wednesday, June 28, 2023 Quote of the week

“We must concern ourselves absolutely with the things that are under our control and entrust the things not in our control to the universe.”

Musonius Rufus

“Did you feel that?” I yelled to my son who was on the other side of the house. “Feel what?” My question was answered. Hunkered down in a comfy chair reading, a rolling rumble undulated beneath me. Missouri had indeed experienced another small earthquake.

The next morning the students were eager to share their stories when I posed the question, “Who felt the earthquake last night?” My neighboring teacher and I spoke of the event as well…what we were doing and what it felt like for each of us. “Makes you stop to think who REALLY is in charge,” she said as she turned and disappeared behind her classroom door.

Sarah Young asks, “Who is in charge of your life? If it is you, then you have good reason to worry.” I suppose we could consume ourselves with worry over the likelihood of a more catastrophic quake because Missouri does reside on the New Madrid fault, but can anyone actually prevent the next quake or natural event? Absolutely not. However, those natural occurrences do grant us a time of reflection. If we worry about what might happen, we lose the blessing of the present moment…the moment when it is NOT happening. We have concerned ourselves needlessly and lost precious time.

Nevertheless, we can learn, and we can prepare. Knowing how to shut off the water and the gas to our homes is in our control. Keeping a flashlight nearby, stocking up on batteries, and buying a manual can opener are all in our control. Other than that, we ought to put our worries where they belong: in the future when something really does happen! Our all-knowing God is already there.

Maya Angelou said that although, “you may not control all the events that happen to you,…you can decide not to be reduced by them.” No one controls nature just as we have no control over the birth of new life or the ending of another. Enjoy the moment of joy, mourn at the loss, and embrace hope as the anchor connecting us to the one who does know.

God gives life with our first breath and brings us to our eternal life with our last.

wednesday, June 21, 2023 Quote of the week

“You never know what part of your story will be part of someone else’s healing.”

Jennifer Williamson

Altitude sickness is no joke! When my friends and I traveled to Peru, we boated on Lake Titicaca to the floating Uros Islands. The indigenous people welcomed us warmly, while teaching us about their culture. As we sat listening to their stories from the past, it was evident that little had changed in three thousand years.

Gradually though, my vision tunneled, and the voices around me became muffled. I began to feel nauseous and lightheaded. When we boarded the boat to take us back to Puno, I noticed that a few more in our group suffered the same symptoms; our guide informed us we had altitude sickness.

Before the trip back to Puno, the boat docked at one of the islands, which had a general store, so a few from our group went exploring. Those of us not feeling well either needed oxygen, or to just lie down. As we were strewn about the boat, we all began sharing stories.

“See this scar on my forehead? I was in a car accident in India. I didn’t think I was that injured until my husband said he could see my skull!” one woman recollected. “Have any of you noticed I am missing an index finger?” I asked. I then shared that fateful July day of my biking accident. This time was reminiscent of the film, Jaws, when the dudes on the boat were showing off their scars!

Stories told of their mothers, grandfathers...story after story…it was like a flood gate releasing our imperfect lives; those moments united us, and our friendships deepened. Our shared altitude sickness made us vulnerable, and I am grateful. Our vulnerability glorified our flaws. We absorbed each other's tales like a sponge to water. We exchanged a piece of ourselves with one another. We shared our scars, and it was beautiful.

Mariska Hargitay wrote, “By coming forward and sharing your story, you don't know the countless lives you change.” I think I truly learned more about myself through the stories from the group. Exposing our vulnerabilities actually made me stronger. The Yin and Yang…in order to know one, we have to also know the other.

The more you share, the more you connect. You do not have to carry anything alone. You are never alone.

I took the featured photo as we approached the islands!

wednesday, June 14, 2023 Quote of the week

“But someone very wise once told me that by opening our hearts, revealing our scars, we are made human and flawed and whole.”

Beneath a Scarlet Sky

by Mark T. Sullivan

Social media often presents an unhealthy and unrealistic view of the truth. The images and captions are only snippets of the many layers and complexities of life. During class one day, I raised my hand over a student and asked the others what the caption would be if this was posted on social media. Excitedly, they all chanted, “Teacher hits student!” I then gently rested my hand on the student’s back, looked him in the eye and said, “Great job.” We didn’t get the whole story, did we?

Although it is favorable to post vacations and fun events, there is always more to the story. We see our neighbors sunning on the beaches in Jamaica, but the epic twelve- hour flight delay was not posted. In his article, “Social Media is the Thief of Joy,” Jeff Swystun reports that, “Our profiles and posts are a deliberate and calculated curation of an idealized image we wish others to see and believe (and what we wish we could actually be).”

After losing my brother, my husband, and my mom all so close together, social media was depleting me from feeling any joy whatsoever. Absolutely, people have the privilege of posting whatever they care to, but I didn’t need to see it. I did not have the capacity, and I found myself comparing. It depleted me of any joy. It makes sense when Teddy Roosevelt commented that, “comparison is a thief of joy.” Slipping into a pit of self-comparison harbored for me anxiety and depression.

Joseph Campbell noted that, “Your sacred space is where you can find yourself again and again,” so I retreated from Facebook for a time. Grief had left me feeling like an astronaut...a speck in space untethered and floating aimlessly in space. Overtime, I managed my way back to the spaceship, my sacred space, and began writing about grief, not in memes, but rather in deep reflection. The open wounds of grief scabbed over while I gained a greater insight and a deeper connectedness with others.

Revealing our scars, as Sullivan writes, enables us the freedom to express pain as well as joy.

wednesday, June 7, 2023 Quote of the week

“Gratitude lifts our eyes off the things we lack so we might see the blessings we possess.”

Max Lucado

After Jim’s diagnosis, he was devastated; we both were. His whole family and circle of friends were, which was to be expected. However, after his physicians set a course of action for his treatments he mindfully set two precedents: to not be defined by his illness and to give gratitude.

In a serendipitous way, cancer gave him life. Jim chose to gain a new and holistic viewpoint. Wayne Dyer stated that, “when you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.” It allowed him time to reflect on the importance and relevance of his life. His illness empowered him to live more authentically. It equally empowered him to challenge his fears and apprehensions professionally, personally, and spiritually. Jim crafted something beautiful out of something so tragic.

Eckhart Tolle wrote that, “acknowledging the good that you already have in your life is the foundation for all abundance” and Jim recognized that. We did not have to travel far for his healthcare; a few of the country’s best hospitals are literally in our backyard. As we drove through the layers of the hospital’s parking garage, license plates from Georgia, Tennessee, and Kentucky were among the many we observed. “How lucky are we that we get to go home after treatment?” he’d comment. “These people have so much more to worry about.” And he prayed for them.

Throughout the remainder of his life, Jim worked, traveled, partied, and enjoyed his loved ones. He lived completely. Jim’s sister and I were reminiscing about the time she was determining how much ham to buy for her son’s, our Godchild’s, baptism party. Jim’s solution was to buy a whole pig and roast it! Why not?

No matter what life throws at us, it is a gift. Maybe not the one we’d prefer to unwrap but a gift beyond our understanding. “Even in the chaos of everyday life,” Brit Morin says, “moments of gratitude remind us to hold on to the good things.” We had each other. We created a beautiful life together. All of which I hold onto tightly!

Storylight A transformational journey SHARON M WIBLE

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