Shining Spirit

Here is your day.
It is beginning to unfold into something
beautiful and fragrant.
It has the potential to bless those
who pass by and to announce
that in the midst of divisive voices,
amazing things can happen.
Treat the day thoughtfully.
Tend the unfolding beauty.

Spirit that watches through the night,
I wake with gratitude for your presence
as I slept in peace.  I rise to meet this day
with confidence in your counsel and in your
compassionate indwelling.

Lead me into the brightness of day.  Guide my feet and
my mind into ways that are just and true,
my hands to extend sacred caring and helping
service.

When I turn out the light tonight, may I gladly
affirm this day shared with you,
source of all that is good and
all that is possible.

Take my hand now as I rise to meet the breaking dawn.
Walk with me side by side, lest I lose my way.

Amen

“So I pray that God, who gives you
hope, will keep you happy and full of peace
as you believe in him.  May you overflow
with hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.”

Hope is falling all over the place this early morning.
Downspouts are gurgling, puddles dot the asphalt street,
it sounds like the Rocketts are dancing on the skylights.

I am happy and at peace as I think of friends
who enlarge my life, the work I do that contributes
meaning in these otherwise quiet days of remembering
and celebrating, and the hope that sustains me because
of a Sacred Mystery that I can neither
understand nor explain.

May hope fall all over you today, too.
May it soak you to the bone.
And may harmony
with life reign.

“May God, who gives patience and encouragement, help 
you live in complete harmony with each other —
each with the attitude of Christ Jesus
toward the other.”

Romans 15:13         Romans 15:4

This morning I will think of my friend and be grateful
for his kind heart and gentle spirit.

I will remember the one who holds a grudge and
refuses to look my way.

I will think of the man on the bicycle collecting
cans for coins to buy breakfast.

I will picture my neighbor as she drives away to
see the cancer doctor once again.

And I will look in the mirror and see them all
in myself.  We are made of the same stardust.
We are each other.

Welcome the morning with open arms!
Embrace the gift.  It is yours to use, spend,
or waste.  Don’t take it for granted.

Welcome the day with a generous heart.
Remember, all is given, nothing deserved.
This day belongs to everyone and everything.
Share some of what you have.  With intention.

Welcome this day with the door of your mind
wide open.  Let in a breeze of new possibility,
a burst of creative insight…fresh air.  By the way,
leave the door ajar; a new thought might want in.

Welcome the day in the company of the Sacred Spirit.
Be more than a nodding acquaintance.  Get to know
each other.  You have a lot in common.

Yes, welcome this day with a sense of thankful wonder.
You woke up, didn’t you?  Miracle enough!
Make the most of it!

Gifts of blessing are everywhere.

A long-drawn note of the cello, softly touched.
The beautiful dove, tiny and fragile, in the
palm of my hand.
A full moon through the mountain pines.
The face in the small gold frame on my bookshelf.

May I be alert enough to see blessings and wise
enough to cherish them.

May each blessing be an enchantment for my spirit,
received with humility, returned with gratitude.

May I never become a collector of blessings catalogued,
but an astonished recipient of unexpected grace.

Watch there.  Look here.  Close your eyes and listen.
Gifts of blessing are everywhere.

You are a gift of immeasurable worth,
the blessing of a kind and generous God.

You

May the angels of deep and peaceful sleep
hover over your bed tonight.

May you fall asleep hearing the echo of
a distant song whose melody is
complete harmony and unity.

May the darkness comfort you as a friend
bearing no fear, causing no concern.

May the last word of night and the first
word of morning cause you to smile.

May your dreams be filled with beautiful
memories and hopeful wishes.

May you sleep knowing that you are loved
and wake refreshed to be love.

And when the first rays of sun fall upon your shoulders
may you feel the energy of the universe
enlivening your body and the embrace
of the Spirit affirming your
uniqueness.

I don’t know what his name is; something elegant, I imagine.
It looks like he’s dressed for an evening on the town.
Those lacy wings, for instance.  Now there’s an amazing piece
of attire, and his color combination is striking.
The single yellow line from head to tail, little yellow
dots…perfectly spaced…on his back legs, fancy beads
on the antennae, and that clever yellow band around
the hard protector at the base of his wings.

Everything about this creature is spectacular!
So don’t overlook the little things today.
Be grateful for beauty found in the often overlooked.

Momma, am I a pumpkin?

Of course you are.  Why do you ask?

Well, I’m not orange like all the other pumpkins.
And the new pumpkin family that moved in down the street
pointed at me today and said: “What is that?  He’s not  a
real pumpkin.  Real pumpkins are orange.”

Sweetheart, sometimes it’s difficult to be different.  It’s
true that many pumpkins are orange, but we’re not.  That
doesn’t mean that we are less than any other pumpkins,
even orange ones.  We are special, I guess.  One of the things
you’ll learn someday is that when a pumpkin is different, like color,
size or weight, there might be others who will make fun or call names.
You have such beautiful colors; in fact, more than one, so you
are extra special.  Please don’t let others’ meanness make you sad.
Maybe they just want to be as beautiful as you.

Okay, Momma.  But I don’t like to be called names just
because I’m a different color.

(Even pumpkins feel the pain of prejudice.}

Want a taste of beauty today?
Take a look.
I never knew brown could look so good!
The glistening color is liquid, running freely over a pure white surface.
Wing edges are scalloped for efficient flight,
a dash of soft red on the back and a sense of fragility and
strength at the same time.
I’m glad the Butterfly Maker thought this particular design
into being and set the golden color in just this way,
then instructed the wind to carry her to my backyard bush
and opened the eyes of my spirit
to see incredible beauty.
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