New Year's resolution. . .

My resolution for the new year, 2010, will be: to remember that life is surprisingly very uncomplicated because there is only one focus that is necessary, which is God. If we *always* focus on God, surrender to His will instead of our own and remember that God is good (even when His answer is 'no'), then His grace is sufficient in all things. And that is all we need to know. Surrender to win.

Anniversaries of the heart. . .

On this, our 45th wedding anniversary - Bob's and mine, I am thinking of the words to a hymn, referring to marriage:

"Wherever you go I shall go.

Wherever you live so shall I live.

Your people will be my people,

and your God will be my God too.

Wherever you die I shall die

and there shall I be buried beside you.

We will be together forever,

and our love will be the gift of our life."

~~~

Anniversaries mark all sorts of life's events but those I hold most dear are the secret anniversaries of the heart.

Tis a gift to be simple. . .

There is nothing quite so refreshing to the soul as time spent alone in quiet observation of the simple things in life. Children have this capacity quite naturally but I think all too often the practice gets lost as the years go by. As adults, we sometimes tend to lose control of how our time is spent and only when we begin to reach the end of our time here do we realize how misplaced our priorities have been. These words come to mind: "Life is what's happening while we're busy doing other things." I think it is a real blessing if we have learned this, early on.

Every late afternoon - early evening, it was Bob's and my custom to make the rounds, as we called it. We visited every single growing thing on our property, commenting on the growth process (or lack thereof), shared our feelings of awe for the beauty of nature that surrounded us and talked about life, in general. I don't think I can recall our ever making those rounds without one or both of us being moved to near tears due to the significance and splendor of it all. We would often wonder, aloud, how it could be possible for anyone to believe these marvelous intricacies evolved by any other means than through God's handiwork.

I think those walks were instrumental in laying the groundwork for the faith that sustained both of us during Bob's illness and the faith that sustains me now. By God's grace, I still make the rounds but the conversations are in the silence of my heart.

Amen.

Clementi strikes again. . .

Clementi, the cat, mighty hunter, strikes again! Fall is officially here. I don't care what the calendar says. I know this, not only because the chipmunks are scurrying about with their little cheek pouches crammed full but also because there has been evidence of home invasion by deer mice. You know the signs - "chocolate sprinkles" here and there. This morning a mouse corpse had been strategically placed where I would be sure to notice. It's still there, in fact. That's because I have taken the liberty to declare DRD (Dead Rodent Detail) to be an inappropriate task to begin any day with. One has a right to have breakfast first. Coffee, at least. However, I always do take the time to feed Clementi's ego by praising a good job done. He'll be preening himself all day now.

The battle of the mice. . .

The following is an entry I made on a different blog back in January. I haven't forgotten the experience nor do I expect I ever will. I think it is worthy of repeating:

Sunday, January 18, 2009

The Battle of the Mice. . .
Thoreau has nothing on me. . .He had ants -- I have mice.Someday I should write a book about my adventures with mice! I didn't think the experience of being startled awake by feeling one running around on me with my cat, Clementi, in hot pursuit could be topped. Runner up is the small corpse under the Christmas tree which I mistakenly took for a fallen ornament. Then there's the piece of wicker I picked up off the floor. When it didn't feel quite right, I remembered the tailless mouse I had tossed into the woods the previous day. Well, this morning's harrowing experience is definitely the "topper."First of all, let me say how much I look forward to what I call my "meditation baths." (You know where this is going, don't you?) I fill the room with fragrance, the tub with bath beads, bubbles, soothing vaporizer and very hot water. Then I settle in for a time of meditation and, most importantly: spiritual listening. Who says God doesn't have a sense of humor!? Why else would a mouse drop out of nowhere right into my bath water, swim circles around me in its attempt to scramble on top of me? Preferring not to become the rodent's island of safety, I yelled, I screamed, I hollared while trying desperately to get to my feet. I slipped and slid in all directions. Soap, books, tub toys and washcloths flew everywhere; my Daily Bread devotional right into the water.When I finally landed on the floor, slammed the shower door closed and regained my composure (as much as could be expected), I wrapped a towel around my soapy body, stood on the toilet and ever so cautiously peeked over the tub door. There was "Pepino" drifting contentedly, smack-dab in the center of my mesh bath scrungie. It occurred to me how mouse and make-shift raft resembled a lavendar sunflower, if there were such a thing. "I'll fix you," I said aloud, as I gingerly poked my arm in to pull the plug.When the water had drained out, I lifted Clementi so he could take a look. At first Clementi didn't see the mouse because it was well camoflauged as it nestled in the suds of the scrungie. The mouse held very still -- as though its life depended on it. I grew impatient waiting for it to move and catch the cat's attention so I began throwing things at it. First the yellow duck, then the blue fish. It moved . . . Clementi came to attention . . . I threw the cat into the tub and closed the glass door. The chase was on. But it didn't end there. Mouse escaped with cat close behind. I lost track and have no idea what the outcome was. Whether the mouse is still hiding somewhere or if it has become a prize trophy for me to find sooner or later. Preferably sooner. I would much rather find these things with my sense of sight rather than sense of smell.There must be a country-western song somewhere in this. You know, as in "The Squirrel Went Berzerk in the First Baptist Church." Maybe ... "Ever Since my Cow Died, It's Been Raining Mice Instead of Cats and Dogs."
Posted by Dorothy at 9:52 AM

Thought for today. . .

Excerpt from today's daily meditation:

• "What seems like a small encounter may be a God-encounter, and produce results you never dreamed possible."

Today I will practice awareness of seemingly small encounters.

Understanding the difference. . .

Synchronicity, again!

I have always been interested in reading about "what makes people tick" so, although one of my daily meditations was not new information, but because it had been a topic of more than one conversation very recently, it caused me to say to myself, "There it is again -- synchronicity!" (A practice that has become second nature ever since reading The Artist's Way, by Julia Cameron.)

So. . .
For whatever it's worth and to whomever, I'll share as follows:

• "MALE AND FEMALE HE CREATED THEM" Genesis 1:27
• Understanding the difference...
• Is Professor Henry Higgins in My Fair Lady right? Are men by nature more rational and forgiving than women? No, but there's a difference. Let's say a problem arises before work. After work he's forgotten it; he's compartmentalized it to focus on work. For him it's over, but not for her. She's rehearsed, processed and labeled it, while multi-tasking all day. It hasn't disappeared; it's unfinished business. After work he comes home, blissfully unconscious, and, ba-boom, it erupts. He's got that bewildered, "Is there a problem?" look. "Is he playing naive?" she wonders. "How could he possibly forget?" He's thinking, "What's gotten into her? Not that little incident from this morning? Who harbors something so insignificant that long?"
• Since God created male and female differently, He tells us to "Conduct. . .married life with understanding." Understanding brings happiness. His brain functions compartmentally. He moves from family to work to recreation to hobbies, etc., each compartment walled off from the other. When in one he forgets the others. But her compartments are connected, spilling over into each other. She's working and thinking about the kids and planning dinner, etc., simultaneously! No walls. So this morning's incident is still in her mind, though forgotten by him. By understanding these differences she can give him time to get back into "the family compartment" before raising the issue. And he can realize she's not being unreasonable or unforgiving, she's being what God made her. Until the issue is resolved she has no place to hide from it. She needs closure so she can feel good about their relationship again. "Male and female he created them." Only by understanding that can we live in harmony.

Be joyful. . .

Yesterday was the kind of day that lets you pause and let go of any obstacles and focus on gifts and graces. "Count your blessings," would be another way of putting it. Highlights that come to mind are: Starting the day by sharing time with a good friend, closing the day with another and, in between, hearing my faraway, newest granddaughter respond with gleeful baby sounds when I spoke to her on the phone.

For me, these are the moments that give life meaning and as they occur, I invite them in to a special place within me where I can revisit them at will. It has taken many milestones to arrive at this point which gives me cause to wonder how many meaningful moments have gone by unnoticed. I mourn for those lost moments only briefly, though, knowing "right now" is all that is real. Yesterday is what it was and cannot be changed; only learned from. Tomorrow, despite all our careful planning, will never unfold exactly as anything we might expect. Therefore, to worry or to focus on what could/should/would happen is a waste of immediate energies, rendering us too preoccupied to find joy in the reality of "right now."

The word "joy" meaning something quite different from "happy," in my mind, although I think the words are sometimes used interchangeably. I think of joy as a feeling deep within my soul while happy, to me, is more of a surface pleasure; neither one a varying level of the other but simply quite unrelated.

I wonder what joy today might bring?

Thorns, rocks and caterpillar poop. . .

It has turned out to be a beautiful day despite a few threatening cloudy periods. I worked a little on some outdoor projects - or I should say I "dabbled" at them since I didn't work very hard. Keeping all the shrubs and bushes pruned is a full-time job, so it seems. Not to mention the barberry thorns that 'sliver their way' through my work gloves and become embedded in my hands for the duration of each summer. By Thanksgiving, I usually have removed them all and the wounds have healed.

I have said that when I planted all the forsythia and barberries so long ago, little did I know I was 'creating monsters!' My goal is to get them down to a size I can manage and, little by little, I am accomplishing that. (Thanks to Lori, the local landscaper, who taught me how to "let them breathe." That became an ongoing joke between Bob and me. Whenever he saw me trimming, he would ask me if I was letting my bushes breathe.)

I'm in the process of reconfiguring the driveway and laying a sidewalk, using recycled flagstones. Thank goodness for grandsons who came to my rescue and handled the ones that were too heavy for me to lift. (I learned you cannot pry them up off the ground using a metal baseball bat. The bat either bends or the stone rolls off it. . .which can be dangerous; especially if you are a brittle old woman.) As I was raking up the small, excess stones, I found what I thought was just the shell of a robin's egg but it was an unbroken egg. I always feel a little sad to find them like that, wondering if a nest has been invaded by another species of bird. I like to take empty nests I find while pruning and nestle them in my shrubs as decorations. Adding an egg or a shell completes the look.

I enjoy puttering in the yard. I believe it's one of my favorite things to do. The methodical movements accompanied by the sounds of serenity coming from the woods create a perfect setting that invites the most profound thoughts to free-flow. It can become a spiritual experience, depending on how much you are willing to 'let in.' That's how Bob described his feelings, too, whenever he was plowing a field on a tractor, alone with his thoughts and the smell of freshly tilled soil would fill the air around him. It's no wonder some of the most beautiful classical music was inspired by forest and nature sounds. If you are still and listen, you will hear a symphony.

Of course, there is always a 'flip side.' For instance, the continuous rain-like sound of caterpillar droppings as the greedy little worm-like creatures munch away on the leaves of our lovingly nurtured trees. Just as the Grinch came to steal Christmas, the dark, prickly 'wooly mammoths' have come to steal our shade! Then too, if you live in a rural area, of course you are familiar with the unmistakable stench that will occasionally permeate the air for miles. It comes and goes depending on the direction of the breeze at the moment. (I assume that's how the expression, "...down wind of" became so common.) If you are in the company of others when the 'invisible intruder' arrives, you will pause what you're doing, look at one another through an expression of disgust while trying not to inhale. . .nod knowingly and, in unison, utter the word, ROADKILL! . . .and then resume what you were doing.

A final thought. . .
You know you're a redneck when you have to shake caterpillar poop out of your hair before you go inside.

Wholesome Living. . .

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Where can you find wholesome living these days? In the French Woods area of Hancock, neighbors and friends of all ages pause periodically to gather together and bask in what is sometimes overlooked in today's busy world. We find opportunities to take time to enjoy one another and these mountains we are nestled in.

One such opportunity began last Sunday afternoon when we broke ground for our community garden, the old-fashioned way! Obedient horses, "Faith" and "Sammy," seemed proud as they eagerly pulled the early 20th century plow for their owner and trainer, Eric Baudendistel. The sun was shining, the air warm and breezy. Sounds and scents of nature filled the air. There is something about the smell of freshly tilled earth that soothes the soul with the feeling that all is well. Youngsters and dogs played while some who are not so young shared memories of similar farm equipment when it was brand new!

Of course, we don't know if our harvest will prove bountiful but there's one thing for sure: We, ourselves, will have "bloomed where we are planted" and our children will have wonderful memories to keep.