The clock reads 6:00 a.m. The promise of a bright orange sky greets me as I let Harley out the front door. I feel peaceful this morning, the kind of peaceful that has been missing for awhile.
I put on the coffee and scoop dog food into Harley's bowl. I think about making toast. I think about bread, and the food pantry, and how often guests are disappointed that there aren't more sweets – cakes and cookies. At first glance it seems silly, then yes, I understand. I too crave the fleeting euphoria of sugar-infused sweets.
I am thankful. I am thankful for tangible gifts and people with generous hearts.
I am thankful for Jeff, the Brownberry rep, who drops off hundreds of loaves of beautiful bread each week.
I am thankful for sweets. I am thankful that my self-soothing addictions are caffeine and chocolate, sugar and salt – that I grew and outgrew my more deadly addictions: alcohol and promiscuity.
In the peace of this beautiful morning I feel the long arch of the universe, God's infinite plan for my life – for every life.
Rjw
Showing posts with label see. Show all posts
Showing posts with label see. Show all posts
Thursday, August 21, 2014
Monday, September 26, 2011
John 6:48
"What moves me to more deeply appreciate Jesus sharing his life with me? How do my actions and words make evident the fact that Christ lives in me?"
There is such richness here, in life with Christ. There are friend- ships and true community. A place where people help each other, support each other in time of need. There is the joy of discovery in our friendships through Whispered Hopes, a meeting of hearts,
a budding trust and growth as my eyes and heart are opened to see fragile and gifted humanity in the women
around me, the women in the clubs and the volunteers. There are moments of enlighten- ment and celebration, like my conversation with J one Sunday. His friend, a man who manages a local strip club, tells J about these women, women from a local church, who
come into the club with gifts, how great it is.
J reveals, yes he knows these women, the women are friends from his church.
Jesus' plan for a loving, united and peaceful humanity pulses through our every relational touch.
Kindness, not cruelty.
Patience, not judgment.
Encouragement, not criticism.
I used to be painfully quick to speak, always something to say, often before my brain engaged. These past eighteen months, I am discovering the gap, the place in conversation where I can hang for a few moments and think about the impact of my words.
When I hang in the gap with God, I find that that my words are kindness and encouragement, patient words of acceptance.
On a really really good day, looking in a mirror, I can see reflected in my own eyes the patient beauty of Christ.
3-Minute Retreat
Wheat Photo © Royalty-Free/Corbis
Rw
.
There is such richness here, in life with Christ. There are friend- ships and true community. A place where people help each other, support each other in time of need. There is the joy of discovery in our friendships through Whispered Hopes, a meeting of hearts,
a budding trust and growth as my eyes and heart are opened to see fragile and gifted humanity in the women
come into the club with gifts, how great it is.
J reveals, yes he knows these women, the women are friends from his church.
Jesus' plan for a loving, united and peaceful humanity pulses through our every relational touch.
Kindness, not cruelty.
Patience, not judgment.
Encouragement, not criticism.
I used to be painfully quick to speak, always something to say, often before my brain engaged. These past eighteen months, I am discovering the gap, the place in conversation where I can hang for a few moments and think about the impact of my words.
When I hang in the gap with God, I find that that my words are kindness and encouragement, patient words of acceptance.
On a really really good day, looking in a mirror, I can see reflected in my own eyes the patient beauty of Christ.
3-Minute Retreat
Wheat Photo © Royalty-Free/Corbis
Rw
.
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Snapshot
I spent most of a day putting together this photo. I emptied drawers of cookbooks and journals, explored books on my bookshelf and scraps of own writing. I called my husband asking him to pick up a box of fortune cookies and rummaged through the ancient oak furniture that holds our table linens to find my favorite cotton table cloth.
As I leafed through books and read scraps of writing, I was comforted by the texture of the paper on my fingertips, the black-lettered words before me taking on the color and movement of memories. I dumped the box of fortune cookies alongside my paper treasures and sliced open the cellophane neatly wrapping each one to experience the satisfying crunch of cookies breaking in my hands, making a mess. I tasted stolen bits, crumbs melted on my tongue. I sat at my desk, finger tips clicking on keyboard, posting my Day 20 blog.
The printer called on Friday. Mother's cookbook is ready. My youngest sister will be thrilled.
The printer called on Friday. Mother's cookbook is ready. My youngest sister will be thrilled.
Rw
Alive-est by Sam Davidson
Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind. If we follow the truth, it will bring us out safe at last. - Ralph Waldo Emerson When did you feel most alive recently? Where were you? What did you smell? What sights and sounds did you experience? Capture that moment on paper and recall that feeling. Then, when it’s time to create something, read your own words to reclaim a sense of being to motivate you to complete a task at hand. SD
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