life
Bright sun glistening through the trees illuminates the view to the outside this morning. A vivid reminder of the wonder of life bursts through to the inside this day. Soon we will meet with a few friends and relatives to entomb the ashes of a dear cousin. The gathering will be a celebration of the memories of this dear soul whose presence at times was bigger than one could imagine life being. Her experiences were expansive and her adventures even greater because of the insatiable hunger for reading she possessed. Her relationship with books and the information and vicarious experiences contained therein was superseded only by her love of friends and family. Burdened with multiple losses throughout her life she seemed to always seek a place of gratitude wherein she could relax as she surveyed the world around her. Today, we dedicate but a fraction of our time to the recollection and praise of one whose life touched ours with great meaning. Today we do not say goodbye for there is no need to say goodbye to one who inspires such great memories that live long in our hearts. Today we say “THANK YOU” for living out your dreams and sharing so much of yourself with others! Our cup of gratitude is overflowing!
The pond glistens beneath the bright sunlit sky as the smell of burning hardwood wafts from the chimney. Forest and fields are alive with the chatter of birds as the temperature yields a brief winter reprieve. Even the rooster exercises his lungs to notify all of his mastery of the flock as they scratch the pasture ground for morsels of tasty seed or grubs. In the sunlit stillness of the day one cannot help but marvel at the grandeur of the Master’s creation. Even a brief encounter with the out of doors on this cool and bright day inspires this life participant to give thanks for the joy of this life lived out. A heart filled with gratitude is the filter through which this day is viewed. May your lens be brightened by the light of grace and thankfulness.
Leaves are sprouting bountifully on the black walnut trees as the limbs are aglow with green moss nourished by the days of rain. Green is the predominant color of spring tinted ever so gently with sprigs of white Dogwood peeking beneath the canopy. Bearing the evidence of renewed life, the forest and fields burst forth in their multiple shades of green as though pronouncing their new command of the landscape. After the winter of browns and grays the new kaleidoscope is a refreshing reminder that life’s continuum still exists. A thankful heart embraces the season’s bright arrival and beats with enthusiasm for what is yet to come!
Evidence of spring manifests itself more each day. As the unseasonable warmth descends upon the fields and forest daffodils are blossoming in places one would never dream of finding them. Fields and lawn are becoming greener each passing day. Even with the forecast cautioning the arrival of the next unseasonable cold front, new life springs forth in budding plants and flowers. Windows open wide invite a soothing and refreshing breeze through the old farmhouse taking with it the stale confines of winter air harbored during cold days by the old stove. Refreshing and renewing, these spring days give testimony to the cycle of life that inhabits our world. We enjoy the replenishing arrival of this season and recognize that it too will give way to another, then another, and yet another before its arrival again after the earth’s repositioning. The invasion of foolishness would have us believe that this is the “best” season in which to live and insist that life must conform to our belief. This folly is easily recognized, yet so many of us seize the notion that physical agility and flexibility “must” be the norm through all situations at all times. As one “adapts” to the change in seasons so too can one “adapt” to the variations in physical agility without “needing” it to be different at that moment. Just as surely as seasons change so too do the manifestations of physical abilities change, sometimes from hour to hour. Although the “winter” of abilities may visit one may be assured that the “spring” of relative relief may also be on the horizon. “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” Philippians 4:13
She’s restless and constantly licking herself, pacing in between sniffs of every inch of the carpet or the door. She finds a restful place stretched front paws forward under the vintage end table. Gracie, nearly nine months old now, is entering her first “heat” cycle. This means Agnes, two months Gracie’s junior, but many pounds her superior, will be doing the same soon. Special care will have to be taken with each as the scent of the female dog in heat can travel for miles, luring every unneutered male to her rescue. Nature is taking her turn with these two precious pets reminding us that the cycle of life moves forward. The time will come when each will be selectively mated with a male of good genetic rendering to offer up a prized litter of their respective breeds. Until that time we learn to accommodate the full measure of nature’s quest for mating and attend to keeping the precious pets as calm and comforted as possible. Nature’s cycle will work her way out and in a few weeks we will be on the other side of this call. Living with PD has given us experience with living through cycles of life. Sometimes stiff and rigid, sometimes trembling and tired, and yet at other times as close to normal as one can recall. We have learned that none of the experiences alone equals the total of what life holds. The wonders of life’s diversity in experiences add color to the canvas we call life and renders up a masterpiece that is priceless!
The New Year dawns on this new day and with it is brought fresh opportunities for discovery, achievement, failure and success (among other things). Each year is counted one day at a time. None of us on this side of eternity has the option of skipping a single day, hour, minute, or second that ticks to total a day. Each second affords an opportunity to choose ability or disability. Neither is absolute. There are degrees within their spectrum. As one focuses on developing known and discovering new, the world of ability becomes a kaleidoscope from which to color one’s world. Prayers today are for your pallet to be filled with hues of victory and success as you stroke the canvass of your life this year. May every second be cherished with gratitude!
Krakow’s ancient center was beautiful in the morning light. The streets were clean and pristine even after the crowds of the evening before. Although I was there for a graduate course at Penn, there was ample time scheduled for visiting noted sites of interest. The twelfth century cathedral was modestly preserved and the home parish of Pope John Paul II, was one among those several places checked off the visiting list. That morning, we boarded the bus for the twenty minute ride to Auschwitz, the famed Nazi Concentration camp on the outskirts of town. As we entered the walled brick edifice I felt strangely uneasy. To be in a place where such evil to one’s own had taken place was incomprehensibly sad. The tour started in one of the several brick buildings still standing. As we moved to another building the symbols worn by the captives in the camp were hanging on the wall just inside the door. As I turned to the right I saw the piles of human hair, remnants of people past whose lives had been taken without regard for the soul who lived therein. I was overtaken with grief as I excused myself and left the room to exit and sit in the open air on the steps outside the building. I lowered my head in prayer as I pleaded for God to help me understand how such atrocities could have happened. The capacity of man’s inhumanity to his fellow man was exacerbated as the group assembled again outside the cellar that was once a gas chamber and adjacent ovens to incinerate human remains. The next stop was the fields of Birkenau, now barren after once having been covered with wooden barracks in which thousands of Jews, homosexuals, and others deemed undesirable and expendable by the Nazi regime were dubiously housed like livestock. That day I was only a vicarious witness to a site where unspeakable pain and suffering was endured for the sake of ideology the empowered self imposed upon those they judged inferior. The pain and agony suffered there by the innocent can only be imagined today. We now live in a different era, but we must never forget that it is the same world of human demagogues that have within their unrestrained quest for power the capacity for massive human destruction. Each day presents us with choices that either enhance or diminish the human experience. May you and I embrace and learn life enhancing actions as we live each day with a thankful heart for those enhancing opportunities.