April Twenty-Seventeen

April Twenty- Seventeen 

Acts of gratitude make one grateful because, step by step, they reveal that all is grace.  

-Henri Nouwen  Return of the Prodigal Son

 

The 6 Second Challenge 

In 6 seconds you can kiss someone like you mean it. 

In 6 seconds you can hold open a door. 

In 6 seconds you can wait for a little straggler to catch up. “I’ll wait for you,” you can even say. 

In 6 seconds you can take a deep breath. 

In 6 seconds you can let it go. “It’s not worth it,” you can say. 

In 6 seconds you can tuck a note in a lunch box or in a pocket. It takes 2 seconds to make a heart. 

In 6 seconds you can say you’re sorry. 

In 6 seconds you can cut yourself some slack. 

In 6 seconds you can throw away that picture, that pair of pants, that inner bully that keeps you from loving this day, this you. 

In 6 seconds you can feel the sunshine. 

In 6 seconds you decide it’s time to stop looking back. 

In 6 seconds you can whisper, “It’s gonna be okay,” to yourself or someone who’s scared. 

I used to sound like a broken record. “I don’t have time,” I would always say. 

But then I realized what could happen in a mere 6 seconds. 

It’s enough to make a bad day good ...  

It’s enough to bring life back to your weary bones ...  

It’s enough to change someone’s story ...  

And send a ripple of unending kindness and love out into the world.  

-Rachel Macy Stafford Hands Free Life 

Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase. 

–Martin Luther King Jr.  

[Present over perfect is] about rejecting the myth that every day is a new opportunity to prove our worth, and about the truth that our worth is inherent, given by God, not earned by our hustling. 

-Shauna Niequist Present Over Perfect  

Present is living with your feet firmly grounded in reality, pale and uncertain as it may seem. Present is choosing to believe that your own life is worth investing deeply in, instead of waiting for some rare miracle or fairytale. Present means we understand that the here and now is sacred, sacramental, threaded through with divinity even in its plainness. Especially in its plainness.  

-Shauna Niequist Present Over Perfect 

Dear God, 

I have been numb and asleep, 

Days pass and I forget to notice moments of wonder and discovery. 

Renew and refresh all my senses. 

May I once again appreciate 

Colors at sunrise, 

Clouds billowing across an azure sky, 

Tender, green leaves budding on a once dormant birch, 

Music beside a crackling hearth, 

Aroma of freshly ground coffee, 

Laughter shared with cherished friends, 

Purring from a contented cat, 

Gliding to slow music, 

Walking after a fresh snowfall. 

Remind me to open my eyes, ears, heart and mind, 

To the splendor all around me. 

Remind me that enjoyment and pleasure can be found at any moment. 

All I need do is look. 

Amen. 

awakening wonder – laura barnhart – 2004

Do not abandon yourselves to despair. We are the Easter people and hallelujah is our song. 

- Pope John Paul II

In a very real sense not one of us is qualified, but it seems that God continually chooses the most unqualified to do his work, to bear his glory. If we are qualified, we tend to think that we have done the job ourselves. If we are forced to accept our evident lack of qualification, then there's no danger that we will confuse God's work with our own, or God's glory with our own.” 

-Madeleine L'Engle Walking on Water: Reflections on Faith and Art  

9th Annual Teacher Brunch 

Jason and I went when we were in Nashville, and at one point, I spotted a little cross on side of the road. I stopped and ran back to get it. It looked like a cross left over from a Palm Sunday service the previous day, and someone had carefully written the words "you are loved" on the bottom of the cross.  Perhaps someone dropped it out of a pocket on a walk the day before or a child threw it out the window of a car to see where the wind would take it. Or maybe someone left it in this spot intentionally for someone else to find.  Einstein said, "There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle."
I'm going with B, everything.
What a beautiful gift...