I take a walk every day and yesterday I was greeted by a flock of birds flying in formation and I wanted to join them. They spoke wisdom and the importance of community to me. Just breathing the morning air on my walks refreshes my soul and makes the Spirit of Life, the spirit of wholeness real to me. I love today’s quote: “A heartfelt smile gives warmth enough for three winters.” Greeting others I meet on my walks always brings me joy and makes me smile for we, too, are part of nature. My atheist uncle who is 94 says that if their is a God, it is nature. Br. David compares our senses to the sense of spirit. I know this is tooting my own horm but I would love for you all to read the story I submitted “Through Santa’s Eyes” which is located on the features/blog page. My Santa experience, his take on human nature, has provided me. many a heartfelt smile over the years., Blessings, Carol

“We did not ask for this room or this music; we were invited in.
Therefore, because the dark surrounds us, let us turn our faces toward the light.
Let us endure hardship to be grateful for plenty…
We did not ask for this room or this music.
But because we are here, let us dance.”
Stephen King

Good Morning, I’ve always considered Stephen King an author from the dark side but this quote really grabbed me because it reminds me that he is talking about “choice.” I’ve made many choices out of fear, fear of being alone, fear of failure, etc. But in the winter of my life, I have a different perspective and I really relate today’s question to today’s quote.

” We did not ask for this room or this music; we were invited in.”

If I was invited then I chose to enter this room and hear this music. If I can remember that then the darkness will contain opportunity. So I remind myself that regretting my choice is a waste of my time and more importantly, my energy. Let’s face it, without darkness, there would be no light. How would you know it was light?

The next word that jumped out for me was endure.

“Let us endure hardship to be grateful for plenty…”

I’m reminded of a poster I saw many years ago. Two vultures are sitting on the branch of a tree. One’s eyes are glued to the road below, waiting for road kill. The other vulture is saying, “Patience my ass, I’m going to kill something.”

Endurance can be a noble trait as long as I realize that I’m not a victim, as long as I choose not to play the blame and shame card. Again, it’s all about “choice.” Endurance does not necessarily call for patience but it does require acceptance of my self and my situation.

It is hard to be grateful for hardship. But King is not advocating that. He is saying that you don’t have to like the darkness but never give up, never let go of your love and trust in life.

I’m reminded of a conversation I had many years ago at work when I was attempting to encourage a young army officer to hang in there in a difficult situation that he was determined to turn into a problem.

I said, “It is going to be okay. There is always light at the end of a tunnel.”

He replied, “That’s not a light. That’s a train!”

It’s hard to turn your face toward the light when you think it’s a train!

But, hope does spring eternal. Granted we all generate hopes with our finite minds but I’m not talking about hopes. I’m talking about the evolutionary hope of this thing we call creation.

When I can greet hardship in the same way I greet plenty, it’s impossible to be a victim. It urges me to understand that we walk hand in hand and I love holding your hand. I must not let go of it, of my faith, my hope and my love for you and for the gift of life.
As King says, “…Because we are here. Let us dance.”

Kristi, Such a beautiful teaching. It prompts me to share a paragraph from a recent email that I received from my 94 year old uncle who is now walking with a cane but still mows the lawn and has been gifted with a mind that is still clear as the pure sound of a single bell. I think the first line of this quote says so much about living gratefully. Here’s how Amos puts it::

“I have recently come to the conclusion that if I was fated to a longer life I had better try keeping in shape to enjoy it. I tell the kinder that I am learning again how to walk and I am also getting back on the computer somewhat trying to keep up with it’s constant change. I have cranked up a small portfolio of investments operated from the computer and hope to improve on the local banks one tenth of one percent checking account performance. The Carl Sagan Cosmos Program of the 1980’s is available and since I didn’t see it then I’m enjoying it now. I have always thought Sagan was the best for portraying evolution and the universe to we mortals.” SUCH WISDOM!

To quote Rumi: “Thankfulness brings you to the place where the Beloved lives.”.
Jalaluddin Rumi
Camille and Kabir Helminski’s RUMI: JEWELS OF REMEMBRANCE