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God’s Own Rhythm…

Transported, temporarily, by aerobic exercise and our bodies’ euphoric chemicals that exercise releases one can imagine other dimensions where God’s rhythm of the universe is more obvious…

Listening to this after today’s bike ride, the following thought occurred to me.  Einstein was disturbed that on the sub-atomic level creation seemed to him too chaotic.  But maybe the unified theory that he so desperately sought to find which he believe would unify the orderly larger universe with the randomness of the sub-atomic was actually God’s own music.  I suggest that maybe there is a music to the universe that joins it all into one.  Listening to Jerry Douglas’ “Big Shuffle” with video that could represent a sub-atomic view helped me visualize the possible: ’music of the spheres’ God’s Own Rhythm….

DKS

First time back on my bike after a week of fighting a nasty cold.  Unlike Patty Griffin I am a fighter who sometimes needs to ‘give up’ to heal.  Still I believe we must continue to ‘fight the good fight’ and help one another carry our burdens…

Dr. J. Dean Cole the orthopedic surgeon who virtually rebuilt my left leg (see ‘The Accident’ page) sent me a letter with the name of a dentist whose leg was as damaged as mine.  The dentist, Bill, and I talked on the phone this morning for a long time.  In an auto accident decades ago his leg was severely damaged.  He needed ‘total knee replacement.’  No orthopedic surgeon was willing to tackle the issue.  Bill was desperate.  A surgeon friend suggested he consult Dr. Cole, who said,  “We can fix that.”  He gave Bill my name and Bill’s phone numbers Dr. Cole mailed to me.  Since we’ve move I got Dr. Cole’s letter just yesterday.  So I gave Bill a call.

We had a long conversation during which I gave him the history of my leg.  Bill and I share the blessing of ‘never giving up.’  In spite of our pain we refuse to sit down and sit still.  He exercised in and through the pain just like I did.  “Life is to be lived,” Bill said.  (See my post ‘Carpe Diem’)  Bill’s motto was ‘do it now’ which he often shared with his patients. He believed it was in his genes that made him so persistent.  Just like I believed I was born this way. He refereed soccer games with a leg he could not bend at all.  People would ask him if he was OK.  He would tell them, “Just Watch.”  Needless to say we hit it off.  Those who know me know that I am like bull dog.  I too don’t give up

I encouraged him that if anyone could help him it was Dr. Cole.  I believe that he is a Gifted Surgeon.  Bill thanked me for the call.  He called it a Blessing and said I was an angel.  The call was a Blessing to me also since Bill and I were sharing our burdens, lightening each other’s loads.  We are after all called to be God’s hands and feet…

I hope Bill  keeps in touch.

So: “Do it now!”  “Don’t give up!” 

Out of darkness into Light…

Part of my Daily RPMs (Readings, Prayers and Meditations) in addition to reading the Bible is to read CS Lewis’ daily offerings from two of his daily reflections books.  I read this following offering each year.  It reminds me that I have a daily task of surrendering my stubborn will to the Lord.  If I take back the wheel as I drive through this life, I know what the results will be.  I have learned the ‘hard way.’  My way can make a mess of life and the lives of those around me.  But if I yield to His Will life becomes more than I could ever have expected.  The journey becomes breathtakingly beautiful and joy filled…

“In other words, fallen man is not simply an imperfect creature who needs improvement: he is a rebel who must lay down his arms. Laying down your arms, surrendering, saying you are sorry, realising that you have been on the wrong track and getting ready to start life over again from the ground floor—that is the only way out of our ‘hole’. This process of surrender—this movement full speed astern—is what Christians call repentance. Now repentance is no fun at all. It is something much harder than merely eating humble pie. It means unlearning all the self-conceit and self-will that we have been training ourselves into for thousands of years. It means killing part of yourself, undergoing a kind of death. In fact, it needs a good man to repent. And here comes the catch. Only a bad person needs to repent: only a good person can repent perfectly.  The worse you are the more you need it and the less you can do it. The only person who could do it perfectly would be a perfect person—and he would not need it.”

    —from Mere Christianity

“Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Ephesians 5:17-20 NIV

A few decades ago I emerged from a long dark night of the soul.  With help or friends, who showed me how they surrendered, I turn around and headed Home by a different Way.  That new journey has been filled with ‘Miracles’ and Blessings.  I will continue on this New Way, the Good Lord being my Guide…Let us all Let Go and Enjoy the Journey …

Thanks be to God…

DKS

“Explore daily the will of God.”-CG Jung

This is a re-post…which I augmented at the end…

 Exploring God’s Will

The other morning my readings all seemed to focus on ‘God’s Will’ for us.  Self reliance, determination, perseverance, and desire (my Dad’s favorite personal attribute) those were and still sometimes are my driving forces.  All these are characteristics of a type ‘A’ personality. Driven or as my son-in-law described me, “You are like a ‘bulldog’, grabbing hold and not letting go.”  It was my way or the highway, as they say.  All this can lead to success in the material sense.  I suppose it did. (Is this human nature?)

Those of us who are like this appear to be happy and successful.  Appearances can be deceiving.  After all humans are: body, mind, soul and spirit.  We are created in God image yet we wear masks.  Our masks are hiding who we are.  Putting on a good show succeeds only in fooling ourselves.  Scripture (not just the Bible) tells us we can only ‘see in the mirror dimly.’  As CS Lewis tells us that we live in the ‘Shadowlands’.  Modern physics confirms that indeed we see only a small part of the total reality.  So we wear masks.  I believe through these masks we see the world not as it really is but as we like it to be.

What is our ‘True Self’ and how do we find it?  To be a seeker of our real Self, Jung has it right.  ‘We must daily explore the Will of God.’  Self-centered efforts for physical needs, wants and desires may satisfy our body, usually only temporarily, but there still remains a hole in our soul.  The seeking our souls have always yearned for is a spiritual quest not a material (physical) one.  A journey led by the spirit, using all our being: body, mind and soul.  At times there are glimpses of the true reality.  We see the world, its creature and people differently as God sees them and created them.  We have moments of clarity in spite of our masks.

It is our will, self will, that blinds us to the Truth.  For today I pray, “Lord help me to know, see, and do Your Will.”

Augmented…

Life is a journey where God offers us pleasures along the way.  Looking back I see pleasures, guidepost and altered routes.  People who changed or inspired us, things that strengthened us.   All these are placed in our Path by our Creator.  The secret to me is to enJOY the process without expectation of results…I must get out of His Way but I am a stubborn student so God’s wisdom comes slowly…

Enjoy a little PLEASURE while we play ‘Hide and Seek’ with God…

(One of today’s biking songs…)

OR…

Apparently Jerry Douglass wrote this WHIMSICALLY wonderful piece if music.  He is currently my favorite musician…I must find a concert of his near by…

DKS

Two of my greatest Passions have been Skiing and Fly-Fishing…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AYZUz6NuyVw

Both skiing and fly-fishing require rhythm and artistry.  First you visualize then you execute.  In that sense both are like dancing.  Both take you to a place where time stands still.  Standing in a stream with the sound of the water or standing atop a slope in the snowy silence you arrive in a serene place.  Then there comes the thrill of the run or the catch…What a beautiful place to be… 

(Notice that the Big Bull Trout was caught on a BLACK WOOLY BOOGER which go deep and catch big ones!)

DKS

Travel with me in our mind’s imagination down the road…

perfect cadence for biking…

Bike Riding…began in earnest nearly fifty years ago.  Just out of the USAF, back to Florida we came.  My leg had kept me from being sent to Vietnam but it was continuing to plague me.  It would swell, get stiff and hurt.  A famous snow skier, Jean-Claude Killy, of that period was having similar knee problems.  He rehabbed with biking.  Daily I rode.  About 15 or 20 years ago I figured I had ridden around the world five or six times.  It actually began in our garage when I was about 5 or 6.  That is part of “The Accident” story…I Listen to music when I ride.  Jerry Douglas and similar ‘Bluegrass’ artist have a rhythm that is a perfect cadence for biking…Travel with me in our mind’s imagination do the road…

PS … My Emory Sigma Chi Fraternity brother and roommate in dental school ,Leo Borrell, (Leo was in med school) sent me this link about biking and physics.  The article in ‘NATURE’ is written by leo’s son Brendan…

https://www.nature.com/news/the-bicycle-problem-that-nearly-broke-mathematics-1.20281

DKS

God ‘won’t give up on us’.

I read this morning:

Jesus said to St. Peter, “But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren. And he said unto him, Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death. And he said, I tell thee, Peter, the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.” Luke 22:32-34 KJV

Then when Jesus was going through His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the day of His Crucification His disciples abandon Him.  Even the most saintly of us fail and fall short.  Yet He won’t give up on us…We are help one another bare our crosses.  We are His hands and feet…So let’s not give up!

Won’t Give up with Lyrics…

DKS

Carpe diem has been my motto since birth.  As I tell the story of “The Accident” I realize that with me it was nature’s doing.  It didn’t come through nurture.  I discovered that I had to be harnessed in the crib  at the hospital at two months old.  That nature, of being energetic or now they label it hyperactive, has brought great JOY and also pain…It is part of the reason why I bike daily and why I am an exercise nut…This was today top biking song which pretty much sums it up…We all need to ‘seize the day’ every morning…

This is the Face of Courage…

of Owning the pain...

I was on the pediatric ward with boys like Bryan. They however usually suffer from polio…Their courage was infectious…

Here are the lyrics…

Do not quench the Spirit. (1 Thessalonians 5:19 NIV)

When retirement was thrust upon me, a resolution I made was to read books I had wanted to read. One of those was “Dark Night of the Soul” by St. John of the Cross. I am still studying this mystical work. I admit that I will never fully understand it. CS Lewis discusses Christian mysticism below:

“I do not at all regard mystical experience as an illusion. I think it shows that there is a way to go, before death, out of what may be called ‘this world’ – out of the stage set. Out of this; but into what? That’s like asking an Englishman, ‘Where does the sea lead to?’ He will reply, ‘To everywhere on earth, including Davy Jones’s locker, except England.’ The lawfulness, safety, and utility of the mystical voyage depends not at all on its being mystical – that is, on its being a departure – but on the motives, skill, constancy of the voyager, and on the Grace of God. The true religion gives value to its mysticism; mysticism does not validate the religion in which it happens to occur.

I shouldn’t be at all disturbed if it could be shown that diabolical mysticism, or drugs, produce experiences indistinguishable (by introspection) from those of the great Christian mystics. Departures are all alike; it is the landfall that crowns the voyage. The saint, by being a saint, proves that his mysticism (if he is a mystic; not all saints are) led him aright; the fact that he has practiced mysticism could never prove his sanctity.”- CS Lewis

Post Script “The dark night of the soul comes just before revelation. When everything is lost, and all seems darkness, then comes the new life and all that is needed.” ~ Joseph Campbell, “A Joseph Campbell Companion: Reflections on the Art of Living”

Remembering our days at Shore Acres Drive, we recall all the people, flora, fauna and wildlife that were such a BLESSING…It all will be missed…

ESH Photos

I believe that to remain spiritually fit, we must exercise daily like we do to remain physically fit. In a moment of clarity during my darkest times I choose to ‘go Home by another Way’.  From that day onward I began to practice daily the routine of spiritual fitness.  Each morning before dawn I begin my day with what I call my RPMs (Readings, Prayers and Meditations).  Then hopefully God sets my mind on the right Path for the day.  As I stumble during the day He nudges me back in the right direction.  ‘Keeping It Simple’ and ‘Doing the Next Right Thing’ help me to harness my self-will.  Since taking back my will opens the door to ‘unclean spirits.’…It requires effort, discipline and constant attendance but ‘He is the Way, the Truth and the Light’…His Way has led to a life beyond my expectations…I came to believe that God Loves me in spite of myself…For that I am Grateful!

 (A cup of coffee has been part of the morning ritual since the beginning.  In the last few years yin yoga was added to the ritual.  The yoga helps my RA and enhances the prayers and meditations.)

DKS

The Divine Dance…

“There is joy in the dance, but it does not exist for the sake of joy. It does not even exist for the sake of good, or of love. It is Love Himself, and Good Himself, and therefore happy. It does not exist for us, but we for it. . . .” CS Lewis

This old photo is not exactly a ‘Divine Dance’ but this fits this metaphor…

Each morning, before dawn, I get up early, get a cup of coffee and do my RPMs (readings, prayers and meditations).   Sometimes Lexi joins me.  I have done this since 1985 when my life needed to change direction.  This morning I read again this from CS Lewis that contains two metaphors, which I can easily visualize, about living life according to God’s will for us.  One: that life is a Divine Dance we are asked to join.  Two: that the Good News (God’s Love for us) is a Good Infection that we catch and spread to others.

Here is the reading:

The Divine Dance (“A Good Infection”)

“And now what does it all matter?  It matters more than anything else in the world.  The whole dance, or drama, or pattern of this three-Personal Life (in God Himself) is to be played out in each one of us: or (putting it the other way round) each of us has got to enter the pattern, take his place in the dance.  There is no other way to happiness for which we were made.  Good things as well as bad, you know, are caught by kind of infection.  If you want to get warm you must stand near the fire: if you want to be wet you must get into the water.  If you want joy, power, peace, eternal life, you must get close to, or even into, the thing that has them.  They are not a sort of prize which God could, if He chose, just hand out to anyone.  They are a great fountain of energy and beauty spurting up at the very center of reality.  If you are close to it, the spray will wet you: if you are not you will remain dry.  Once a man (or woman) is united to God, how could he not live forever?  Once a man is separated from God, what can he do but wither and die?” CS  Lewis

Of course as we join the Dance, we immediately realize that we are all like Hobbits with big hairy feet.  That is, we are a bit clumsy and step on toes occasionally.  We may not be good dancers but we are invited to join the celebration anyway.  (Actually I consider myself a good dancer…;)

Later:

Here are more of CS Lewis’ thoughts on the ‘good infection’:

“Remember what I said about ‘good infection’.  One of our own race (Jesus) has this new life: if we get close to Him we shall catch it from Him.

Of course you can express this in all sorts of different ways.  You can say that Christ died for our sins.  You may say that the Father has forgiven us because Christ has done for us what we ought to have done.  You may say that we are washed in the blood of the Lamb. You may say that Christ has deafen death.  They are all true.”  CS Lewis

To be caught up in the ‘Divine Dance’ or catch the ‘Divine Infection’ we must surrender to God’s Grace and move closer to Him.

DKS

MERRY CHRISTMAS… 

and a BLESSED NEW YEAR…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1oHJR2g7Tw&list=RDA1oHJR2g7Tw&t=63

From beyond the fabric of the time-space continuum God came as an INFANT to live among us.  His coming was the GRACE that changed us from created beings to begotten Children.  I have heard His coming described as if a drop of dye was dripped into a basin of water.  It permeated all.  I have also heard it called a ‘good infection.’ The Creator, the Almighty came in Person to be with us on this fragile earth we live on.

Even then God did not force this Grace upon us.  He left it to us to choose by our own free-will to receive His Gift or not.  He came in humbleness and meekness because He so Loved us.  Our sinful nature was known to Him.  He knew we were ‘rebels who needed to lay down our arms and surrender.’  Some surrender easily.  Others like myself are ‘fox-hole’ Christians.  For some of us only the ‘dark night of the soul’ allows us to see His Grace.  In those times of desperation we choose to be infected by His Grace.

This Season I relish God’s Amazing Grace…

DKS

The Middle Fork of Flathead River

This summer in Montana all of us spent time in, on and around the Middle Fork of Flathead River, whether we were fishing in it, white water rafting on it, throwing or skipping stones into it, or just breathing in it’s beauty.  This video can not capture it’s splendor…

Bearing our Crosses…

‘The Problem of Pain’ by CS Lewis is only one of a myriad of books written to deal with life’s misfortunes and perceived injustices. Why do bad things happen to good people? Yet it is also universally accepted that lasting lessons are learned only with effort and difficulty. Difficult times have been my greatest teachers. It can be observed in your own life and that of others: that painful events, tragedies and what seems to be misfortune often turn out to be stepping stones up to plateaus of higher wisdom.

The real problem is to have Faith and preserver in spite of what appears to be insurmountable obstacles. That is the true RUB. It may be easy to say for instance that, “This too shall pass.” But our hearts cry out, “I don’t want to do this. I can’t take this. It’s not fair.” Still we know that all spiritual beliefs and practices tell us that difficulties and obstacles in our way serve to strengthen us when we confront them with courage and determination. In these moments we cry out for help:

O Lord, I pray that I may accept everything that comes my way as a part of life.  I pray that I may make use of it in helping other people.-Anonymous

“Therefore I say to you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air, for they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? Which of you by worrying can add one cubit to his stature?”
Matthew 6:25-27 NKJV

Today I will listen for the Heartbeat of God in His creation and His creatures.

Here from this morning’s readings are CS Lewis’ thoughts on:

‘The Necessity of Tribulation’
“I am progressing along the path of life in my ordinary contentedly fallen and godless condition, absorbed in a merry meeting with my friends for the morrow or a bit of work that tickles my vanity today, a holiday or a new book, when suddenly a stab of abdominal pain that threatens serious disease, or a headline in the newspapers that threatens us all with destruction, sends this whole pack of cards tumbling down. At first I am overwhelmed, and all my little happinesses look like broken toys. Then, slowly and reluctantly, bit by bit, I try to bring myself into the frame of mind that I should be in at all times. I remind myself that all these toys were never intended to possess my heart, that my true good is in another world and my only real treasure is Christ. And perhaps, by God’s Grace, I succeed, and for a day or two become a creature consciously dependent on God and drawing its strength from the right sources. But the moment the threat is withdrawn, my whole nature leaps back to the toys: I am anxious, God forgive me, to banish from my mind the only thing that supported me under the threat because it is now associated with the misery of those few days thus the terrible necessity of the tribulation is only too clear. God has had me for but forty-eight hours and then ONLY by dint of taking everything else away from me. Let Him but sheathe that sword for a moment and I behave like a puppy when the hated bath is over – I shake myself as dry as I can and race off to reacquire my comfortable dirtiness, if not in the nearest manure heap, at least in the nearest flower bed. And that is why tribulations cannot cease until God either sees us as remade or sees that our remaking is now hopeless.”

Finally:

“I have seen great beauty of spirit in some who were great sufferers. I have seen men, for the most part, grow better not worse with advancing years, and I have seen the last illness produce treasures of fortitude and meekness from most unpromising subjects…” CS Lewis

Lord, help us to bear our crosses and help others to carry their’s with Grateful Hearts…

For Jesus said, ““And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me. He who has found his life will lose it, and he who has lost his life for My sake will find it.”
‭‭Matthew‬ ‭10:38-39‬ ‭NASB‬‬

(This morning I had similar thoughts but this old post summed up most of what I was thinking.  This was originally posted as ‘Tribulations’ on September 28, 2015.  I only slightly modified it today…)

Take a few minutes to be INSPIRED…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ewTyltKvB2Q

This is my favorite quote from Lewis since I can totally relate to it:

“…Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pains: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world…

From – The Business of Heaven (The Problem of Pain) – by CS Lewis

I have observed life for seven going on eight decades now.  I believe we are all wounded or disable in one way or another.  I have been in many hospital wards with other crippled children and dealt with physical pain for my lifetime.  I watched our hearing impaired daughter persist in slowly learning to hear and speak.  I’ve watched friends struggle with alcoholism and addictions.  I have seen other deal with burdens other than physical ones: emotional and mental.  All these burdens test us spiritually.  As a Christian I am keenly aware of what it means to ‘pick up your Cross’.  We are called NOT to give up or give in to life’s darkness.  We need to get up, don’t look back, look fear in the face, and take the next step ‘forward.’

I observe that those who face their ‘pain’, go through it will come out the other side stronger, healthier and on a higher plane…As others have said repeatedly that it is during those ‘dark time’ that we grow.  Those ‘Dark Nights of The Soul,’ open our eyes to see the world differently.  So differently that I believe we get a glimpse of ‘Heaven.’ We see as God would have us see.

I thank God and am Grateful to all those people in my life who have helped me to grow into the person I am today.  I used to be ashamed of my scares.  Those scares told me that I was weak and imperfect.  But people Loved me in spite of my wounds.  Eventually I learned to see myself and others as ‘Wounded Healers’ as Henri Nouwen wrote.  We are called to ‘Take up Our Crosses’ and followed Him.  In the processes we help others to bare their burdens too…My scares show the path that I have taken.  That path was often difficult and even for that I am GRATEFUL…

(I plan to write a story about my  pain but that is still in my head fermenting.)

I don’t know how this woman sees her disability as I would as a Christian but: Take a couple of minutes to be INSPIRED and to enJOY the beauty of fly-fishing and the scenery of the San Juan River….

We are All just learning to Fly…

So lets get up Now….

DKS

Hurricane Irma…

We are fine… The eye passed right over us but Jan, Lexi (our rescue dog), and I slept through it.  When Irma got to Leesburg it was a category 1-2 with winds of 80 plus.

We are still, Thursday 14th, without power as are a lot of Floridians.  The generator I bought in 2005 after that rash of hurricanes cranked right up.  Gas is available now to keep the generator running until the power comes back on which the city says will be today.  Our yard was covered with debris so it has become a daily job of cleaning up.  Today a tree service crew is coming to remove two very large oaks that fell into our yard.

I grew up in Florida with no AC but I was younger and more tolerant then…All in all it could have been worse and our lovely Keys are a disaster….

I grew up in Florida with no AC but I was younger and more tolerant then…This too shall pass….

The clean up will continue…

DKS

(That is NOT Greta Garbo in the sunglasses.  The sunglasses are another tale.)

“Life is a journey,” they say.  Life is about the choices we make.  Life is about enJOYing the journey.  Life is about being thankful for what you have.  Life is about seeing people, places and things as GOD wants us to see them with ‘fresh eyes.’  Life is in the end is a GIFT from our Creator.  So ‘Capri Diem’ – “This is the day the Lord has made; We will be glad and rejoice in it.” – Psalm 118:24

https://vimeo.com/228711680

Here is what CS Lewis has to say about ‘Being in Love and Marriage.’

 If the old fairy-tale ending ‘They lived happily ever after’ is taken to mean ‘They felt for the next fifty years exactly as they felt the day before they were married’, then it says what probably never was nor ever would be true, and would be highly undesirable if it were. Who could bear to live in that excitement for even five years? What would become of your work, your appetite, your sleep, your friendships? But, of course, ceasing to be ‘in love’ need not mean ceasing to love. Love in this second sense—love as distinct from ‘being in love’—is not merely a feeling. It is a deep unity, maintained by the will and deliberately strengthened by habit; reinforced by (in Christian marriages) the grace which both partners ask, and receive, from God. They can have this love for each other even at those moments when they do not like each other; as you love yourself even when you do not like yourself. They can retain this love even when each would easily, if they allowed themselves, be ‘in love’ with someone else. ‘Being in love’ first moved them to promise fidelity: this quieter love enables them to keep the promise. It is on this love that the engine of marriage is run: being in love was the explosion that started it.

  —from Mere Christianity

Our Anniversary Gift to each other was to Celebrate with the whole family in Montana.  A grand time was had by all.  I was born in Great Falls, Montana.  We moved to Florida when I was four and a half.  Jan and I both LOVE the west so it was special.  I will be adding more about our trip to Montana so stay tuned…

DKS

enJOY your Journey…

I have been one since college days. Then when I left the USAF biking became a daily ritual.  I loved the endorphins that exercise produces.  The blahs that college studies created were erased by a half or mile swim in the Emory pool.  I lost track of how many trips around the world I’ve made on my bikes over the years…Exercise has been a HAVE TO THING for years…So daily I practice yin yoga and rigorously exercise…I thank the LORD that I still can and still have the desire….

This was todays ‘Highlight’ Exercise song….

Arriving…

We spent a long day getting from Leesburg to Great Falls with a long layover in Minneapolis.  We arrived in  Great Falls as the sun was setting behind the Rockies in the distance…

Fourth of July in Great Falls…

Dad and Mom moved from Great Falls to Jacksonville, Florida when I was four years old.   Therefore, I have only vague memories of living there.  One memory was of feeding ducks and geese in a pond.  This is the pond which is actually is spring fed and empties into the Missouri River.  We also found the hospital where I was born and two months later where I was burned.  It is no longer the Columbus Hospital but a business center.  The building is beautiful.  It is constantly being restored by the owner.   We also discovered where Mom and Dad lived…

We stopped in Missoula….

We stopped for the day in Missoula.  This is the home of the University of Montana.  The Blackfoot River runs through there heart of town.  The movie, ‘A River Runs through it’, was filmed here….A favorite of mine….

A Day in Coeur D’Alene…

Coeur D’Alene is a popular spot.  Personally I (David) was disappointment.  There are other parts of Idaho that I find more beautiful…

Flathead Lake, Montana…

What a SURPRISE!  As we drove from Coeur D’Alene, Idaho, to Kalispell, Montana, we crested the highway to look down into the Flathead Lake Valley.  Photos and words can not describe the beauty.  Flathead Lake is the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi River.  Unfortunately we only had time to take in all it’s grandeur as we passed by…

The whole Clan went Fly Fishing one day…. 

On Wednesday the whole crew went fly fishing.  Our guide service was  Orvis approved.  The young folks went to ponds on the Glacier Outfitters’ property while Jarrett, Danny, Krista and I floated and fished the Middle Fork of the Flathead (dry flies only and catch and release).  The young one were instructed in all aspects of fly fishing.  Everyone caught fish and all had a great time…I may have some new fly fishing diehards in the family…

DKS

Recently I have rediscovered Mumford & Sons.  They are heavy into spiritual messages in their lyrics.  I am an Episcopalian or Anglican so this seems to be misdirection on my part.  However, I do love bluegrass and Celtic music so that is the fascination I suppose.  I also tend to like the high energy they exude….

DKS

enJOY….

I will Wait…

(Trust)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGKfrgqWcv0

Roll Away your Stone…

(Let Go..)

Amazing Grace, Indeed…

(I am Thankful)

Awakening…

“So then, let us not be like others, who are asleep, but let us be awake and sober.”
‭‭1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5:6‬ ‭NIV‬‬

enJOY….

One Hot August Morning…

…on the Horsepasture River in North Carolina

The Flooded Salmon River (Idaho)…

I ended up in the river in July years ago.  The late snow melt flooded the Salmon River leaving Papa wet and disappointed.  Our brave dog, Henri, leaped into the water to save me….

The coming adventure….

I have loved fly fishing since my dental school days in Atlanta. Then there were my cutthroat trout years in New Mexico and the West. Many years wadding in the rivers and streams of western North Carolina came later.
In July our family ventures to Montana. Reservations have been made with Orvis for EVERYONE to cast a fly in hopes of landing a trout…

DKS

We plan to ‘Get Wild’…

Reservations have been made with Orvis for EVERYONE to cast a fly in hopes of landing a trout…

DKS

Remembering St. Francis’ Prayer…

Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.
O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.

DKS

I read this again today.
From Mere Christianity by CS Lewis
…”what Christians means by the statement ‘God is Love’. They believe that the living, dynamic activity of love has been going on in God forever and has created everything.
And that, by the way, is perhaps the most important difference between Christianity and all other religions: that in Christianity God is not a static thing…but a dynamic, pulsating activity, a life, almost a kind of drama.  Almost, if you will not to think me irreverent, a kind of dance.”

The more we love others, say through acts of kindness, I believe the more we learn to love ourselves.  Like Lewis I believe as we join the Divine Dance we become more the True Self that God intends for us to be that Lewis so often writes about. The trick for me is to join the dance even when it is hard. My physical pain and stiffness can turn into a mental and spiritual obstacles that keeps me from the dance and therefore from God’s Love and Grace…And prevents me from loving others as I am meant to…

As I wrote in a similar post in February of 2015: Of course as we join the Dance, we immediately realize that we are all like Hobbits with big hairy feet.  That is, we are a bit clumsy and step on each other’s toes occasionally.  We may not be good dancers but we are invited to join the celebration anyway.

DKS

The First Job Each Morning…

“The real problem of the Christian life comes where people do not usually look for it.  It comes the very moment you wake up each morning.  All your wishes and hopes for the day rush at you like wild animals.  And the first job each morning consists simply in shoving them all back;  in listening to that other voice, taking that other point of view, letting the other larger, stronger, quieter life come flowing in.  And so on, all day.  Standing back from all your natural fussing and frettings; coming in out of the wind.

We can only do it for moments at first.  But from those moments the new life will be spreading through our system:  because now we are letting Him work at the right part of us.  It is the difference between paint, which is merely laid on the surface, and a dye or stain which soaks right through.  He never talked vague, idealistic gas.  When  He said, ‘Be perfect’, He meant it.  He meant that we must go in for the full treatment.  It is hard; but the sort of compromise we are hankering after is harder – in fact impossible.  It may be hard for an egg to turn into to a bird:  it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learned to fly while remaining an egg.  We are like eggs at present.  And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg.  We must be hatched or go bad.”

From January 2nd in “The Business of Heaven – Daily Readings” by CS Lewis

DKS

May You Stay Forever Young…

In the summer of 1962 my friends and I travelled from Cape Cod to Newport for the Newport Folk Festival. Bob Dylan made his debute…I have been a fan of his since then.  Bob Dylan has decided not to attend the Nobel Prize ceremony but will send a written response to his being awarded this year’s prize for poetry.  I suspect that he, like me, believe the Noble Awards have lost their value since awards have been given to people like Obama who did nothing to deserve such an accolade…enJOY this look back at Dylan!

Or this version:

The Choices we make…

The Teacher explains our power to choose:
‘There are only two kinds of people in the end: those who say to God, “Thy will be done,” and those to whom God says, “Thy will be done.” All that are in Hell, choose it. Without that self-choice there could be no Hell. No soul that seriously and constantly desires JOY will ever miss it. Those who seek find. Those who knock it is opened.’

CS Lewis from The Great Divorce

Our rescue dog, Lexi…

Our rescue dog, Lexi…

Lexi is a ‘rescue’ dog. She has a ‘rescued spirit.’ She exudes happiness, enjoys the simplest pleasures, obeys eagerly, and generally appreciates being saved. She remembers where she came from. She now is content with just belonging and participating in whatever happens. Yes, she is often frightened and needs reassuring. She was after all abandoned, trapped and caged.
I identify with Lexi. I must remind myself that I too have been rescued. Each moment is a Gift that I never deserved, a new Life, a fresh start. The trick is to ‘Keep it Simple’, savor every moment and ‘seize the day.’ I choose, like Lexi, to live with a Grateful Heart. Just for today, Lord….
(This thought occurred to me while Lexi and I were walking around the neighborhood.)