Focus on the Stars

 A dear friend shared this prayer with me recently and I thought it would be worth sharing with you. It fits so well with what I try to share each week, to make sure we notice those small things, the everyday things. As I settle into my new home I am once again beginning to notice those little things. I find it is time to pull out the calendar and set dates with friends for a cup of tea or an adventure. It's time to go for walks and "notice what I notice".

I am noticing the small lights and glimmers when out in the evening light. Light is capturing my hearts as I focus on HOPE. But I am also noticing the earth is struggling to come alive once more and sing to our hearts.

 

 Dear God,

All I can think to say this morning, is please guide my attention to that which is worthy of it.

When I am overwhelmed by everything that has to get fixed in this broken down world, show me what is MINE to do then please give me the strength to do it and the humility to rest afterwards.

Open my eyes to behold that which is hopeful and lovely and to know that the terrifying and malicious will always be there and that looking away for a moment is not callus, it’s calculating.

Guide my attention to that which is worthy of it: making art, cooking food, loving people, noticing birds, petting dogs, contacting friends, and doing the work that is mine to do.

And when I am scrolling through meaningless videos, once again wasting more precious moments on this Earth than I realize, snap me out of it, Lord and help me just go for a walk or something.

In your holy name,

Amen.

Nadia Bolz-Weber 

 Sending love and peace in this crazy world,

Marilyn

 

Words of Kindness and Joy

 

 A prayer by Laura Jean Truman

God, 

Keep my anger from becoming meanness. 

 Keep my sorrow from collapsing into self-pity. 

Keep my heart soft enough to keep breaking. 

Keep my anger turned towards justice, not cruelty. 

 Remind me that all of this, every bit of it, is for love. 

Keep me fiercely kind. 

Amen.

And definitely keep our hearts and our behavior "fiercely kind". Yes, "fiercely"!!!!!

There is so much sorrow, so much anger, so much maliciousness in the world today, keep me kind!

 Sending love,

Marilyn

The Grotto

 

 

Yesterday my "live-in gardener" and I had plans. I was excited, but scared all at the same time. We were going to take our grandson, D, zip-lining for a fun end of summer celebration before school starts next Tuesday. Our D ended up coming down with Covid yesterday and plans were changed. So far he is doing OK and I pray that continues to be so and he will be ready to return to school soon.

I felt like my "live-in gardener" and I should get out and walk. The Grotto is about 5 miles from us and we had been many times to the lower grounds, but had never taken the elevator up the bluff to the upper gardens. It was a rainy day, so we bundled up.

The Grotto is a Catholic retreat center that is open to the public. People come here to meditate, sometimes for concerts, to see the decorations and lights at Christmas, and just enjoy the beauty. The first picture above is the main area where they hold mass and people come to pray.

Let's walk through the upper gardens.

The next few pictures were shrine's representing different countries in honor of Mary.

This was Our Lady of Guadalupe.

Beautiful carvings.

The trees were stunning throughout the walk. Here was a labyrinth, which was the perfect place to walk and meditate. I prayed for many as I walked.

There was also a Peace Gardens we walked through, which took us by the monastery.

 

This sweet little chapel would be a lovely place for a small wedding.

 

There was a small walk where there were Sorrow and Joy plaques.

 

And finally before heading home we sat for a little while in the leather chairs of the Marilyn Meditation Chapel. Yes, It was donated by someone named Marilyn. It was stunning just at the edge of the cliff and overlooking the surrounding area.

 

Not exactly zip-lining, but just perfect for the day. We both said, "why has it taken us over 40 years to come to this part of the garden".  It was so peaceful and the perfect walk on a drizzly, rainy day.

Happy Weekend, dear friends!

Always be flexible to change plans when needed, it is so worth it.

What Makes Your Morning Magical?

Most morning quite early I walk in my garden in my pajamas and robe. All the pictures in this post were snapped in just that manner. There is something so magical to me in walking, noticing, and snapping a picture when the dew is still on the grass and the birds are chirping "good morning" to the world.

The daffodils are almost finished, but this morning I loved still finding a few vibrant blooms.

 

The plum tree is beginning to bloom and I am dreaming of fresh fruit later this summer.

Magically the blooms had a visitor, smiling! I posted this picture on Facebook and had two think it was a most unusual butterfly. I was playing with the magic of imagination. I can only dream a real butterfly will visit me soon. I watch for them, but none have arrived for quite awhile. Butterflies are magic to me.

But I do have hummingbirds all year long, just outside my window. As I sip my morning tea I watch them come to the feeder. They never disappoint.

 So for me my morning magic is:

A chat with my cat

A warm cup of tea

A little reading

A hummingbird visiting

A song and a prayer

 I hope your mornings are magical too.

What speaks to you of magic?

Have a terrific weekend, dear friends!

Prayer

  As a young girl I grew up in a church that prayed. When someone would get up to pray it was always all these "flowery" words of adoration and begging. I just didn't feel comfortable with that. I told myself I could never speak with words like I heard there; so I sort of rejected prayer and the religion stuff I grew up with. What I never rejected was that there was a God with me and I could just talk with my eyes wide opened to this "being". I didn't have to be how others thought I needed to be.

In my conversations I found the best time for me to talk to God was during my morning drives to work. For some reason those conversations always started with a song, which sometimes you could find me singing out loud in the car. It became my time of meditation and prayer. Amazing I could do that and drive to work, but it worked for me.

The song I would sing has the following words:

Lyrics

With my hand lifted up
And my mouth filled with praise
With a heart of thanksgiving
I will bless Thee O Lord

I will bless Thee O Lord
I will bless Thee O Lord
With a heart of thanksgiving
I will bless Thee O Lord

With my hand lifted up
And my mouth filled with praise
With a heart of thanksgiving
I will bless Thee O Lord

I will bless Thee O Lord
I will bless Thee O Lord
With a heart of thanksgiving
I will bless Thee O Lord

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: Esther Watanabe

Now Lord indicates gender, but for me it isn't about gender. Lord is God in my heart. The one I can talk to when something is sitting on my heart both in sadness and in joy.

Once I quiet my heart with a song I can just speak plainly what is sitting there to share. Now that I am retired I find that suddenly this song will come to my heart as I sip my morning tea. I don't need to call it up, it is just there. It almost surprises me. I know it is time for a conversation or a few words from my heart. It is time to share with God.

I did find another church that sits well with my heart.

I hope you don't mind that I speak of prayer this morning, but this is a part of me. I think by sharing we can all know we need to follow our hearts and speak our words whether it is to God, a spiritual being, or to another soul. It lifts us up and heals our heart.

I wrote this yesterday, but the picture is my broken hands praying this morning for our broken country. There is great sadness in our world, may it be healed.

May love prevail!

Take care, dear friends!

Have a great weekend!

Word for the Day - 2020

Wisdom

When I think of wisdom pictures of paths come to mind.

Do we have the wisdom to know the path to take?

The wisdom to make choices?

From wikipedia:

Wisdom, sapience, or sagacity is the ability to think and act using knowledge, experience, understanding, common sense and insight.^[1] Wisdom is associated with attributes such as unbiased judgment, compassion, experiential self-knowledge, self-transcendence and non-attachment,^[2] and virtues such as ethics and benevolence.^[3][4]

Is the path narrow or wide?

Do we walk the path alone or together with others?

Do we carry the load or share with another?

The Serenity Prayer is a prayer written by the American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr^[1][2] (1892–1971). It is commonly quoted as:

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,
courage to change the things I can,
and wisdom to know the difference.^[1]

Niebuhr's prayer originally asked for courage first, and specifically for changing things that must be changed, not things that simply can be changed.

I know I have quoted the Serenity Prayer before, but it still comes to mind often these days.

I have a fascination with paths and find I photograph them whenever I am walking one.

The image indeed reminds me of wisdom, choices, courage, and diligence

to keep moving forward the best we can.

May your week be blessed with wisdom to make courageous choices for yourself.

July 4th

Freedom

By Langston Hughes

Freedom will not come

Today, this year

            Nor ever

Through compromise and fear.

 

I have as much right

As the other fellow has

            To stand

On my two feet

And own the land.

 

I tire so of hearing people say,

Let things take their course.

Tomorrow is another day.

I do not need my freedom when I’m dead.

I cannot live on tomorrow’s bread.

            Freedom

            Is a strong seed

            Planted

            In a great need.

            I live here, too.

            I want my freedom

            Just as you. 

I pray for the day when each can walk with freedom in their two feet

and without judgement and cruelty.

Where we can live side by side and acknowledge our differences,

but celebrate together our similarities.

Let's embrace our fellow man, woman, and child with our arms and hearts,

for now figuratively with masks on.

I am reminded daily why I wear that mask for each of you.

In that we are free to live another day.

Thank you friends for stopping by.

May your weekend be blessed with joy

as you shelter in place.

Added after the fact, but to relevant not to share:

"For this is a time for courage and a time for challenge. Neither conformity nor complacency will do. Neither the fanatics nor the faint-hearted are needed. And our duty as a party is not to our party alone, but to the Nation, and, indeed, to all mankind. Our duty is not merely the preservation of political power but the preservation of peace and freedom.

So let us not be petty when our cause is so great. Let us not quarrel amongst ourselves when our Nation’s future is at stake. Let us stand together with renewed confidence in our cause–united in our heritage of the past and our hopes for the future — and determined that this land we love shall lead all mankind into new frontiers of peace and abundance." - President John F Kennedy, undelivered speech to Democratic Party of Texas, 11/22/63

Thanksgiving in Your Heart

At the end of the day

it is what Thanksgiving comes from the heart.

Acknowledge and Notice

 what brought JOY and Thankfulness in your heart.
Savor the quiet times.
Embrace those around you.
Send prayers upward.

Thinking of those today that are hurting,
that need a friendly hand to guide them,
and love to hold in the palm of their heart.

May you be blessed this day and always.
Happy Thanksgiving to each of you, dear friends!

Celebrate the day and Rejoice!

My Heart is Heavy

My heart is heavy for all those that have lost their homes in the wildfires in California.

Some have lost lives also.

My cousin lives in the midst of this chaos and had to evacuate,

but miraculously her home was saved even though all the houses around 

her's were burned to the ground.  

Three friends lost their homes, one of which was a tea farmer

that lost his farm too.

All the natural beauty around them is burned to the ground.

The pictures are from here, but I am imagining their natural beauty gone

when I look at these pictures.

Please pray for those that have lost their homes 

or are still in danger.

Also remember those that have been killed by mass shootings.

It is a sad world we live in these days.

Somehow healing and change must come

Sending love to our world that is suffering each day.

Sorry for writing about sadness, but my heart is heavy.

A day late, but have an extra special weekend.
Sending love to each of you.

An Adventure, A Retreat

 This year there has been just short jaunts for travel;

so my heart was delighted and my soul refreshed as I spent a few days with good women friends

to adventure under this glorious mountain,

Mt. Adams in Washington State.

The Autumn leaves were just beginning to turn,

the sun was shining, and it was time for retreat.

 Now when I bought my "big girl" camera a friend asked me what pictures

I would take.

I said I would take pictures of Adirondack chairs by water.

Venturing out to the Trout Lake Abbey that is exactly what I found.

Of course, I needed my pictures taken right there in one of those chairs.

This symbolizes to me the utmost thought of retreat, rest, and meditation.

And even more when it is situated in beautiful surroundings.

 Fascinating to me was a place for Druid ceremonies on the grounds of a Buddhist Abbey.

The stones standing tall were for these events.

 The trails around the 23 acres included orchards, gardens, a pond,

beautiful plants, and alpacas.

 Peaceful surroundings were all around.

 What I was there for was the labyrinth.

Have you ever meditated by walking a labyrinth?

This was the most beautiful labyrinth that I had ever walked,

just perfect for meditation and reflection.

 What I found fascinating and added to the meditation was the scent of the plants

placed strategically as we walked along the path.

There were roses, lavender, and sage, plus hydrangea to just add beauty.

"Labyrinths have a history going back before the common era.

One can think of labyrinths as symbolic of pilgrimage, people can walk the path, 

moving toward a spiritual goal or enlightenment. In ancient days many people could 

not afford to travel to holy sites and lands, so labyrinths and prayer substituted for such travel."

This labyrinth was created for eyes to enjoy the beauty that surrounds you,

and allow your heart to find a peaceful existence.

 For a little while my heart was quiet, my heart sang a happy song.

 Prayers were sent on their way.

 A retreat was there in the trees.

As the bells rang, I lifted my heart in JOY.

For a few hours I could release and sing.