June Twenty Eighteen

June Twenty-Eighteen 

"The castle grounds were gleaming in the sunlight as though freshly painted; the cloudless sky smiled at itself in the smoothly sparkling lake, the satin-green lawns rippled occasionally in a gentle breeze: June had arrived."

―J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

"Your true identity is as a child of God. This is the identity you have to accept. Once you have claimed it and settled in it, you can live in a world that gives you much joy as well as pain. You can receive the praise as well as the blame that comes to you as an opportunity for strengthening your basic identity, because the identity that makes you free is anchored beyond all human praise and blame. You belong to God, and it is a child of God that you are sent into the world…. It might take a great deal of time and discipline to fully reconnect your deep hidden self and your public self, which is known, loved, and accepted but also criticized by the world. Gradually, though, you will begin feeling more connected and become more fully who you truly are – a child of God. There lies your real freedom.” 

–Henri Nouwen 

"If you want to push my spiritual insecurity button, start pressing me on my practice of prayer.  Lately, my primary instructor has been Sister Brenda, the nun I meet with at Our Lady of Angels. The last time I asked her for help praying, she asked me, “What do you love to do?” I must have looked confused, because she went at the question again. “When do you feel relaxed and joyful?”  I told her I enjoyed walking in the woods and writing. “Do those things,” she said, “and listen for God while you’re at it.” –Winn Collier, Love Big. Be Well

Open the day with thanks

as you shrug back the curtains into the view.
Stop for a moment, remain.
Peel back the layers of thanksgiving:
1. everything beautiful in your past to be grateful for.

Delve deeper and you find:

2. the painful things that have shaped your life for good.....

Go into a new layer and you find:

3. the small, seemingly insignificant things that make a difference.

Deeper again, peel off another layer:

4. gratitude for the present moment.

Then you become thankful for:

5. the patience you learn through irritations.

6. the challenging people who teach you to love and forgive. 

7. the big things you often take for granted.

Then you discover thanks for:

8. the best that is yet to come.

The emotion of gratitude takes over

and you realize the layers won’t ever stop....

because at the ever-unveiling heart of thanksgiving you find, 

something invaluable:

9. the spirit of contentment.

-Jennifer Graser 

"If the idea of providence means anything, then it must at least mean that our life consists of all manner of truths and experiences we would never imagine and could never orchestrate. The old mystics liked to say that “all is gift.”  I still scratch my head over this idea, but I’m learning to trust that everything we encounter, every beauty and every tragedy, invites us deeper into God, deeper into our truest selves."  –Winn Collier, Love Big. Be Well

"I don't have to chase extraordinary moments to find happiness - it's right in front of me if I'm paying attention and practicing gratitude."- Brene Brown 

"It’s essential to find good people whose love for their little nook of the world leaves you wanting to love your own little nook better." –Winn Collier, Love Big. Be Well

“I'm a musician. I write songs. I just hope when the day is done I've been able to tear a little corner off of the darkness.” ― Bono (U2)