Shining Spirit

When suffering enters my life,
the world around me does not
change. I do.

There is still joy in the world,
even though I am sad. There
is peace while I feel anger and
resentment. There is light even
as I live in darkness. Hope still
exists, regardless of my hopelessness.

Beauty thrives, though I see
ugliness. I suffer but the world
remains unmoved. I curse. I
contend. I challenge.

I accept.

And then, by God’s grace and mercy,
I begin to translate my own suffering
into a deeper level of understanding,
a new attitude toward the antagonism.
I acknowledge the unexpected guest
and make a place for him in my life,
not regarding him as foe, but as
friend.

And as that occurs, all the things
I assumed lost slowly return;
light appears and flowers begin
to bloom in my heart.

I think I’ve mentioned El Rio Preserve before, the little oasis found at the intersection of Coachline and Silverbell. I think I have. Usually you can find a variety of birds and some Mallard ducks bobbing up and down in the small lake, as I did yesterday when I visited for a couple of hours, camera in hand.

I share this photo with you because it is a reminder to all of us to stop and spend time in the presence of Sacred Beauty, to refresh our spirits, and to notice the little things around us that go unseen in our programed lives. The little things. Do you see it in the photo? Focus on the top of the little reeds in the foreground. If you have a way to enlarge the photo on your screen, try that. And what do you see?

Today, like every other day in your life, little things will make the picture complete. Be on the lookout because beauty is not always framed in a gallery or displayed in a museum. Sometimes beauty flies by and only the alert spirit, the grateful spirit, sees it.

You are so blessed. Be a blessing to someone who needs the grace you have to offer. “This is the day the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”

Not many weeks after my wife and I moved to Tucson, 24 years ago, I answered a knock on the front door to find a beautiful Raleigh road bike parked on the sidewalk, a gift from our children. It was yellow and black, sleek, and fast. That was my introduction to the wonderful world of Tucson biking, my invitation to hit the road. Poor choice of words. Over the years, with a variety of different bikes, I’ve logged lots of miles around the city, especially on the great Bike Loop that circles the metro area. Included in those miles are twelve El Tour de Tucson events. Lots of stories to tell.

The photo above was taken a couple of weeks ago. In a sense, it’s a farewell picture of the last bike. This one is not sleek and fast; it is heavy, solid, and dependable. And now it belongs to someone who can ride it and find the same enjoyment I did. Now my bike sits on a platform down in the Fitness Center. It doesn’t move, but then it doesn’t fall over, either. Every biker takes his or her share of falls, and falling is something I don’t need these days.

Transitions. Changing patterns or routines. Letting go in order to find something new. It’s called life. Resist or deny all you want, but it’s going to happen anyway. I think the best we can do is be thankful for the good memories, trash the bad ones, and look ahead with a confident joy that is inherent in who we are. Confident joy leads us to live in this moment, fully, completely, creatively. Maybe confident joy is the name of the One, the Sacred Mystery, that makes the turns with us, accompanies and abides through all of life’s changes. You know that to be true, don’t you, because you’ve been through a few transitions, too. What would life be without that Presence?

I just looked at the clock and it’s 5 a.m. Gotta go. My new friend waits in the Fitness Center.

Do you remember the classic Christian hymn “Count Your Many Blessings?” Name them one by one, and I wish I could do that…name you one by one…and say “thank you” personally for your interest and visits to Shining Spirit over the years. Eleven years by my count. Eight hundred forty-eight posts, but who’s counting. Yes, there were some “dry” periods in those years when posts were less frequent, but I’ve given up trying to out-guess or out-smart the Spirit. What is….is.

So, today is simply a word of thanks to you and for you. Thank you for reading the words, for taking a look at all those photos of flying birds, sunrises and sunsets, and colorful flowers. Thank you for your comments and your prayers. They mean a lot.

So, let’s press on. The Spirit seems to have more to say. And I haven’t run out of flying birds, sunrises and sunsets, or colorful flowers yet. Accept the blessing of this day so that you, in turn, may be a blessing.

When nature waves hello today, wave back.
When you feel the breeze, hear the bird’s song,
hold the living earth in your hands,
catch the fragrance of life,
in that moment when you see with your heart,
remember everything is a gift,
and a gift requires a response.
Thank you!
The Spirit speaks in many ways.
Listen.

Resolution For This Day: I will not stick my nose into somebody else’s business. No matter how interesting, how exciting, how juicy it is, I will not do it. Not everyone needs my advice. Not everyone appreciates my advice, for reasons I will never understand. I will not pass along unfounded stories, that is, gossip. I will neither give it nor receive it. I will mind my own business, even if it is rather boring at times.

I will respect my neighbor and assume the best about him or her. I will do unto you as I hope you will do unto me. And I will go to bed tonight pleased and thankful for my resolution and my accomplishments .

It’s going to be a long day.

To You I lift up my spirit,
You, who are enthroned in every heart!
For, as the young child holds tightly
the hand of its parent,
As those in the throes of disease
look to one who brings comfort,
So our spirits seek the Heart of love,
that we might find mercy
and forgiveness.

Have mercy on us, Compassionate One,
have mercy, that we might turn from our
blind and ignorant ways.
Too long our souls have been veiled by fear;
have mercy; lead us to the 
path of wholeness.

This beautiful prayer is Nan Merrill's recasting of the traditional wording of Psalm 123 into more contemporary language.  It is found in a wonderful book, "Psalms for Praying", which contains all 150 Psalms recast in the same way.  It is an excellent book for use in prayer devotions.  The book was published by Continuum in 1996.   I commend it to you for your daily devotions.

Surrounded by wire fencing,
crowded by a thorny desert plant,
they still bloom!
It takes courage, sometimes,
to be strong in the face
of adversaries.
Choose to bloom,
the world
needs it.
"Consider the lilies of the field..."

A little pictorial interpretation: you are looking at the underside of an upside down duck diving for food in a local lake. Ah, the stuff of theological insight and food for thought. Let me state the conclusion and then work backwards. Conclusion: Life is not always pretty. Comes as no surprise, does it? I have met some people who devote their lives to not being embarrassed. And, of course, the harder they work at their life’s meaning, the more often they are embarrassed. There is something to be said for living your life within the parameters of good and bad, yes and no, right and wrong; that is, with some sense of balance, not punishing yourself for falling short of perfection. Win some, lose some.

A healthy spiritual life, according to Dr. Me, is one that exists somewhere between absolutes. It is living creatively and gratefully in the present moment, even if that moment is not one you’d write home about. We all succeed and we all fail, there are good days and bad days, highs and lows, joys and sadness and we pitch our tents somewhere in the middle of that. It is then, as we live authentically in this moment, that we pray our gratitude for insights gained, spiritual roots deepened, wisdom developed. Life is a great teacher, created and gifted to us, so that we can eventually find our way home to God.

So, let today be what it is. Enjoy it, learn from it, contribute something good to it, and then tonight be thankful for every moment. Sort out the best, let go of the worst. “And in all things, give thanks…”
Who knows…as you take the day and make it meaningful, you might get your picture taken and appear on somebody’s website.

Well, I’ve seen it all. I’ve suspected for a while that Doves are not the smartest birds in the air. This nest warmer is in for a big surprise if the owner of that bike decides to go for a ride. No, that’s not my bike. I am now officially “bike-less”, but that’s another story for another time. Is there a life lesson from this strange picture? How about…life can be rather precarious, sometimes because of our own poor choices, sometimes because of nature’s rhythms, often in ways we cannot anticipate or understand. We worry about crossing bridges that are still in the future or those bridges we burned on the way to here. Sometimes we create our own precarious moments…like mother Dove who sits on a very unstable nest.

But in the unknown, and in the shaky moments, we press on with an inner assurance that while we can shape decisions and outcomes by our actions and choices, there is an Ultimate One whose dream is for every element of creation to live in harmony with the other parts, for there to be peaceful contentment in the human village, and for justice and mercy to be the standards by which we live our days. Mama Dove may have made a poor decision, by our human standards and knowledge, but, whether she knows it or not, she is loved as much as I am by the Architect of All Things, the God incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth. And even when the house falls (or the nest) we are able to fly again because of that Force that lifts us.

Say a prayer today for Mama Bird, for all of us flapping our wings in work or play, and for those no longer able to fly on their own. We are loved deeply by the same Sustaining Source.