Sunday, July 29, 2007

A LITTLE WISDOM


this weekend has been deeply sad...my best friend's grandfather committed suicide on saturday...on the same day we found out that one of beau's favorite aunt and uncle split up...this coupled with the fact that i have two precious ones in the hospital with unrecognizable ailments...it has been a rough weekend.

keeping me aloft has been a book that i loved in seminary and have picked up again (i think an ex-boyfriend "borrowed" my former copy forever)....the wisdom of the desert: the sayings of the desert fathers translated by thomas merton...so for a few days and posts forgive me for including some beautiful glimpses into this text.

merton writes of the reasons to be set apart as "reject[ing] the false, formal self, fabricated under social compulsion in "the world." They sought a way to God that was uncharted and freely chosen, not inherited from others who had mapped it out beforehand. They sought a God whom they alone could find, not one who was "given" in a set, stereotyped form by somebody else [...] there was nothing to which they had to "conform" except the secret, hidden, inscrutable will of God which might differ very notably from one cell to another."
here are some of the thoughts from the desert fathers (more to come as i read further)....

Abbot Pastor said: If you have a chest full of clothing, and leave it for a long time, the clothing will rot inside it. It is the same with the thoughts in our heart. If we do not carry them out by physical action, after a long while they will spoil and turn bad.

One of the brethren had sinned, and the priest told him to leave the community. So then, Abbot Bessarion got up and walked out with him, saying: I too am a sinner!

Friday, July 27, 2007

NOT MY OWN


two folks in the hospital...plants screaming for water (including my beautiful lavender)...pile of work on my desk...my time, today, is not my own.

Wednesday, July 25, 2007

MY MAN


beau daniel has entered the blogosphere...so this is no longer "our" blog, but mine (which it really always was anyway)...go check out his thoughts and reflections - www.beauslearninglife.blogspot.com. he rocks my world.

HEART OF ALL


we had a beautiful time in cuer d' alene (i HATE spelling that) - we learned, however that it means "heart of all" and i think that is just beautiful. so, although i cannot spell it, i will joyfully embrace the heart of all...
while there we enjoyed bike rides, smores, hikes, slip n' slides, good company...it was fun times. check out my cousin kylee's blog for more pics and reflections: www.wheelturning.blogspot.com
it was beau's first time with my extended family and he confirmed my worst fears - my immediate family is officially the craziest of the crazies....the term "hullfire" was coined this weekend as well...if you know any of us, you will understand.
peace and joy to all!

Wednesday, July 18, 2007

VACATION ALL I EVER WANTED


beau and i are leaving tomorrow morning early for a family reunion in a french city in ID (every time i try to spell it, i butcher it...but it is in the panhandle - you know where i'm talking about).
i haven't posted in a while...things are nuts...but here are a few words that have inspired me lately (heavy on this van dyke guy, but i just found him...so enjoy). blessings on you...

Many a soul begins to come to God when he flings off being religious, because there is only one Master of the human heart, and that is not religion but Jesus Christ.
-Oswald Chambers

A peace that depends on fear is nothing but a suppressed war.
-Henry Van Dyke


As long as habit and routine dictate the pattern of living, new dimensions of the soul will not emerge.
-Henry Van Dyke


Be glad of life because it gives you the chance to love, to work, to play, and to look up at the stars.
-Henry Van Dyke


Happiness is inward, and not outward; and so, it does not depend on what we have, but on what we are.
-Henry Van Dyke

Some people are so afraid do die that they never begin to live.
-Henry Van Dyke


There is only one way to get ready for immortality, and that is to love this life and live it as bravely and faithfully and cheerfully as we can.
-Henry Van Dyke


Use the talents you possess, for the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except the best.
-Henry Van Dyke