

You can't know what is in someone's mind so don't even try.... It's hard

to understand what motivates another.

 It's clearly impossible to know what others are really thinking...

So, again... Live and Let Live.

There are some things we cannot understand.

While walking along the Oregon coast and observing such strength and power,

the thought and prayer came to me...

"Please help me to see Your power in my life the way I do here as I watch and listen

to the waves of the ocean"...

We absolutely cannot change another person. Even if we see them destroying their life.

Only God can do that. I don't think anything outside of yourself can help

in any lasting way if you aren't committed

within your own self to change.

And the result is.... Peace....

There are things in life we need to make peace with....

and our lives will be better when we do.

find that place

Find a place that makes you believe again that there is Power in the universe. 

Find that place that makes you feel fully alive. A place where you know you are not the center of it all... and you discover there is something much bigger going on, a purpose higher than yourself. 
Find the beauty and drink it in for all it's worth.

I'm learning...Thank God I'm learning...To live and let live.

empathy

Social Media.  This present Information Age.

Though I am grateful I can look up just about any topic at any time, the dark side of social and news media is having a large effect on us all.  Okay, it's having an effect on me.

Being able to research information has certainly helped me out many times.  Fixing my car, my plumbing, my sprinkling system, planting a garden.... Looking up the wonders of places I may never visit personally enriches and enlarges my mind.

But there is a dark side that wearies me to no end and sometimes I think negates many of the positives. That "other side" zaps me of my emotional and physical energy as I see suffering humanity looking back at me as a story pops up that brings horrible tragedies right into my home.  Just this morning scrolling through Facebook I saw the deformed face of a dog reminding me about the reality of puppy mills and that I ought never buy a pet-shop dog.  Scrolling down further I saw the story of a dog who died a painful death by swallowing a stick that his owner was using to play fetch with him. Human cruelty has no limits.

I really cannot take the suffering theme very much anymore.  I am not one to pull the covers over my head and pretend pain doesn't exist ...and where I can help I will, but it is all too overwhelming.

I want to know.... How do we live in a world that has such extremes of suffering and tragedy .... and beauty?  How can we move away from some of the images and stories we see and read each day and go about our business?  We constantly have to detach emotionally in order to get through a day and even smile.  Because we don't have the power to fix many of the problems.

I'm really wanting to pull out. I'm tiring of all the suffering of the world being broadcast into my life all the time.  Before this day and age of information overload people would see a need in front of them and respond (or not).... It was easier to lend a helping hand and feel you could do some good.  Now I often feel overwhelmed by the stories of disease, suffering, and the ways people mistreat one another.... and innocent animals...all over the world.  The news and social media pick out the worst of the worst of stories to "entertain" us and keep us informed.  Often the stories are sickening in the extreme.

I suppose the answer is still to do what you can do.... respond to the people and situations that are in your own life and circle of friends and acquaintances, but I'm ready to shut the rest out.... because I can't solve all those problems and knowing about them just makes my head spin and feeling the pain of others hurts my everyday life... takes away joy.  Being able to understand and share the feelings of others is called empathy and I certainly want it, but when is empathy hazardous to your own health?

I'm not sure how to answer some of these questions.... Maybe I can answer them with my head, but I haven't figured out how to answer with my heart.

two years ago

I can't ignore what's swirling through my mind this week.  Nor would I want to. Today on this very day two years ago I lost someone who I knew all of my life.  She was that one constant that I could always count on to be there... just a visit or phone call away.  She fell ill suddenly and never recovered.  She only lasted long enough for me to get to her bedside and say goodbye.

Of course I knew her all of my life.  She was my mom.

I miss her more than any words could say in this space.  Her smile said, "I see you.  I love you.  You are important to me."  I can remember being a little kid in Kindergarten and just wanting to hurry home to be with her.  The last thing I did while she was still alive was hurry home to see her... to be with her.   Did she know I was there?  I hope so.

She loved her family.  She loved life.  I think she would above all else want me to be happy....

So, I'm trying mom.... I'm trying through my tears to see beauty around me the way you did.  The way you taught me through the way you lived.

Here are some images from my week, simple things, that brought me joy and would have brought her joy too.  I can only hope when I am gone that others miss me half as much as I miss her.

A fun whimsical birdhouse

Planting Spring flowers 

A new hibiscus plant

Walking on a rainy day amidst falling pedals

Hyacinths in the Spring

Very fragrant carnation-like blooms

Salmon and asparagus salad

Lettuce sprouting and thyme

Gardenia buds all over the place

A pretty and useful pail

Orchid blooming like crazy

The morning sky

Always in my heart.  

Mom.