communicate
Shared Wisdom: More Words On The Path
Often times the words of wisdom that I share have come from many places in time along my path. These few that I share today have come to me in more recent times. They have nurtured me on my spiritual path.
“I turn to God not so much for forgiveness but for the power to accept humbly the reality about my imperfect self. I turn to Him for the grace to give myself the forgiveness which He gives freely.” from Happy Catholic
“Clear boundaries are important on the spiritual path because they tell you exactly where your responsibility begins and where it ends.”
Paul Ferrini
“Be patient with everyone, but above all with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them – every day begin the task anew.” St. Francis de Sales
“Moments of grace are transient – will we meet this moment and be ready to serve.” and “We are being called into the holiness of wholeness.”
J. Phillip Newall
“Be one to know God. The extent to which I am divided from you, I am divided from God.” Meister Eckhart
“May you always be overwhelmed by the grace of God rather than by the cares of life.” Anonymous
“I speak to you continually. My nature is to communicate, though not always in words. I fling glorious sunsets across the sky, day after day. I speak in the faces and voices of loved ones. I caress you with a gentle breeze that refreshes and delight you. I speak softly in the depths of your spirit, where I have taken up residence.” from “Jesus Calling” by Sarah Young
“God comes to you disguised as your life.” from Center for Action and Contemplation
“We are not simply made by God, we are made of God – as is everything.” Julian of Norwich
“Once you find the light, no matter how insignificant it seems, your life will never be the same again.
A light-bearer never questions the light s/he carries. And so s/he can offer it to others patiently and without fear.”
Paul Ferrini
I love finding these words and phrases that resonate so deeply within me, and I love being able to share them out with you. Blessings!!
Spiritual & Physical: An Incredible Journey
Wow! I am still overwhelmed. Two thousand two hundred and fifty three miles completed on the back of the Harley. That was the sum total of the mileage of our trip to and from San Antonio, Texas. And Rich added another five hundred and seventy five miles to that as he travelled from San Antonio to Arlington, Texas and back. He just had to smell the sweat in the new Cowboys stadium:-).
We spent three days on the road to get to San Antonio, and three days to get back to Jacksonville, Florida. That’s a lot of God’s creation visited and appreciated and a lot of private God-time as we rode.
I am not completely isolated when I ride passenger on the Harley. Rich and I have interconnecting speakers and mikes so that we can communicate as we travel. If either of us sees something interesting we are quick to point it out to the other. And it’s always good to say “I love you” as we ride.
But most of the time is spent individually. Rich obviously has to focus on the driving part of the experience, which leaves me with a lot of time to communicate with God. I get to pray for our safety and protection as well as our enjoyment as we travel the highways and byways. This is always primary before and during any trip that we take whether it be on Harley or in the car.
Next on the list to God are all the people that are under my “prayer candle” at home. This is a candle that I keep on the Italian granite island in my kitchen. The candle rests inside a candle jar, and the jar sits inside a metal holder. When people put out requests for prayers for either mental, emotional, spiritual, or physical healing, I put their names on a piece of paper which goes inside the metal container under the candle.
When there are too many names on any one piece of paper, I start a new one on which I always write, “for all those who have gone before and…” Under this I add the new names. So once you make it under my prayer candle you’re there to stay! When I light the candle I do so “with intention” that all those named be lifted up to the Lord while the candle is burning. And as I go about my day and I see the candle I offer more prayers for everyone.
Once this is done I then turn over my sorrows and heartaches to God and ask that He relieve me of them, that He resolve them for me, if it be His will. That last phrase is always the hard part of praying to God. But if I am to practice total trust in the God of my understanding and His plans for me and others, then I must add that phrase, otherwise I am dictating to God what I think He should do!
And then it’s on to world intentions. Now that could take up a trip to the moon and back! We, mankind, have made such a mess of this world and continue to do so today. Sometimes I get a little despairing when I realize we are still making the same mistakes, doing the same things as we did thousands of years ago, and expecting different results. I read somewhere that’s a true definition of insanity!!
I spend a lot of time asking God to please change peoples’ hearts, to lead them on the path of love and compassion. I ask him to remove hatred and greed and the quest for power. I ask Him to take care of the defenseless ones and to bring food to the hungry. I ask Him to shower humankind with His love, His grace, His light, and His energy.
So as you can see, my Harley time is put to great use. It’s usually a very intense and focused time for me and the tears flow frequently. I have accepted this as part of my mission in life and I am very willing to do it. As I pray for others and their needs, I also benefit because I am deepening my own spiritual life and my relationship with God. So it’s a real win-win situation for me and the tears are a small price to pay.
I almost forgot. Some of my Harley prayers are simply words of worship and praise. I forget who the singer is but the song says something like, “Our God is an awesome God”. I like to let Him know that I see that and appreciate it. And let me not forget the gratitude. My soul is full of gratitude for the many blessings in my life, and so I thank God for all He has done and is about to do. Amen!!
Sacred Riding: My Harley Prayer Time
My husband and I own a Harley. We love our Harley. It’s a rich deep blue Ultra Classic that we bought almost two years ago. Prior to that we had a Sportster for ten years. I guess it would be more honest to say that Rich had a Sportster and I would ride it occasionally. But in late 2006, as he approached a major deployment starting in 2007, Rich decided to sell his beloved Sportster and order the Ultra Classic for when he returned.
We came to live in the States after being overseas for eighteen years and within eighteen months, we had become empty nesters. This gave us the opportunity to get out more on the bike. We began to explore Florida and it became obvious fairly soon to the both of us that our “sits bones” did not tolerate long rides. So we discussed the possibility of upgrading to a touring bike.
The deployment was the perfect opportunity for doing this. So Rich put the Sportster up for sale and banked the proceeds. He then saved all his sea pay for the seven and half months he was away and, within a few days of returning home at the end of August 2007, we rode to Gainesville to take possession of our new “toy”. Since then we have put just over 14,000 miles on it, and that’s in spite of Florida’s rainy summers!!
Today we took a wonderful ride. The weather was great: sunny, but not too much, and just a very short shower. Our original plan had been to ride down to St. Augustine, but things changed and we ended up riding to a new Harley dealer. We were on a “mission” to find me a new helmet!
Even though we have an intercom speaker system set up so that we can communicate as we ride, sitting on the back of the Harley has become another time that I find myself saying a lot of prayers. We start every ride with a prayer of gratitude for the blessings of the bike and they joy that we get from riding it and also asking for protection and safe riding. For me this just helps to set the tone, and before long I’m praising and thanking God for the wonders of this world.
There’s nothing like riding the back of a Harley to become fully appreciative of the beauty of nature. Feeling the wind in my face and the sun on my back makes me aware of how much I love being outside. The scenery that we pass always brings me such a sense of gratitude for this amazing earth that God created. And pretty soon I’m in such a state of gratitude that my soul is singing.
As the miles go by friends and family come to mind and it’s just a natural progression for me to start asking God to bless and protect them. Sometimes there are specific requests that need to be made for people who I know are going through tough times. My children always get special mention, especially my daughter. And from there I go to world needs, and so prayers for peace and environmental respect get added to the list.
The ride today was a great success. We found a great helmet; black with a slight underlying sparkle and an outrageously gorgeous deep purple flame pattern all over!! (I’m happy!) We had a very interesting Indian lunch (I LOVE Indian food!) over in the Baymeadows area. On the way home we encountered just a short shower which was really quite refreshing. Most importantly we arrived home safely, which is always blessing in and of itself. And once again I had the opportunity to have some Harley prayer time.