responsibility
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!!
Musings: Like A Child
Sometimes I have to give myself permission to play. I think it is important for the soul, for the heart, for the mind, and for the body to simply have fun. Especially once we have reached the lofty maturity of adulthood! We take on more and more responsibility. Our lives get busier with duties. We begin to wear ourselves down before our time.
So once in a while I decide to do something quite childlike that requires no special thought. Dare I say – I even allow myself to “get silly” and giggle and not act one iota like an adult. There’s no better time to do this than during the Holiday Season. There are so many fun kid-oriented activities to choose from starting with getting dressed up for Halloween and ending up with a visit to Santa.
And so it was, that about ten days ago I found myself in the company of two intrepid child-wannabee girlfriends heading down to St. Augustine. We picked up my daughter who had decided to brave the company of three mature ladies on their quest for childish fun. While trolling the internet, I had come across a link advertising a large 9-acre corn maze and the promise of a hayride included. I have always wanted to do a hayride and the idea of the corn maze made me think of the movie “Field Of Dreams” and had me shivering in anticipation.
The corn maze was located on the Sykes and Cooper Farm in Elkton, which is a few miles south west on CR 207 just outside St. Augustine. We parked the car and walked over to the ticket booth to pay our entry fees. It’s times like this that I really don’t mind being a senior because I got a two dollar discount. They had a few farm animals on display including a sweet donkey, a huge round-bellied fat pig that the toddlers found fascinating, and a small collection of hens. As we finished checking out the hens we realized the big tractor trailer for the hayride was right there and almost empty, so we decided to do that next.
Once we had all got ourselves settled on bales of hay, Farmer Cooper fired up the engine and off we chugged around a large field. There were myriads of gnats in the air but for the most part they didn’t bother us. As we swung around the other side of the field we began to see pumpkins growing on their mounds. I noticed that many of them had a layer of what looked like heavy duty foil laid on the ground around them. I learned that this was to prevent the pumpkins from going moldy on the ground. Some of the pumpkins were humongous!
We jumped off the hayride and made a beeline for the maze. It really was huge and quite intimidating as we entered. The corn (or sorghum) was way above our heads and the paths twisted and turned, ran into each other, went in circles, and did everything else to turn us in the wrong direction. We could hear children’s voices and their shrieks of laughter coming from various directions as they obviously found themselves back at the same spot again and again.
I guess we spent a good half an hour in the maze as we tried to find our way out. Even though we were “acting like children”, the adult in us was aware that we should keep the sounds of the highway to our left, so we didn’t have too much difficulty. I do remember thinking at one point “supposing a ghost just appeared through the corn”, or “what would I do if I stuck my hand into the corn and it (my hand) disappeared”!! Woo-woo! Coming out from the maze we wandered over to the pumpkin stand and bought some miniature pumpkins to use as fall decorations.
By this time we were hungry and decided to head back into St. Augustine to have dinner. On many of my visits to St. Augustine I have passed a small colorful restaurant called “La Cocina Mexican Restaurant” on US-1 and have wanted to try it. We all agreed, Mexican it would be. What a great dinner we had. The service was excellent and the food was “uber” excellent. What I didn’t expect was the superb presentation, almost like a top class eatery. The restaurant itself was delightfully decorated with beautiful murals. Definitely worth another visit and I highly recommend it!
What a fun evening we had. Can’t wait to be a child again!
Shared Wisdom: Short & Sweet
I love coming across words that are lush, that have deep meaning, that carry a wealth of wisdom. I also love economy of words. You know, that short phrase that says so much with so little. The following quotations are a combination of those short and meaningful sentences and some that are slightly longer. All are worth reading and remembering.
“It’s never too late to become what you might have been.” (George Eliot)
“It’s hard to fight an enemy who has outposts in your head.” (Sally Kempton)
“When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you.” (African proverb)
“If I don’t have red, I use blue.” (Pablo Picasso)
“God is a verb.” (Buckminster Fuller)
“Nothing makes us so lonely as our secrets.” (Paul Tournier)
“I celebrate myself, I sing myself.” (Walt Whitman)
“You can only perceive real beauty in a person as they get older.” (Anouk Aimee)
“Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower.” (Albert Camus)
“The easiest kind of relationship is with ten thousand people, the hardest is with one.” (Joan Baez)
Not quite so short but still so sweet!
“Perfection is never about the past or the future. It is always and only about now. You are perfect no matter how many mistakes you think you have made. There is nothing you have thought, felt, or done that prevents you from realizing your perfection right here and right now.” (Paul Ferrini)
“What a joy for two people – each to be a shady covering for the other. A place to rest when the sun is too hot or the wind too biting. ………Real friendship grows when we are prepared to be there equally in the bad moments and the good, when we weep with those who weep – and rejoice with those who rejoice.” (Sheila Walsh)
“The sharing of joy, whether physical, emotional, psychic, or intellectual, forms a bridge between the sharers which can be the basis for understanding much of what is not shared between them, and lessens the threat of their difference.” (Audre Lord)
“While we may not be able to control all that happens to us, we can control what happens inside of us.” (Benjamin Franklin)
“It’s great to love, but another person’s love cannot fill the hole in your heart. Filling up your heart is your responsibility. You need to love and affirm yourself day by day, moment by moment. Without your love for yourself, no amount of love from your partner is enough.” (Paul Ferrini)
And let me finish up with a beautiful short prayer that really uplifted me in a dark moment and reminded me that my God is always there for me, even when I don’t see Him or I turn my back on Him. My husband Rich forwarded it to me from a web site called AmericanCatholic.org which provides “Minute Meditations” each day. This one came on 5 August 2010.
“Dear Lord God, echo in our hearts at the right moment when life is most unpredictable, that you are never unfaithful and will never leave is.”