Another marvelous spring day!

But, oh what to do with my dog? Tessa has somehow injured a back leg. Laid around and moped all day Saturday; yesterday she was fine; this morning she's back to the leg raised in the air, the shaking and moping. I now better understand how love prevails in the midst of difficulties. As with most animal lovers, I am very attached to this dog. Yet it scares me to think of how I can be fair to her and also be responsible to my other obligations, including my self--financially and otherwise.

Several people in my life are in various forms of suffering, loss, transition, loneliness. And I pray for them all. My sister, and only sibling, is having yet another foot surgery today. It was wonderful to see her and her husband this weekend. And--in the midst of that, there was Tessa and her leg. Perhaps that's why I often mention feeling overwhelmed. Love demands a lot. But faith and trust offer a means to put down what we carry and "allow" the One who loves us, made us, and understands us totally, to take the burdens, holding them and us lightly. May I listen to my own sermon!

Blessings, readers, and healing prayers for all who need them!

Mornings at Blackwater

This morning Tessa and I went to our own "Blackwater Pond" and took in the sights, sounds, smells. Watched ducks and two Great Blue Herons. But Mary Oliver says it best!

Mornings at Blackwater

For years, every morning, I drank
from Blackwater Pond.
It was flavored with oak leaves and also, no doubt,
the feet of ducks.

And always it assuaged me
from the dry bowl of the very far past.

What I want to say is
that the past is the past,
and the present is what your life is,
and you are capable
of choosing what that will be,
darling citizen.

So come to the pond,
or the river of your imagination,
or the harbor of your longing,

and put your lips to the world.
And live
your life.

Mary Oliver
Red Bird

Thank you yet again, Mary. Have a blessed week and notice, notice, notice!

Beauty that Comforts

What an amazing world, especially in springtime! Last night while talking on the phone, I sat looking out my living room window, as the daylight gradually dwindled. This is a pretty mundane scene, one I've been experiencing for 33 Mays. Just your average middle-class midwestern neighborhood, right? And yet; and yet!

I can't begin to describe the hues and shapes of the various trees and bushes within that view, as the light shown more and more from the side, less and less brilliantly. It almost looked like a pastoral primordial garden. The Garden of Eden came to mind. Well, as I said, I can't describe it, but it was magical.

Now did I say anything to the person on the phone? No! I was "noticing", all the while listening as intently as possible to someone's numerous challenges and heartaches. But the scene hasn't left my mind. There was a gift of grace in it, a reminder to try to maintain perspective and balance, to remember my small place in the scheme of things.

I need that reminder, frequently, lest I become so anxious and fearful that I can't function or I become ill. In the past few days, I've seen the obituaries of two people I knew well years ago, people not a lot older than I am. At the same time, dear friends are experiencing deep anguish over a young man's terrible cancer. He will have a horrific surgery on Monday in Edmonton, Alberta. I pray for him, his wife and two young sons.

Tomorrow is Mother's Day and I think wistfully about my own mother, who is gone 10 years now. She would have noticed the beauty out the window and would have perhaps written about it, if she could sit down long enough. Thank you, Mother, for all you were and are to me and to many!

"Are you Satisfied?",

Boy
by Didi Johnson






asked the waitress of my lunch partner, after I had ordered dessert. My friend said, "Yes, I'm satisfied, thanks." What a good thing to be able to say, even if it's about having a full stomach. Or perhaps especially when it's about being full!

We do have those moments, don't we? When we feel truly satisfied, content, blissful even. Times when if we died right then and there, it would be OK, 'cause life couldn't be any more wonderful than this.

Today is a "satisfied" sort of day here in Mid-Michigan. The sun is shining, there's a cool breeze, flowers and trees and birds and all manner of life is popping everywhere. I am one of the privileged ones in the world. I have enough--enough friends, enough food, enough material comfort, enough pets, enough health, enough work, enough freedom. Am I satisfied. No, not really. Grateful, yes. Satisfied, no.

I always long for more--for myself and for this world. Longing is what the soul is about. Longing keeps me going--seeking, trying, giving, learning, creating, loving. I know the answer to my longing lies deeper, deeper, deeper than any of life's outer trappings. Even human connection seldom leaves any of us satisfied for long. The Spirit, which resides within and without, is what keeps us longing, searching, desiring. Attention to that Spirit, in every thing we do and experience and feel, imbues relationships with love, strength, power, glory. One of the early church "fathers" said, "The Glory of God is a person fully alive." I would go beyond that to say ALL that is fully alive.

I've been aware recently of how many people I know who are not part of a faith community and I wonder what sustains that deep sacred place within them, especially in these uncertain and fear-evoking times. Many within churches or other faith groups, including the leaders, seem resistant to both the longing and the One who put it there. I hope they are finding solace, power, endurance, patience, joy, somehow. If not, I know a good church you could try. :)

Are you satisfied? Really? Keep looking, keep wondering, keep your eyes and ears open. Only you can choose the journey. But what you long for is available in the blink of an eye. It is right here, inside. It is both real in the moment and "not yet." With God there is always more. "Seek and you shall find; knock and the door will be opened."