wednesday, August 30, 2023 Quote of the week

“The divine is not something high above us. It is in heaven, it is in earth, it is in us.”

Morihei Ueshiba

During one of my morning, “Coffee with the Creator” moments, a voice resounded within me. It said, "I am not my body, I am not my pain.” This phrase had formed itself and wafted through me like that early morning breeze. I closed my eyes, pushed my shoulders back and breathed in the mantra and exhaled the serenity it left with me.

My friend uses serenity to balance her days. When her sons need to talk with her, they often preface with, “Uh, sorry to interrupt your serenity, Mom, but…” How lovely is it that she taught them to recognize its importance and to honor her sacred space! Indirectly, she is also teaching them the same: to honor their own moments of needed serenity as they proceed through their busy lives.

Last week’s post was about Jim’s intent on spiritual healing even more so than on his physical healing. He reasoned his suffering was twofold. Even though his body fell ill, he felt there was a disconnect between body and soul. In addition to his chemo treatments, he spent nearly fourteen years delving into spiritual healing. Jim learned that love and forgiveness are imperative, but so is discovering serenity within the storms of life.

Novelist Vladimir Nabokov said, “the breaking of a wave cannot explain the whole sea.” There is so much more there we cannot see but only feel. Life is like the ocean waves swirling, spinning and crashing. But underneath the surface of the calamity, we find ourselves. Even though deadlines, schedules, jobs, and family clamor for attention, those do not define who we are. Deep beneath the surface, lives the divine. You are not your pain, you are not your grief… you are a divine creation. You are not the wave, you are the ocean.

Singer/songwriter, Fiona Apple, writes in her song, “Sullen Girl,” “it’s calm under the waves of my blue oblivion.” Honor your serenity.

wednesday, August 23, 2023 Quote of the week

“The quickest method for understanding and living your purpose, is to ask yourself if you’re thinking in loving ways.”

Wayne Dyer

Everything within us, everything that makes us who we are, is rooted in love. Thoughts become words, our words produce actions, and our actions result in a ripple of change. If we speak and act in loving and authentic ways, we throw love out onto the water’s stillness causing the ripples to form an enchanting pattern. If a pebble of negativity is cast where complaining and moaning are the intentions, that too will cause a ripple, albeit a most unpleasant one.

My mom reminded me before heading to school that the world was full of evil and we don’t need to be adding to it. Marianne Williamson, author of A Return to Love, believes that, “Only love can bring us peace. And the experience of love is a choice we make, a mental decision to see love as the only real purpose and value in any situation.” Through many years of reading, writing, and reflecting, my husband concluded that love, along with forgiveness, were what truly mattered.

If love reigns in our hearts, it will smother jealousy, unrest, and turmoil from our being. It is all right to love someone, yet still retain healthy boundaries: I love you, but I’ll love you from over here. Matthew 10:12-14 teachers we should “enter the home, give it your greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you…leave the home and shake the dust off your feet. Move forward in the direction of your purpose.

Oh, forgiveness…that is a tough one. Jim believed forgiving in all situations was imperative. Hanging onto hurt and grudges will eat us up inside. If God is able to forgive us, then we at least should give it a go ourselves! Once again, in Matthew’s chapter 18, Jesus taught Peter to forgive not just once, but “seventy times seven,” for “if we never know forgiveness,” Rumi wrote,“you'll never know the blessings God gives.”

wednesday, August 16, 2023 Quote of the week

"A man’s steps are from the Lord; how then can man understand his way?”

Proverbs 20:24

As a little girl, I remember slouching under a massive shade tree in our backyard. I was snacking on dry Fruity Pebbles cereal out of a plastic Cool-Whip container. I watched thick puffy clouds float lazily across the summer sky. Evenings in the country, away from city lights, promised a black velvety wonder. Stars saturated the nighttime canvas. I wasn’t concerned with understanding how clouds hung so delicately in the sky or why stars illuminated the night. In my youth and my naivete, I simply just enjoyed it.

As that small child, I believed that this is all there was, and it was perfect. As an adult, I gaze in awe realizing I see only a minuscule piece of what the universe offers. I believe there is more although I cannot see it. Understanding this mystery is beyond our grasp.

It seems we all want to make sense of our world. Astrologists and mathematicians calculate and research the heavens to gain a greater understanding, but we are simply not meant to figure out everything. The ways of the Universe are not meant to be understood.

When adversity strikes, we grapple with, why me, or how could this have happened? Well, why not me? Not one of us is exempt from problems and losses because this world is imperfect. Brene Brown interjects that, “imperfections are not inadequacies; they are reminders that we’re all in this together.” We cannot begin to comprehend why things don’t work out according to our plan, but that is because it was never our plan in the first place.

Instead, offer condolences to those who suffer. Donate to a charity, bring cookies over to a neighbor just because. Be aware of everyone else, and in doing so, we create a kindred space for when we too will need a shoulder to lean on or a hand to hold.

The mystery can be far more mesmerizing than the answers.

wednesday, August 9, 2023 Quote of the week

“Leap, and the net will appear."

John Burroughs

Metacognition. I adore this word. It means to think or reflect about your thinking, so metacognate for a few moments on the following: How many times have you thrown caution to the wind and just let go? Has there been a time when you have pinched your nose, held your breath, closed your eyes, and jumped?

My daughter’s best friend, Esther, jumped off a mountain in Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland earlier this summer. Please no audible gasp! She actually paraglided off the mountain, while attached to an experienced instructor. I cannot begin to fathom the depth of her exhilaration! “It was definitely a leap of faith,” Esther told me, “but one that cleared my mind and truly made me weightless in an amazing way.”

Perhaps not as bold as Esther’s adventure, but everyday we all take leaps of faith. When planning a road trip, we have faith we’ll arrive safely at our destination. Seldom do we think, “gee, I sure hope I don’t end up in a devastating crash and have to be airlifted to get medical treatment on the way to Aunt Harriet's.” Instead, we calculate the fastest routes and Google where the preferred fast food exits are. With the skills that we’ve learned and with a positive attitude, we head faithfully in a new direction…to a new destination.

Anytime we stretch beyond ourselves, we are leaping into a direction of uncertainty. Ray Bradbury said, “Jump, and you will find out how to unfold your wings as you fall.” During my most grievous time, I never ventured very far outside myself. It was safer to watch life from the sidelines. As a spectator in my own life, I would eliminate ever getting hurt again. If I stayed back from the ledge, opportunity and relationships would never find me. But how is this living? Eventually, I realized I had to start leaping.

The size of our grief will always stay the same as our love will. However, when we initiate a leap, no matter how small, we grow bigger around the grief. Elizabeth Postle summed this up quite nicely. “One day we will remember how lucky we were to have known their love with wonder, not grief.” We step to the ledge of uncertainty and trust the weightlessness!

"What if I fall?" Oh but my darling, What if you fly?” by Erin Hanson.

Featured picture is Esther's Leap!

wednesday, August 2, 2023 Quote of the week

“No one likes the process of pruning and the pain of loss, but fruit only grows on new wood.”

Leonard Sweet

The heat is on! The temperatures are spiking in the 90s and even reaching well up into triple digits for nearly two weeks now. The greenery, once lush and vibrant, is now limp as it strives to persevere the scorching. Singed brown, brittle leaves are the result of the sun’s wrath; once vibrant, they quietly sigh in resignation.

My garden pleaded for help, so I painstakingly pulled out the burned and withered portions of my hostas and the dead strands from my daylilies. I plucked off the suckers on my tomato plants, and picked off the baby leaves sprouting from my red maples. Removing the leaves or branches that are no longer serving it, revitalizes the thriving portion allowing the whole to become stronger. Nature simply doesn't have to work so hard nurturing something that won’t produce or that has shriveled. Since we too are nature, the same works for us!

In other words, stop watering the dead plants. Ponder what the dead plants are within your garden; what needs pruning and what can withstand? With grief, maybe it's an old routine. It took me a couple of years to fully shift the patterns of my Sundays after Jim passed. Sundays were our days, so I needed to prune the pieces that no longer worked for me since I was no longer an us.

Examine deeply what revitalizes your spirit and what withers your heart. Maybe they are routines like mine or maybe even a relationship, or your old familiar groups of friends. As Rumi stated, “Be like a tree and let the dead leaves drop.” This is your time to evaluate and cut away what no longer blossoms in your life.

“To nurture a garden,” Alfred Austin declared, “is to feed not just on the body but the soul,” so feed your soul! It is not heartless to decide what you need…you have rights as the survivor, the one left behind. In doing so, you are enveloping yourself in love and truth. Feed and water what helps you flourish, never hesitating to cut away from you what doesn’t.

The featured picture is my white spruce, which I dedicated to my son, Tim. I bought it from the “come save me” rack at Home Depot. Dead branches reigned at the top, but after cutting those away, look what happened!

Storylight A transformational journey SHARON M WIBLE

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