Category: Uncategorized

 I am still working a a video tribute to Skye…

Day by Day…

Solitary Exerciser…

Epiphany: a moment in which you suddenly see or understand something in a new or very clear way.

(This video has been on our website before.)

Today is Epiphany…

We have all experienced different epiphanies during our lives. Nearly three decades ago I had a major epiphany. One Dark Night, literally, I saw clearly that I was on the wrong road, again literally as well as figuratively. It was a road to ruin that would lead to disaster and destruction. I take no credit for that moment of clarity. God was there and I cried out to Him, “help me.” The way I was heading only meant more physical, mental and spiritual pain with a ultimate bad ending.

If I said that I saw the Light immediately like Paul did on the road to Damascus, I would be lying. It was more like what happened to the Magi after they had seen the Christ and worshipped Him. The Wisemen knew in their hearts they needed to “go home by another way.” These pagan magicians from the orient were given the Gift of new sight. So I had to trust that God would show me the new way.

Then the Lord began to put people in my life that I now realize were there to guide me. Ultimately we are supposed to help each other.  I was willing to be lead in what has turned out to be a spiritual journey. We are all in this Time/Space reality only temporarily as part of our spiritual life. I have come to believe this present state is not the total reality. “Stop warping this present reality with chemicals,” they told me. I did. That was just the beginning. Slowly the physical, mental and spiritual fog began to lift. I could see a new road ahead. “Just keep moving forward,” they said. “Each day ask God for help like you did to begin with,” they told me. So when I came to forks in the road, mountains to climb or rivers to cross, I asked the Lord for help. He has always answered. Some answers I liked. Some turned out to be wonderful surprises. While other answers required struggle and effort on my part. For those He provided His strength.

I continue on this New Way believing also that we can dance and play as we go down the road. I suppose there is a little bit of “Hobbit’ in me and all of us. Like Hobbits I enjoy friends, fellowship, games and playing.  Yet we all have big hairy feet and can be clumsy. My family will attest to this!

Lord help me to see your world as You do…Life is after all about how we see and perceive our world. Then we will act accordingly, hopefully.

Later: it is time to revisit “Journey of the Magi” by TS Eliot.  I listened at:  http://www.poetryarchive.org/poem/journey-magi

DKS

O wise one…

(This photo is a family joke)

Jan thought that my December 31 post was my best.  She encouraged me to write posts myself and not only quote others.  Since I was an english major in college (that is a story itself), she felt like it was natural for me to want to express myself in writing.  I reminded her and myself that I was an average english student but that I have always had a tendency to theatrics. Speaking of my tendency to drama she posted a picture of me at about age 21-22 on my birthday on FaceBook. She said, “I was a husband who never ceases to amaze me with his love of life.”   I suppose that is true about me. For you see I never wanted to “miss out on anything.”  However, I must admit that I have few original ideas.  Like CS Lewis I believe most all original and wise things have already been said by someone before.  We can only express the same truths in new and fresh ways.  So here I go just hoping that my ego stays intact.

She asked me, ”Oh mister english major:

If it is;

I drink

I drank

I have drunk

And;

I sink

I sank

I have sunk

Then why not;

I think

I thank

I have thunk?”

Now that is a brilliant question requiring a brilliant answer in response.  Or was this simply an effort to expose my naivety?  So maybe the answer doesn’t need to be that intelligent.  I can handle this…

Someone some time has said that, “the only thing in life is to take seriously is to not take oneself too seriously.”  That seems like a good place to start.

I hate to get biblical again but how about this?  Some where in Genesis, I think, is the story of the tower of Babel.  My take on that story is mankind (human beings for the politically correct) became so full of themselves, they built a tower that reached into heaven.  Now humans thought, “Now we are like gods.”  This was the same serious issue Adam and Eve had in the Garden as they stood naked in front of the Tree of Life (refer to post on December 31).  The Lord, their Creator, looked down on them.  God thought they are filled with pride again. Besides now they all speak one language and can understand each other.  “Come let US go down and confuse their language,” God said.  So once again humans continue to MISCOMMUNICATE with each other.

Now what does this have to do with the question proposed earlier?  Well, like life itself the english language isn’t simple.  What appears to be obvious usually isn’t.  Humans complicate life.  What ought to be simple and easy we make complex.  Finally God gave up and came down here to save us from ourselves.  He left us with simple instructions:  Love God with your whole being, love your neighbor as yourself, share the last supper and this Good News.  He has done for us what we could not do for ourselves.  That is my take for what it is worth.

DKS

PS   I believe the gift in the photo was in fact a bread box. I have long had the ability to guess what my presents are  before opening them. This is a childhood skill that I have honed to perfection. Of course I am not above spying!

A whimsical view of Men vs. Women…

Here are some rambling thoughts on the difference between Men and Women.  This is how I see it, after having grown up with two women, Mom and Debbie, worked with five or six women at a time and lived with one, two or three for most of my adult life.  My Dad of course did his best to help me understand women but he too was ill prepared.  All men seem to be clueless.

Well, in the beginning God created man.  Apparently He realized that Adam needed help.  So being the loving God that He is He created Eve.  When man, Adam, saw Eve he thought, now here is flesh of my flesh, and my soul of my soul.  He also saw that of all the creatures God had created she was the most Beautiful.  Remember Adam and Eve were both naked, so right there you can imagine that for  Adam that might have been the Genesis for wrong ideas.  Eve on the other hand took her job very seriously.  She was to be the ‘Helper.’  She could see right away the Adam needs a lot of help in many areas especially with himself.  She became an eager helper.  (Women do seem to be more, how shall I say it, more grown up.) Adam and Eve took very good care of the Garden.  With Eve’s ‘suggestions’, doubtless, the plants and animals thrived.  Everything was grand and paradisal.  Perfect!  Then one day wandering around the Garden, naked by the way, they happened on the ‘Tree of Life.’  You can only imagine what went on between Adam and Eve at that moment but needless to say there was “MISCOMMUNICATION.”

Adam blame Eve and Eve blamed the serpent.  For sure, ever since understanding the other sex has been a mystery.  Books have been written claiming to have the answer.  Interestingly  (I am told) women’s magazines are filled with articles about ‘how to understand your man’, how to communicate with men, etc.  Women take their job as ‘helper’ very seriously.  While men’s magazines have no such articles about how to get along with women but often are filled with photos of ‘beautiful creatures’ not necessarily naked but nearly so.  So women are still trying to ‘help’ their men.  While men seem to still have the wrong ideas.  Are men just a large versions of boys?

I will share wise advise my Grandma, Flo, gave Jan and I nearly 50 years ago.  She said, “Don’t try to change each other.”  I guess she realized that you need sometimes to ‘let the mystery be.’  Men and women are different and meant to be.  The trick is to ‘Live and Let Live’ and to Love the differences.  For example just yesterday I spent the morning shooting sporting clays (not well by the way).  Mean while Jan was shopping all morning.  We had lunch then off she went for more shopping.  I retreated to the garage to reload shotgun shells and listen to iTunes.  I don’t understand the joy of shopping all day and I am certain Jan would not spend hours reloading shotgun shells.  Later we had dinner together.  Sometime I even fix dinner.

Thank God we are different!

DKS

Is science showing there really is a God?

I have long believed this. For those interested in this relationship between science and theology I recommend reading: John Polkinghorne, Cambridge physicist and Anglican Priest, and George Lemaitre, MIT and Cambridge educated astrophysicist and Catholic Priest. The more we learn about our universe, the Truer the Judeo/Christian concept of God the Creator appears to be…

Science is increasingly making a case for the existence of God.

Photo Source: Hubble
IN 1966 Time magazine ran a cover story asking: Is God Dead (Thanks to an Emory professor)?  Many have accepted the cultural narrative that he’s obsolete — that as science progresses, there is less need for a “God” to explain the universe. Yet it turns out that the rumours of God’s death were premature. More amazing is that the relatively recent case for his existence comes from a surprising place — science itself.

Here’s the story: The same year Time featured the now-famous headline, the astronomer Carl Sagan announced that there were two important criteria for a planet to support life: The right kind of star, and a planet the right distance from that star. Given the roughly octillion — 1 followed by 24 zeros — planets in the universe, there should have been about septillion — 1 followed by 21 zeros — planets capable of supporting life.

With such spectacular odds, the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, a large, expensive collection of private and publicly funded projects launched in the 1960s, was sure to turn up something soon. Scientists listened with a vast radio telescopic network for signals that resembled coded intelligence and were not merely random. But as years passed, the silence from the rest of the universe was deafening. Congress defunded SETI in 1993, but the search continues with private funds. As of 2014, researches have discovered precisely bubkis — 0 followed by nothing.

What happened? As our knowledge of the universe increased, it became clear that there were far more factors necessary for life than Sagan supposed. His two parameters grew to 10 and then 20 and then 50, and so the number of potentially life-supporting planets decreased accordingly. The number dropped to a few thousand planets and kept on plummeting.

Even SETI proponents acknowledged the problem. Peter Schenkel wrote in a 2006 piece for Skeptical Inquirer magazine: “In light of new findings and insights, it seems appropriate to put excessive euphoria to rest … We should quietly admit that the early estimates … may no longer be tenable.”

As factors continued to be discovered, the number of possible planets hit zero, and kept going. In other words, the odds turned against any planet in the universe supporting life, including this one. Probability said that even we shouldn’t be here.

Today there are more than 200 known parameters necessary for a planet to support life — every single one of which must be perfectly met, or the whole thing falls apart. Without a massive planet like Jupiter nearby, whose gravity will draw away asteroids, a thousand times as many would hit Earth’s surface. The odds against life in the universe are simply astonishing.

Yet here we are, not only existing, but talking about existing. What can account for it? Can every one of those many parameters have been perfect by accident? At what point is it fair to admit that science suggests that we cannot be the result of random forces? Doesn’t assuming that an intelligence created these perfect conditions require far less faith than believing that a life-sustaining Earth just happened to beat the inconceivable odds to come into being?

There’s more. The finetuning necessary for life to exist on a planet is nothing compared with the finetuning required for the universe to exist at all. For example, astrophysicists now know that the values of the four fundamental forces — gravity, the electromagnetic force, and the “strong” and “weak” nuclear forces — were determined less than one millionth of a second after the big bang. Alter any one value and the universe could not exist. For instance, if the ratio between the nuclear strong force and the electromagnetic force had been off by the tiniest fraction of the tiniest fraction — by even one part in 100,000,000,000,000,000 — then no stars could have ever formed at all. Feel free to gulp.

Multiply that single parameter by all the other necessary conditions, and the odds against the universe existing are so heart-stoppingly astronomical that the notion that it all “just happened” defies common sense. It would be like tossing a coin and having it come up heads 10 quintillion times in a row. Really?

Fred Hoyle, the astronomer who coined the term “big bang,” said that his atheism was “greatly shaken” at these developments. He later wrote that “a commonsense interpretation of the facts suggests that a super-intellect has monkeyed with the physics, as well as with chemistry and biology … The numbers one calculates from the facts seem to me so overwhelming as to put this conclusion almost beyond question.”

Theoretical physicist Paul Davies has said that “the appearance of design is overwhelming” and Oxford professor Dr. John Lennox has said “the more we get to know about our universe, the more the hypothesis that there is a Creator … gains in credibility as the best explanation of why we are here.”

The greatest miracle of all time, without any close seconds, is the universe. It is the miracle of all miracles, one that ineluctably points with the combined brightness of every star to something — or Someone — beyond itself.

The Wall St Journal

52 years ago last summer my friends and I travelled from Cape Cod to Newport for the Folk Festival. Chan, my WPHS friend, was with me. Bob Dylan made his debute. It looks like these young men (or Boys) have also burst on to the scene at Newport…enJOY!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oj3-pk3-pgs

Merry Christmas…from the SMITHS.  And here is part of our Christmas celebration at St. James Episcopal Church this year…

https://vimeo.com/115406431

This is for those of you who could not join us on Wednesday, December 17 at 6 pm for our children’s musical performance of ‘Room for Christmas.” As part of the presentation, toys were brought to donate to needy children. St. James’ youth will sort the toys and take them to the local Fire and Police Departments for distribution to needy families in our community.

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Since ‘Joy is the serious business of Heaven‘ (according to CS Lewis and I totally agree)…

This is for my fellow Mac lovers and fellow Geeks…

Least we forget that a sense of Humor is an encourager of JOY…

enJOY these as CHRISTmas Day Approaches…

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We all are given Gifts from God. Some are really inspiring. EnJOY this story…As we await the celebration of the Greatest Gift ever given on CHRISTmas day…

A beautiful solemn Hymn…

This hymn is from this mornings service. This hymn is the essence of ‘solemn’ which CS Lewis, a master of language, claims has lost its original meaning. He believed originally solemn meant not only serious but also included nobility and joy.

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With Advent comes the Hope of the Greatest Gift ever given…

As Christians we believe that the Creator, the Author of all that is, or was, or will be, humbled Himself and became one of us for the sole purpose of saving us from our selves. He came from beyond time and space into our reality just for us. He sent Jesus Christ His Son as a child to do for us what we could not do for ourselves. He did this because of His Love for us. I read this today in ‘Forward Day by Day’:

2 Peter 1:2-3 May grace and peace be yours in abundance in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has given us everything needed for life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.

The love of God is abundant, rich, and overflowing. Christ comes to us in love for our salvation. God seeks our redemption, not our punishment. Christ invites our love and joy, not our fear. God becomes human so we may become divine. Christ comes to us in humility and shares our life. He embraces human limitation and mortality so we may live in God and “become participants of the divine nature” (2 Peter 1:4). God doesn’t love by half measures. Our Lord gives everything we need to share this life.

Our life in God suggests a perspective of abundance in all we do. Our Lord’s generosity can thrive in us. Love increases as we give it away. There is no scarcity of God’s love, and sharing will not decrease it. We stand for our Lord when we humble ourselves to serve others. God’s love will flow through us to the people in our world, and that’s when we know love best.

Post Script: I like this particular version of “For unto us a Child is born” because it is so Anglican/Episcopalian.

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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”

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The Wildlife on Shore Acres…

This summer one evening when I was coming home from a meeting I drove up on a Bobcat and her Kit here on Shore Acres Drive. They let me get within a few yards before they decided to run. Since then I have seen neither hide nor hair of them (pun is intentional). Then this afternoon I looked out in the yard and there was the Kit. It was smaller than a full grown Bobcat so I believe it was the Kit. Mom was no where to be seen, at least not by me. This was taken with my new lens. I love it!
I hope they stick around…

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His Yoke is Easy

It is Advent, the season of anticipation of the coming of Christ. Never having totally grown up, I love this season and all that comes with it. All that comes with it means the music. Today during my yoga sequences I was listening to “Handel’s Messiah’s Best’, an iTunes playlist of mine. My yoga is Christian spiritually and all my mantras are too.

‘His Yoke is Easy’ is one of my favorites from the Messiah. Years ago I began to try live a new Way. That meant surrendering my self-centered will to His Will. I have yet to totally get the surrender of my will right because I will always be a rebel reluctant give up.  Today I switched to this YouTube version because I am an Anglican…enJOY!

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A Boy and His Dog…

Today (December 8) I planned to post something inspiring and positive. However Skye, our Golden Retriever, had been acting sick this weekend. This morning we took her to the vet. Skye has oral cancer, either a melanoma or squamous cell carcinoma, near the angle of the mandible. Either of these cancers when they occur in the mouth are aggressive and have probably already spread throughout her body. Whichever cancer it is, her prognosis is terminal. So we are upset. The truth is I’m a mess!

This has not been a good month for dogs in our Clan. Early last month Jan’s brother, Jim, lost his Maddie, a Brittany Spaniel . Then after our Thanksgiving visit with them, Erin, Danny, Grace and David lost Abner (see the Dec 4’s post).

Skye is two months shy of being thirteen years old. That is a good long life for a Golden Retriever. She has been a wonderful dog as I suppose all Golden Retrievers owners will tell you their dogs are. I often tell Skye that she is the ‘smartest, best behaved and prettiest’ dog ever. No doubt she holds a special place in my heart. Boys and Dogs have a magical connection, at least in my mind. From my first dog, Duke, then my long time childhood dog, Liza, dogs have most always been there to share their life with me.

Now I may have to re-read ‘Roverandom’ by JRR Tolkien after Skye passes. It is a children’s story Tolkien first told his children in 1925 about a dog named Rover. Tolkien apparently recorded it in his diary and elaborated on the story as he continued to tell it to his children over the years. It grew until it was published much later. The introduction to ‘Roverandom’ says, in summary, that although it was published much later than his other books, it and his other children’s stories probably were the inspiration for the ‘Hobbit.’ Then after that he wrote the ‘Lord of the Rings’ trilogy.

Skye will be leaving us soon for a better place, a better reality. Tolkien believed that and I do too. Tolkien’s use of mythology, legend and other-worldly imagery in his stories continues to appeal to me. Since I too believe this life we live in is just the ‘shadowlands’ of the True Reality. Although I believe this, her passing will hurt.

For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known. (‭I Corinthians‬ ‭13‬:‭12‬ NKJV)

UPDATES…

On January 5th Skye returned to Dr. Huff for suture removal.  She is doing well.  The wounds are healed she seems to be her “old” self.  The tumor may return or reappear elsewhere but for now we will enJOY her company, hope for the best and be thankful.  In the process of all this, we began feeding her Alpo canned food because the tumor required the removal of two molars and chewing hard food could be painful and difficult.  She had always been fed dry food.  We also now feed her twice a day.  She must be wondering, “why didn’t you guys start this years ago!”

Yesterday (December 22) we took Skye to Dr. Huff for a post operative visit.  She is doing well.  The biopsy came back as an osteosarcoma which means it will probably not metastases but will likely reoccur in the same area.  This is good news!

The latest on Skye (December 19): on Tuesday Dr. Amy Huff removed the tumor from Skye’s jaw (mandible). She called it, ‘large and nasty.’ She suspects it is a sarcoma not a carcinoma. I asked Dr. Ferrel Young about oral sarcomas, since they are not common in people and I was not that familiar with them. He remembers them being more localized (in situ) than carcinomas. That was encouraging. The tumor had invaded the bone not just the soft tissue. As a result a couple of Skye’s molars were remove along with the tumor. Today we may get the pathology results. Regardless of those results Skye’s life has been extended and she can eat again without the tumor being in the way. Today, Friday, she is acting her old self.

The latest update on Skye: Today (December 15) Skye went back to see the vet (Dr. Amy Huff). She had had a good week. Tomorrow the tumor will be excised from her jaw. That will at least allow her to eat more comfortably. We will also know what kind of tumor it is and then we will just see what happens….Hope springs eternal!

An UPDATE on Skye:  She is being treated like Royalty.  Right now she is under the stag-horn fern which hangs from our oak tree in the front yard eating soup bone.  She is doing well!

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‘Our Abner’: A Tribute!

This morning our Clan lost a member. Abner, the Hocketts’ Golden Retriever, died. Dogs are part of the family in our Clan.

JRR Tolkien is said to have told his children once that, “God created dogs for the sole purpose for us to Love them.” I believe that to be true. God gave Danny, Erin, Grace and David, Abner for that reason. Today He took him Home. Tolkien’s children asked if dogs were in heaven and he is said to have told them that he can’t imagine a heaven without them. Losing your dog is always painful to dog lovers. I even have wondered if it is worth having a dog when you know the pain will eventually come when you lose them. In spite of that I believe dogs are worth every minute.

Abner was a rescue dog. Who knew he was rescued. The rescued dogs I have known realize they have been saved and act like it. He was so eager to please, so quick to obey and so loving. He ate each meal as if it was his last. So I came to appreciate what his life must have been like before the Hocketts took him in. We will never know how old he truly was. The Hocketts gave Abner a good full life. Their loss is hard. I have cried too. His last few weeks were in his home. We all knew he was dying. Now he is really Home. Thank You Lord for Abner!

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We just returned from watching THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY – PART 1. It was good as expected.

However I can’t wait for this movie but I hope they don’t gloss over the deep spiritual message that the book emphasizes…

As Janine Turner posted on FaceBook…
“But by the Grace of God I am what I am: and his Grace which [was bestowed] upon me was not in vain;” Corinthians 4:7

UPDATE ON DECEMBER 26..

IN SHORT WITH ’UNBROKEN’- READ THE BOOK— We went to see ‘Unbroken’ yesterday (that is a story by itself). I was DISAPPOINTED. The book is on of my favorites. The book was inspirational and up-lifting. The movie stops before all the really inspiring and up-lifting things in Zamperini’s life take place. After the war and he returned home, he over come alcoholism and his spiritual strength were revived. He was redeemed, his spirit renewed to the point that forgave his Japanese tormentors. These were too important to omit in my opinion.
Sadly two other of my favorite novels: ‘A River Runs Through It’ and ‘The Legend of Bagger Vance’ became poorer stories when Robert Redford turned them into movies.

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True or False…

‘Can’t you lead a good life without believing in Christianity?’ This is the question on which I have been asked to write, and straight way, before I begin trying to answer it, I have a comment to make. The question sounds as if it is asked be a person who said to himself, ‘I don’t care whether Christianity is in fact true or not. I’m not interested in finding out whether the real universe is more like what the Christians say than what the materialists say. All I’m interested in is leading a good life. I’m going to choose beliefs not because I think them true but because I find them helpful.’ Now frankly, I find it hard to sympathize with this state of mind. One of the things that distinguished man from other animals is that he wants to know things, wants to find out what reality is like, simply for the sake of knowing. When the desire is completely quenched in anyone, I think he has become something less than human. As a matter of fact, I don’t believe any of you have really lost that desire. More probably, foolish preachers, by always telling you how much Christianity will help you and how good it is for society, have actually led you to forget that Christianity is not a patent medicine. Christianity claims to give an account of FACTS-to tell you what the real universe is like. Its account of the universe may be true, or it may not, and once the question is really before you, then your natural inquisitiveness must make you want to know the answer. If Christianity is untrue, then no honest man will want to believe it, however helpful it might be: if it is true, every honest man will want to believe it, even if it give him no help.-CS Lewis

We are going to celebrate Thanksgiving with family!

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St. Francis’ Prayer

I read the Prayer of St. Francis yesterday morning. Feeling Blessed this video came to mind. The images are from over the years as I remembered the Blessings I have received. The music was given to me by a young friend.
I find it most difficult to practice the principles of the ‘Prayer of St. Francis’ with those closest to me, family especially…But that is where it is most needed and important, I believe. My Dad used to say that he was lucky but I knew him well enough to know he meant he was Blessed.

Jesus said…for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I was naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.’ “Then the righteous will answer Him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see You hungry and feed You, or thirsty and give You drink? When did we see You a stranger and take You in, or naked and clothe You? Or when did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?’ And the King will answer and say to them, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it to one of the least of these My brethren, you did it to Me.’ (‭Matthew‬ ‭25‬:‭35-40‬ NKJV)

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The Prayer Proceeding All Prayers…

I see a reoccurring theme in CS Lewis’ works.  That theme is the contrast of the self and the Self.  That is the small ‘self’ which is self absorbed, self centered and self-will (free will) run amuck.  The true ‘Self’ is that which is created in God’s Image.  In the “Chronicles of Narnia” these two selves seem to be emphasized.  I believe when the children enter the ‘wardrobe’ they begin to realize who they ‘really’ are or could be.  I thought of that when I read this today…

…”The prayer preceding all prayers is ‘May it be the real I who speaks.  May it be the real Thou that I speak to.’  Infinitely various are the levels from which we pray. Emotional intensity is in itself no proof of spiritual depth.  If we pray in terror we shall pray earnestly;  it only proves that terror is an earnest emotion.  Only God Himself can let the bucket down to the depths in us.  And, on the other side, He must constantly work as the iconoclast.  (That is to say) Every idea of Him we form, He must in mercy shatter.  The most blessed result of prayer would be to rise thinking, ’But I never knew before.  I never dreamed…’  I suppose it was at such a moment that Thomas Aquinas said of all his own theology, ‘It reminds me of straw.‘ “-CS Lewis

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The Promise of Glory…

“I read in a periodical the other day that the fundamental thing is how we think of God. By God Himself, it is not! How God thinks of us is not only more important, but infinitely more important. Indeed, how we think of Him is of no importance except insofar as it is related to how He thinks of us. It is written we shall ‘stand before’ Him…To please God…to be a real ingredient in the divine happiness…to be loved by God, not merely pitied, but delighted in as an artist delights in his work or a father in a son-it seems impossible, a weight or burden of glory which our thoughts can hardly sustain. But so be it.”

from “The Weight of Glory” by CS Lewis

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Thoughts on Forgiveness…

“So also the tongue is a small part of the body, and yet it boasts of great things. See how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire…”(James 3:5-6 NASB)

“Of all the features and factors of parenthood, this may be the one I like the least. It pains me to realize that my thoughtless words hurt my children. The writer of James paints a powerful picture of the tongue as a small fire that can set a forest ablaze. And so today, whether with our children or our coworkers, with our spouse or partner, with the cashier or barista, let us speak gentle Blessings to one another.”-Forward Day by Day

And yet we must be easy on ourselves also, remembering that God sent His Son so that we might be forgiven. So if He forgives us who are we to not forgive ourselves. I have learned along with seeking forgiveness I must change (mend) my ways or curb my tongue. I am aware that darkness wants to keep us in the dark but we are given the fire and light of the Spirit. We are to be Children of the Light…That is our hope and faith….DKS

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1 Thessalonians 5:2 …for you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.

My hunch is that many of us have encountered the divine in this way as well. We are minding our own business when we find ourselves experiencing the Spirit in some profound way. That’s why I love the Celtic idea of thin places where heaven and earth meet, and we encounter God. Thin places aren’t bound by convention or programmatic necessity. They break into our lives. We stumble upon these thin places while we look for our car keys, dash off an email, or take a walk. May we be open to the unexpected interruption of the Spirit in our lives this day. ‘Forward Day by Day’

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Twenty-nine years ago today by the ‘Grace of God’ my life began to turn around.  I decided to go Home by a different Way.  Some say it is the ‘Road Less Traveled’, others call it the ‘Narrow Way’ but it has made all the difference.  It has become for me the ‘Easier softer Way.’  I am forever Grateful….Lord…So teach us to number our days, That we may gain a heart of wisdom. (Psalms 90:12 NKJV)

I love this song and found this version by Sissel recently (pardon the repost)..

Also Happy Birthday, PRINCESS…This is one of my favorite photos of you on Sandia Peak, New Mexico…

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In 2010 I began doing yoga regularly to help with my RA after a bad year.  The following year I was enticed by friends at St. James Episcopal Church to come ‘Shoot Sporting Clays’.  So I began.  I have grown to love this new hobby or sport.  The yoga helps with focus and concentration which is a big part of being successful at Clays. They say that the difference between men and boys is the size of their toys.  I would also add that when asked why I love shooting clay, I say,  “What could be more fun to a boy than shooting guns and breaking things.”  It is instant gratification!

DKS

These guys are the best!

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I have laid around for two days recovering from an intestinal bug.  That gave me time to think, read and search YouTube.  These are some thoughts I have had.

CS Lewis wrote often about our two selves.  In fact I believe that is the basis for his ‘Chronicles of Narnia’ series.  The small self which is willful, selfish and self absorbed.  While the true ‘Self’ surrenders to God’s Will for it, willing to become a Child of God.  Lewis writes that we live in the ‘Shadowlands’.  That in these ‘Shadowlands’, our true ‘Self’ is afforded glimpses of Heaven or the true Reality.  Decades ago, having been defeated, I began attempting to ‘surrender’ my self daily to God’s Will for me. DKS

These videos represent the surrender I try to make daily:

When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. (1 Corinthians 13:11-12 NIV)

Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.” (Luke 17:20-21 NIV)

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These are from my readings this morning. I seek Wisdom daily to see my Way clearing through the day. So that I will make right choices and feed the ‘good wolf’.
When I was yet young, or ever I went abroad, I desired wisdom openly in my prayer. (‭Ecclesiasticus‬ ‭51‬:‭13‬ KJVA)

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With Thanksgiving approaching this movie, which we recently watched, reminds me of how Grateful I am to be living at this time in history, in the greatest country to ever exist. We have freedom unimagined before.

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Be still, and know that I am God… (‭Psalms‬ ‭46‬:‭10‬ NKJV)

I have learned that my life is most peaceful and pleasurable
if I remember this Psalm and also to:
Keep it Simple
and
Easy Does it

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Simple Pleasures…God is the Creator all pleasures. As I grow older I have come to realize that life’s greatest JOYS are found in simple moments and simple things. This time of year in October we would visit the mountain house and close it for the winter. When:
Fall was in her glory.
Her colors resplendent.
Her air fresh and earthy.
The mornings fresh and chilled.

Trips to the river happened daily.
Skye loved these trips.
She became a puppy again.
Her ball and the water transformed her.

I watched her with simple pleasure.
As the mist of the waterfall touched my face.
Rainbows formed in the falls’ spray.
Skye and I were in heaven.

The sights, the sounds and the smells
Live in my memory now.
Those moments of simple pleasures.
I was and am Blessed!

CS Lewis once wrote, “Joy is the serious business of Heaven.”
That is the Truth.

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