Chapel of Hope Stories

Dear Reader:

Author and speaker Brennan Manning came up with a slogan. The slogan is, “I am the one Jesus loves.” It sounds a little arrogant doesn’t it? But he is actually quoting Scripture. Jesus’ closest friend on earth, the disciple named John, is identified in the Gospels as “the one Jesus loved.”

Manning said, “If John were to be asked, ‘What is your primary identity in life?’ he would not reply, ‘I am a disciple, an apostle, an evangelist, an author of one of the four Gospels,’ but rather, ‘I am the one Jesus loves.’

Sociologists have a theory of the looking-glass self: you become what the most important person in your life (wife, father, boss, teacher or mother, etc.) thinks you are. How would our lives change if we truly believed the Bible’s astounding words about God’s love for us, if we looked in the mirror and saw what God sees?

Brennan Manning tells the story of an Irish priest who, on a walking tour of a rural parish, sees an old peasant kneeling by the side of the road, praying. Impressed, the priest says to the man, “You must be very close to God.” The peasant looks up from his prayers, thinks a moment, and then smiles, “Yes, he’s very fond of me.”

Source: Brett Blair, http://www.Sermons.com Adapted from Phillip Yancey, What’s So Amazing about Grace? [pp. 68-69]

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Upon further readings…an “a-ha” moment hit me  while pondering some deductive reasoning patterns.

God first loved us. He taught us what love is and isn’t. Through His Son, Jesus Christ, God left us with the greatest commandment ….’To love one another…as He loves us.’

Now think back to the first person on earth who taught us about love and then say Happy Mother’s Day!

William Makepeace Thackeray once said, “Mother is the name for God in the lips and hearts of children.”

Yesterday Anne and I returned to Hollow Tree Nursery and we discovered the most beautiful pink Japanese Maple…yes pink! Lisa told us that she and her mother discovered it one day and watched it grow in beauty. It was one of their favorite things to do together…a hybrid maple that brought smiles and “Ah’s” to everyone who saw it.

Last year Lisa lost her mother and decided to name the pink Japanese maple for her…Dorothy. Before hearing the story Anne and I had been dreaming about having that maple in either one of our yards…but now we knew it was meant to stay right where it was planted….a tribute to a beloved mother looking down the dirt road at every customer arriving at Hollow Tree…welcoming them with its unique beauty…as if Miss Dorothy, herself, was still part of her family’s beloved nursery.

A Shout-out to Lisa and Hollow Tree Nursery….Hollow Tree Nursery is one of the best kept secrets around…where else would I have been able to get four Japanese maple trees for less than a hundred dollars …for all four.

Lisa’s prices and the quality of her plants just can’t be beat…if you have never been….please do so…you will find yourself in a sanctuary of peace and serenity.

HOLLOW TREE NURSERY – Angie’s List  Give Lisa a call…it’s easy to find it in Ridgeville…*and if you go on a Friday or Saturday you can reward yourself, like Anne and I do, by stopping by Duke’s restaurant in Ridgeville and getting the best home grown meal around!

Before I wish everyone a Happy Mother’s Day…let me end the blog today with a video and song written by (Matt Goss) a songwriter as a tribute to his mother who battled breast cancer and passed away last year. It is quite inspiring….he gave his song the title (simply)  “Strong.”

…And that is what mothers are all about…being strong for the next generation…setting an example for the importance of faith, strength, and everlasting love in their lives and memories!

Musician Matt Goss and Susan G. Komen® Join Forces to Honor Everyone Who Has Faced Breast Cancer

And now….Happy Mother’s Day Everyone!

So until tomorrow…I hope everyone remembers their mother today…if we are lucky…we end up with several “mothers” who help us find our destination in life….cheering for us along the way!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

My plants all decided to surprise me and bloom, bloom their brightest today ..for Mother’s Day.

Four morning glories welcomed the sun this early Sunday morn… (I am sure) for Mother’s Day!

Several vines have almost reached the top of the porch!

Not to be outdone…the right planter of white/pink morning glories are keeping pace with the periwinkles!

My barrel out front has six red gerber daisies all smiling back at me at the same time…and “Big Red” is back in full bloom….that was a close call this past winter…but there it is!

Joan …the garden chimes you gave me have been singing away the past few days with the stronger breezes from the storm…just beautiful!

* I want to thank the blog readers’ mothers today for having all of you…I am so thankful God chose to put us together on earth at the same time! 

Dear Reader:

When I look at this “fairy” door that I recently ordered….I see a whole house (in my make-believe mind) inside the tree…a kitchen, living room, bedrooms, etc. The entire family of fairies are living a parallel life to ours…just smaller… and with wings.

I was meant to get this door…because something strange has already happened….it started with an interesting problem arising in England in some of their famous forests that a friend (through a magazine article) sent  me a couple of weeks ago. The article had photos of lots of fairy doors that really caught my imagination.

This is the summer that Eva Cate and I will create some fairy homes and furniture in the garden…so I thought it would be fun to start with a door by the pine tree in the center of the garden.

I ordered it through amazon.com (my “portable” home away from home) but it actually came from Plow and Hearth. Amazon sent me their usual notice that my order had been received and an approximate time for its arrival.

Then a couple of days ago…when amazon.com popped up on my email page I assumed it was saying it had been shipped…but to my disappointment…it was saying that the item I ordered was quite popular (there must be a lot of us fairy fans out there) and it was, also, alas… out of stock…They weren’t sure when it would be back in…so they were cancelling the order.

Later that same day I discovered a FedEx box on my porch and ‘lo and behold‘…there was the fairy door I ordered with this (quite interesting) receipt. ???? (As grandmother told me, “Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth?“)

I think this is a “fairy” good sign that we are supposed to start building a fairy garden…don’t you?

It was my friend, Pat Seavy, who sent me the article on an interesting dilemma developing in some famous English forests…a concern with “over-housing” problems for “the little people with wings.”

Definitely a different dilemma for sure….Take a minute and look at the article and pictures of some sample doors in the Somerset Woods….it must be a fairy reunion of sorts….

Fairy control’ to halt tiny doors in Somerset woods – BBC News

* It amazes me that this article is serious…the “fairy patrol” is quite earnest in their endeavor to clean up the woods and forests from those encroaches trying to create “imagination and make-believe about fairies for their children and grandchildren.

Apparently these “Puritan protesters”  don’t remember the famous story of Albert Einstein…(1950’s) when asked by anxious reporters how America could catch up with the Russians in the Space Race (following Sputnik) Einstein calmly replied: Read them fairy tales.

“If you want your children to be intelligent, read them fairy tales. If you want them to be more intelligent, read them more fairy tales.”

(Thanks Sis for the reminder!)

*I think Eva Cate and I can control the fairy population in our garden….but then who knows who the fairies might invite to move in….some gnomes might even arrive….to make life even more interesting!

I was thinking the other day that if I had not had my imaginary world to escape to…as a child…the reality of too much tragedy too close together…might have caused some life long problems with depression and other mental/emotional illnesses. (Thank you God for your gift of imagination You gave us!)

But instead…my imaginary friends and I only lived in happy “Neverlands” where imagination always won out over reality. I was definitely the “pin-up” child for this quote:

Trapped by reality, freed by imagination. ~Nicolas Manetta

I want all my grandchildren to understand the importance of imagination in their lives and never lose it to age or circumstance. Remember my children…for your children: “Never be too busy to make time for make-believe!!!”-Mom

So until tomorrow: Remind us Father that “There are no rules of architecture for a castle in the clouds” ~G.K. Chesterton and
Imagination and fiction make up more than three-quarters of our real life. ~Simone Weil

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* If any of you out there have friends who are “whimsical”  bird lovers-(Hint: It would also make a creative gift for mom bird lovers too)…then have I got a gift you can give. I found it in Marigolds awhile back….

 Obviously a bag of birdseed is inside the cute bag with the legend for good luck…the little card that is attached says:

 * Warning:  Just don’t let mom open the door and step out on to the bird-seeded front porch or front step without warning…or she might just learn how to fly like a bird!

Dear Reader:

Isn’t it strange how a conversation or letter can open up a flood of memories from the past?

With Ben…lately…it has been telephone conversations about memories from Vietnam …some which have been suppressed for far too long. Since the (soon-to-be) televised interview earlier this week…a flood of memories have been re-surfacing.

But before we get to Ben’s story…we need to go back in blog time to a story Mr. Lincoln’s Mystery Cake that I discovered from an old Saturday Evening Post…dated:August 22, 1959. I remember telling the story in two blog posts three or four years ago…

( *Originally I heard about it through a student I taught. The student brought me a copy of the second publication (in the Saturday Evening Post) in 1991, I remember, and I read the story to the class since we were studying the Civil War.

Some generous parents made fruit cakes for the classes to eat following the reading. I don’t know if the students loved the story or the fruit cake more (hopefully both) but it was quite a hit.)

It sets the tone for another true story to follow…Ben’s birthday in Vietnam. But chronologically let’s look at the Civil War cake first…

The Library of Congress offers our first story “free” for download and /or reading….it is a charming story and I have never forgotten it. It will take a few minutes for you to read….but it is time well spent…at least, I think so.

Mr. Lincoln’s mystery cake. – Free Online Library

Here is a short excerpt from the beginning of the story…the first line grabs your attention….

Grandfather and his famous cake passed into memory on the same day. * The cake, like the grandfather, had survived the Civil War and both “died” within an hour of each other…the grandfather was 107.

The story of the famous cake and how it ended up with President Lincoln taking a slice….goes back to the day when the grandfather, then a young Civil War soldier, decided he wanted to bake a cake. He remembered:

…Many of the soldiers had their families send them food to supplement the terrible diet doled out by the Army. But that didn’t always work out so well. Cakes and cookies would be stale by the time the soldiers received them, and the jars of jam and preserves would be cracked and leaking sticky syrup all over the new suit of underwear that might be in the package.

“Even hardtack and salt pork were better than plum preserves mixed with a set of red flannels,” Grandfather once said.

So, just before they went into the Fredericksburg fight, grandfather got a hankering for some cake and wrote his mother about it. He played it smart and asked her to send him the ingredients and he would bake the cake himself.

Grandfather’s mother complied and shipped along the ingredients: flour and sugar, molasses, spices, raisins, dried fruit and various kinds of nuts. Other ingredients grandfather foraged locally, especially eggs, which had to be obtained from unhappy Confederate hens.

The package reached him about a month after the battle and just about the time that grandfather and three friends of his had finished building a log hut to live in until spring. …he now had time to make his fruitcake…Little did he know where the cake would go…

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Ben’s story about a cake he received in Vietnam is just as miraculous as the “mystery cake.” We both decided that only a mother’s love could have gotten that cake to him on his exact birthday. Those angels sure stay busy. Ben’s most unforgettable birthday. He had just turned 20.

This Sunday is Mother’s Day and this is the best (true) story I can think of… it doesn’t need to wait for a certain date…what a mother does for her “children.”

“July 26,1968 was my 20th birthday. The company was still in the jungle highlands of Vietnam. We were on a company-size operation in some very dense jungle. When we stopped in late afternoon everybody was so very happy to rest for while. About two hours later two helicopters came overhead to re-supply food, water and ammunition.

To this day I do not know how the choppers found us. When the essentials had been handed out my platoon leader ( Lt Toby Greene ) called me over and gave me a heavily taped box. When I opened it –there was a birthday cake with chocolate icing along with a card. The cake tasted like it just came out of the oven.

The address from home was dated 10 days earlier. It was probably my most grateful birthday ever. It was delicious and did not last long!!

Unfortunately, the very next day, my best friend, who had helped me eat the cake, was killed,
not far away from me, under circumstances that still haunt me to this day.

But that is another story for another time….Today I try to recall and focus on the joy of sharing my birthday cake with my best friend… staying forever young in that moment of single delight provided by a mother who believed that it would find its way to me…and it did!

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So until tomorrow…Help us Father remember that a lifetime can be lived in a moment. Mother’s cake brought such joy to two young men…for one the last cake he ate…our angel mother.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* Mother made the best chocolate icing in the world…the secret ingredient- coffee.. ( I don’t even drink coffee but in chocolate icing…the taste is unforgettably wonderful!) I can only imagine Ben’s delight is discovering mother had baked and sent him his favorite birthday cake …landing in the jungles of Vietnam.)

“The Barefoot Contessa” (Ina Garten would approve…it is her secret ingredient also when working with chocolate!)

 * Thank all of you for your positive comments in reference to yesterday’s blog…I cut and pasted them to send Ben.

And Sis…I had never thought about a resemblance between daddy and Eva Cate until you saw it (makes me happy to think that a part of him still lives)…since I have such a limited memory of him…(more hearsay and stories than actual visual memories)…

Good morning, Becky!
I loved the chilling story your brother Ben told. I have no doubt that angels are always around us and that would mean they would also be on the battlefields. Also loved the pix you included; I’m thinking that’s your father on the top left? I can see Eva Cate’s smile and eyes when I see that pic! I know I’ve never actually met anybody else in your family, but from the pix you’ve posted with your blog I can definitely see a resemblance. Do you see it?

After reading your observation…I went back and realized that you are right…not just some physical resemblance with the beautiful clear eyes…but his love of life that my relatives said he possessed…and so does Eva Cate.

Honoree Stephen Colbert poses at the Oscar Wilde Awards at director J.J. Abrams’ Bad Robot production company in Santa Monica, California February 19, 2015. REUTERS/Kevork Djansezian (UNITED STATES – Tags: ENTERTAINMENT) – RTR4QCEY

Kudos and a Shout-out to Stephen Colbert from state educators/teachers…and retired ones! What a lovely thing to do!

Link: http://www.dailykos.com/story/2015/05/07/1383114/-Stephen-Colbert-shocks-South-Carolina-schools-by-funding-every-single-teacher-requesting-grants

Dear Reader:

I had planned on doing a completely different post today but God had other plans. Yesterday started out with a mysterious phone call and then more  incidences that continued unveiling another path for the blog… as the day went on. It became obvious that there were other stories that needed to be told…. other voices that needed to be heard.

It is the responsibility of each of us…to use our voices to tell the stories of others so that we can better understand the central core of humanity that flows through all of us…as different as we might appear. We all share the story of life.

About 9:00 the phone rang yesterday morning. It didn’t have a name by the number so I thought it was either another CVS recording about a prescription that was ready…or something similar. So I picked it up…but didn’t say anything at first…half-expecting a recording to pop on.

After a few seconds…I heard a voice…soft and far-off sounding. I didn’t recognize it initially and thought that it was probably a wrong number. I said “Hello”  and “May I help you?” A woman’s voice (that I immediately recognized) said quietly: “Do you remember me…do you know my name?”

“Patricia!” I exclaimed in delight…”It has been a couple of years since I have heard from you last.”….”How are you doing?”

She caught me up-to-date on some incidentals in her life…but then stopped and said that this was not why she was calling. “Oh…I said (now curious) “Why then?”

“Because God asked me to.” Before I could respond she told me about a rather strange happening that occurred Tuesday morning while she was eating breakfast. She heard a voice speaking to her…and the voice said: “God says there is a Word in You.”

Patricia said she never blinked…but went and got her Living Bible and sat back down. She opened the Bible and began skimming the pages and when they settled…she began to read:

The Call of Jeremiah
4 -Now the word of the LORD came to me saying, 5-“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, And before you were born I consecrated you; I have appointed you a prophet to the nations.” 6-Then I said, “Alas, Lord GOD! Behold, I do not know how to speak, Because I am a youth.”…

But instead of youth Patricia said she was thinking….”because I am of age”….but she knew, like Jeremiah, God was telling her she had a message to pass along.

But to whom? Later that evening she was cleaning out her pocketbook and found my telephone number she has had for over five years. She sensed that I was the person who was supposed to receive this “Word.”

She told me that as a messenger she was not privy to the meaning but simply was doing what she was told and she felt sure that when the time was right…I, too, would understand the underlying message. With a quick good-bye Patricia was gone….leaving me wondering about the mysterious workings of our Creator.

* A Quick Catch-Up….I met Patricia five years ago on a Saturday morning walk through the neighborhood. She had been the primary caregiver for an elderly lady whose health deterioration was forcing her into a more permanent care facility.

I had never seen Patricia before….but she was so friendly as I walked by the house that morning (waving at me) while the move was going on in full force. Patricia got into her car and by the time I got to the stop sign at the end of the road she pulled up beside me.

“How are you?” she asked. Her smile was contagious and I smiled back…responding with my perfunctory “Fine, thank you.” I was about to turn onto the road leading back to my house when she said, “Really?”

“Excuse me” I replied…somewhat puzzled.

“Something is going on with you isn’t it…something  that you are worried about?”….I found myself telling her about my recent diagnosis of breast cancer and how the chemo treatments didn’t seem to be getting rid of it.

“I had breast cancer too and beat it…you will too.” I smiled and once again was about to walk off when she said…”Give me your hands and let’s pray….couldn’t hurt, right?”

I found myself leaning in the open window and holding hands with this “stranger” – finding the most wonderful sense of peace as she prayed for my good health. She asked for my telephone number which I gave her and every few months she would call to check on me.

I actually had almost forgotten about Patricia until the phone call yesterday….reminding me that God is using this individual to continue to guide me. Where and for what…I still have to figure out…but I know Patricia seems to have been assigned to me as a messenger from God.

I had no more hung up from Patricia than my brother Ben called. He had just finished a recorded interview about the plight of veterans today and his participation in the Vietnam War for a local television show. Apparently it had gone well….other people were now interested in his story.

I told Ben that I really believed his life was spared in Vietnam for a reason and that reason was to be the voice of veterans everywhere…he had experienced five near-death episodes in Vietnam and had been fighting for VA benefits for six years…he was tired…but his voice and writing was/is powerful.

Like me…he, too, had found a supporter, an angel in Rev. John Riddle (better known as Randy.) Randy is working with Ben, and alongside him, to bring more awareness to the plight for veterans…encouraging Ben to use his voice and writing talents to tell his story. Thank you so much for this support, Randy, that you are giving my brother!

I asked Ben if he had thought of a title for a potential book on his experiences on both fronts (foreign and home)… he immediately emailed me back “Angels on the Battlefields.” He said he had always hesitated to say much about some of the unexplained experiences he witnessed (afraid people would think him crazy) but he had gotten to the place where these phenomena needed to be told.

He came home with one conviction…that he and each man fighting in every conflict from minor skirmishes to major battles, did not fight alone…the angels were there beside them….some healing, some hovering over the dying to help them with their last journey…and some, like what my brother experienced…bringing messages of warning, hope and survival.

With Memorial Day ending this beautiful month….(and memories of a sad Mother’s Day when mother got the telegram that Ben was missing in action)…I asked Ben if he would or could re-tell one spiritual experience and he agreed to do so.

In June of 1968, two platoons of Golf Company walked right into a well designed ambush. We were working in the mountainous highlands of northern Vietnam. The trap was tripped when a small unit of enemy ground forces engaged the lead elements of our troops.

This effectively stopped our line momentarily which was what the NVA (North Vietnam Army) wanted. Immediately they launched a storm of heavy mortar fire on our position. The fight quickly picked up in intensity.

I found myself alone at the rim of a bomb crater which offered some protection while allowing me a clear field of fire. The mortar rounds were coming in like rain when suddenly I heard a voice–crystal clear with great authority telling me leave where I was –immediately !! The tenor of the voice did not invite any discussion or questioning.

I immediately moved about 30 yards away. 15 seconds later a heavy mortar round landed exactly where I had been lying. As chaotic as the fighting was… I nevertheless knew that somehow God had intervened, by means of an angel’s voice, to remove me from instant death.

I guess some people don’t believe in angels—I am not one of those people. Battlefields, since the first war ever fought, have been littered with angels–they are everywhere doing God’s bidding.

The other night I gathered some pictures of daddy and Ben for him to give the television station before his interview. Seeing the pictures magnified on the computer screen….brought home, once again, how young they both were…actually both turned 21 while fighting in WWII and Vietnam.

So until tomorrow…Thank you Father for the “angels” you send us during trying times in our lives to support, guide, and protect us along our life’s path.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* Gin-g stopped by yesterday afternoon and suggested we go somewhere for dessert…we ended up at Oscars getting the same dessert… the “birthday” vanilla ice cream and chocolate fudge stripe drippings over the delicious crepe.

The waiter took one look at our matching black and white tops and our black and white striped ice cream and broke out laughing….He said it was the first time he had seen coordinated desserts and tops. We told him it was the new “Zebra” look!

* Exciting news…the family has a new blogger…Kaitlyn is starting her blog on yoga and life! Do check it out!

https://swicegoodyoga.wordpress.com/

Dear Reader:

Brooke gave me this garden statute after Rutledge and Jakie came along…she said that the boys needed to be represented in the garden too.

The first time I looked at this adorable little boy with the half-smile on his face I thought he was holding a frog….but upon closer inspection he is holding an imaginary (only to us) leprechaun ….(he must be Irish.)

The statue’s facial expression appears to hide the amusement of a secret world that only children can live in….imaginary friends who stay beside them and sit with them through the preciously short time called “childhood.”

“I think, at a child’s birth, if a mother could ask a fairy godmother to endow it with the most useful gift, that gift would be curiosity.” ~Eleanor Roosevelt

Robert Louis Stevenson–“… every child can remember laying his head in the grass, staring into the infinitesimal forest and seeing it grow populous with fairy armies …”

“Court of Faeries”- James Christensen

If we lose our curiosity, wonder, and awe of God’s world somewhere along our journey…our quality of life basically ends  there, I believe. We have become one of the popular “cult” figures…“the living dead.” Our “spirit and soul” are gone before our physical body catches up.

We no longer are amazed at the stars or in awe of the birth of a child. We can no longer retreat to an imaginary world filled with fairies and leprechauns. The beauty of a new bloom unfolding no longer brings joy…it is at this point that the spirit dies a sad and longing death.

(How can I ever imagine not stopping in wonder and awe before my first hydrangea bloom in all its changing beauty…with the light blue streaks starting to appear….or see a new bloom on the exquisite iris and not sigh in contentment and happiness?)

Source: Excerpts from- Awakin Weekly: “Radical Amazement” Rabbi Abraham Hoshua Heschel.

…”The surest way to suppress our ability to understand the meaning of God and the importance of worship is to take things for granted. Indifference to the sublime wonder of living is the the beginning of the end.”

…”As civilization advances, the sense of wonder declines. Such decline is an alarming symptom of our state of mind. Mankind will not perish for want of information; but only for want of appreciation. The beginning of our happiness lies in the understanding that life without wonder is not worth living. What we lack is not a will to believe but a will to wonder.”

“Awareness of the divine begins with wonder.“

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After reading the rabbi’s article in its entirety a song about wonder started nudging at my “neurons”….and then it finally came:  “I Wonder as I Wander.”

How could I forget that most beautiful, haunting melody that we sing at Christmas? It is one of my favorite hymns for its melodious tune. When I researched the origin of the song…I was in “wonder and awe” at the story behind its creation. Enjoy!

Source: From the First Congregational United Church of Christ-from a sermon by Rev. Nicholas Hatch

Behind the Hymn: “I Wonder as I Wander”

“I Wonder as I Wander” is a hymn written by folklorist and singer John Jacob Niles. Niles was born in Kentucky where he was deeply exposed to the ethnic folk tunes of the south Appalachian culture. His life took him many places. He was a pilot in World War I and then attended and graduated from the Cincinnati Conservatory. He moved to Chicago, sang in the Lyric Opera, was on the radio, and eventually ended up in New York City performing American spirituals, gaining an RCA record label.

But, despite his extensive education and travels, Niles’s great musical love remained the haunting, transient and unique spirituals of the Appalachian Mountains. He spent a great deal of his life returning to forgotten Appalachian towns, combing through small hollers and town squares building a library of folk melodies.

On a cold day in December in Murphy, North Carolina, after being ordered to leave the town by police for attending a fundraiser held by Evangelical Christians, Niles said this:

A girl stepped out to the edge of the little platform attached to an automobile. She began singing. Her clothes were unbelievable dirty and ragged, and she, too, was unwashed. Her ash-blond hair hung down in long skeins. . . . but best of all she was beautiful in a spiritual way- a light shone upon her little face, and in her untutored way, she could sing like an angel. She smiled as she sang, rather sadly, and sang only a single line of a song.  She said that this was the only line her mother and grandmother passed down. (Lyon 2003, 200)

Niles took this melody, and her words, and this is how we have the song “I Wonder as I Wander.” He spent years trying to locate the origin of the song, and later, to find the girl herself. Neither of which he was ever able to do.

Perhaps this simple story parallels that of the Christ child—a person of humble beginnings bringing great news for the world. It leaves us with the questions: In what small corners of this world have beautiful, fleeting and mysterious moments of faith happened to you? Where have you looked? And, perhaps, where have you looked and missed the girl, or the child, sharing a beautiful song.

…………………………

John Rutter – I wonder as I wander – Cambridge … – YouTube

So until tomorrow….Nudge us Father to go out into Your world of wonder and awe and find Your Presence in its beauty.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* I had ordered two floats for the pool (Jake and Eva Cate) and had planned to give the dolphin and turtle to the children at Mandy’s party but since the rains fell and there could be no pool party…I held off until I babysat last Sunday.

Eva Cate got in the pool yesterday afternoon and loves her dolphin! Boo loves dolphins too! In fact Anne found this picture of Fungi, the Dingle dolphin, with me at the Dingle marina.

Dear Reader:

Don’t we admire people who we think are resilient...no matter the problems or situations that accost them in life…they, not only survive, but bloom from each encounter?

Many studies have been done to try to figure out the reason why some people grow stronger and more resilient with each crisis that comes their way….while others turn inward and lose their bloom.

For years…psychologists ascertained that good problem-solving skills, patience, self-help, and support from family and friends, collectively, developed the needed skills for resilience.

Lately…new studies have shown that all of the above criteria for resiliency are fine…but they, alone, are not the key factors or predictors of a resilient person.

Instead…two other explanations are more closely aligned to producing resilient individuals. The first…Spirituality.

(This term is not, necessarily, confined to religion or theology…but instead a “shared and deeply held belief” as in the following definition.)

“Spirituality is recognizing and celebrating that we are all inextricably connected to each other by a power greater than all of us, and that our connection to that power and to one another is grounded in love and compassion. 

Practicing spirituality brings a sense of an unique perspective, meaning, and purpose to our lives.” 

Understanding that we are never alone, but part of a bigger universe, makes us more resilient to problems and disappointments that “topple” others without this shared conviction.

*This runs true for me in my personal crisis experiences…just knowing that I am an important part of the universe, connected to all living creatures of life, helps me minimize the immediate problem with a spatial perception of universal acceptance.

Mentally….this belief shrinks the immediate crisis as compared to, say, all the stars in the universe. It works for me!

The last “ingredient” in the pot of resiliency is HOPE.

C. R. Snyder, a former researcher at the University of Kansas, startled most people when he announced (after years of studying people and their personal cases confronting crises in their lives) that HOPE is not an emotion or feeling.

Instead it is a cognitive process…a way of thinking….which is composed of the following trilogy.

1) Setting realistic long-term goals   (I know where I want to go)

2) We can figure out how to achieve these goals with a solid “Plan B” waiting in the wings. (I know how to get there, I am persistent and I can tolerate disappointment and try again.”)

3) We believe in ourselves ( I can do this!)

Snyder also informs us that HOPE is learned…children learn hope by observing how their parents handle problems….the level of resiliency shown at home. Tolerance for disappointment, determination, and a belief in self are the heart of hope. 

Next time someone calls you or your child or grand-child “spirited or high-spirited” take it as a compliment. This is the child who has a high tolerance for disappointment and occasional failure….with an equally high determination to live life to the fullest.

Hopelessness and powerlessness go hand in hand and we all know that a sense of powerlessness to change a critical situation is a terrible experience..one we try to avoid at all costs. We need resilience and hope and a spirit that can carry us through the doubt and fear. We need to believe that we can effect change if we want to live and love with our whole heart. Hope!

Source: The Gifts of Imperfection (Brene Brown, Ph.D)

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So until tomorrow…“People are like stained-glass windows. They sparkle and shine when the sun is out, when the darkness sets in, their beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within.” (Elisabeth-Kubler-Ross)

* Speaking of stained glass…another photo from Brooke at the National Cathedral

We recognize resilient people because we can see the “light” within.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* And speaking of resiliency….Lucy has been having trouble jumping on the benches in the garden in the evenings now…and then (right after completing this blog post) I walk outside and spot Lucy sleeping on top of the five foot fence posts that separate my neighbor’s property. Lucy still has hope and she definitely has spirit!

Dear Reader:

Recently, while working in the garden, I started thinking about the variety of flowers and plants blooming away. How lucky we are to live in a world where diversity reigns over “sameness.”

Take the two morning glories in the title photos….by chance…one planter has ended up with purple morning glories, while the other planter is producing the creme and pink versions…Anne and I just randomly planted the seedlings thinking they were all purple or periwinkle colors. But God knew better…

When I discovered the (following) devotional yesterday it summed up exactly my thoughts on the power and beauty of diversity…but, also,  sadly… the flip side of distrust and fear when it comes to diverse cultures. Diversity is a word that has become quite subjective in today’s society. Yet God purposefully chose diversity over “sameness”…there must be a reason why?

Marantha Devotions: “God Likes Variety” Steve McMichael

Ephesians 2:10

For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

“Have you ever noticed how diverse God’s creation is? There are multitudes of animals that are so different and diverse that they amaze scientists. There are millions of insects, all different. No two snowflakes are alike. Every individual on the earth is amazingly similar yet totally different. No two fingerprints are alike, no two people are alike.

Since God is the author of diversity, is should not surprise us that we, who are created in His image, would also like diversity. We all have different likes and dislikes. We do things differently and even think about things differently. This is part of what makes life so exciting. Just think how boring life would be if everyone liked only the same things.

There would only be one type of car and they would all be the same color. There would be only one style of clothes, everyone would dress alike, wear their hair alike, and would all eat the same foods. There would not be the variety of restaurants that we have today. What a boring place this earth would be. Diversity makes life interesting and keeps us from being bored literally to death.

If God likes diversity so much that He creates each of us so differently, don’t you think that He must have a reason for so doing? I know that He does, He wants us to be different, to like different things, different places, and different lifestyles. The reason is that we all, in our sum total, help to reveal the nature of God. No one individual is able to be a true, precise representation of God, but when all believers of all nations, races, creeds and cultures are put together, we get a better idea of what God is like.

What does this mean to the individual. It means that you are a very important part of the overall picture. You are not the picture, but you are created by God to be an individual to do your part of showing the world what God is like. You are created with a purpose.

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So until tomorrow…I like these thoughts on diversity….and I like being a part of something bigger than I can conceive…a piece of a puzzle that wouldn’t be complete… without you are me.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* Let me share some of the diversity of life in my garden….come with me…

Yesterday I was sitting on the yellow bench and decided to take a panoramic shot from the back view of the backyard….it gave me a new sense of “newness”

* Some days I still have to pinch myself that all of this little piece of paradise in my front and back yards are real…my “real, true story” (ouch!) Please change that commercial, George Sink!

I hope you see why I love diversity so much in my garden and why I pray for acceptance and understanding of all  God’s children…together we make the world stronger, better, and more beautiful.

Yesterday was actually a pretty diverse day in itself…we had Mollie’s “sprinkle” shower starring the main man himself…Lachlan…and then I babysat Jakie and Eva Cate for John and Mandy to celebrate their 7th anniversary…so many memories and a perfect evening with a bright round moon and cool spring weather.

W.T. brought a whole, big box of John’s old lego sets and Eva Cate is having a ball with them…lots of castles and princesses.

Kaitlyn rode with Mandy and me to the shower and told us that Atticus and Pip are really hitting it off now…Rudy still maintains his “alpha” status as the oldest.

As a part of Brooke’s birthday…she and Lou (childhood friend from Winnsboro) flew to Washington, D.C. for the flower arrangements at the National Cathedral….let me just show you two as an example of the beauty of the flowers and this sacred place.

Sarah’s shower for Mollie was wonderful…so creative….she had thought of everything down to the last detail…let me share some of the memories with you to end the blog this evening…

…And the “man of the hour”, of course, was Lachlan. Living up to his Irish ancestry…Lachlan kept “swigging” away at his favorite bottle of choice…assisted by his “Auntie” Kaitlyn.

Dear Reader:

A couple of days ago I read an article on kindness… it brought in a new insight that I had never considered before reading the article. Here are a couple of excerpted phrases that made me pause and think.

Source: Nipun Mehta (newsletter) “Force of Kindness” by Sharon Shalzberg

The author began the article asking us if we ever feel fragmented? If we find ourselves searching for meaning in life…while continuing to do only what we have to do to survive our daily routine.

Shalzberg reveals that the force or power we are looking for to turn our lives around is the force of kindness. She says:

...”To explore kindness as that thread of meaning requires finding out if we can be strong and still be kind, be smart and still be kind, whether we can be profoundly kind to ourselves and at the same time strongly dedicated to kindness for those around us. We have to find the power in kindness! Without it we will continue to wander aimlessly through life. “

The author contends that true kindness is such a powerful force that it can literally change our whole perception of life and the people we come into contact with within that life….we no longer have to “pretend” to be kind or “work” at it…it becomes a natural rhythm like breathing. It becomes a part of us:

When we are devoted to the development of kindness, we are no longer forcing ourselves into a mold we think we have to occupy; rather, it becomes a movement of the heart so deep and subtle that it is like a movement of the sea close to the ocean floor, all but hidden yet affecting absolutely everything that happens above. That’s the force of kindness.

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The article has stayed with me springing up in my consciousness at odd times. I began to think about when I stopped putting Smile …You’ve been Tagged notes on cards or handing them to someone behind me in line. It’s been awhile. The garden, new births, family, and friends have occupied my time…and it is a wonderful life!

At certain intervals, however, we have to stop and think of others, outside our realm of comfortable familiarity… and reach out to them.

I have new neighbors moving in across this street in a few weeks…right now they are over at their house almost every day… working on the inside and outside of their new home.

The couple is so nice; they have two children, nine and five….a boy and a girl. We have introduced ourselves and spoken each time I see them while getting my mail. So my thoughts immediately turned to them to provide a little “surcie.”

I already had two baked chocolate chips cookies and those pink and blue lollipops left over from Easter…I packaged them up with a big “You are Loved” card and a ‘Welcome to the Neighborhood‘ greeting on the back. But I didn’t sign this one…just want them to feel that they made the right choice selecting our street to move on to….

I, then, needed to run an errand and pick up something from Simple to Sublime…so I made a little floral arrangement (a real perk for having a garden…you always have fresh flowers) using one of Honey’s adorable little pottery vases (Remind me Honey to buy some more from you when we see each other next time) and bumped into Samantha crossing Short Central….she had gone to get some iced tea. Perfect timing.

There is power in kindness…my third card is going to go in the mail slot at the Post Office addressed to “Whoever is sorting the mail today…Yes YOU” with a Starbucks gift card and a “You are Loved” note card….(and appreciated!) Random and even, not so random, acts of kindness define humanity…we are made in God’s image and as such should slow down enough occasionally to acknowledge the other people chosen to live on this earth at the same time we do. It makes us all special!

So until tomorrow…Do something kind for someone else…the natural “high” you get is the best medicine in the world. It does a body good!

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* Today is John and Mandy’s 7th wedding anniversary…and look what has come out of this wonderful union….Eva Cate and Jake!

I am keeping them this evening so John and Mandy can return to The Oaks Steakhouse. This is the location where John proposed to Mandy…which makes it very special…plus the food is out of this world too!

 * But before we all do this…Mandy and I are heading to a baby shower given for Mollie (and Lachlan) by one of her close friends. It will be fun to see a lot of Mollie’s friends whom I haven’t seen since the last shower or party…and get to see Marcia again!

* More happy news…Kaitlyn completed her certification instruction in yoga last weekend and can now instruct other interested participants!. We are so proud of her! Congratulations Kaitlyn! I have a little “surcie” for you, too, which I will give you at the shower today!

Dear Reader:

Tim came over today to help me with clearing out the “woods” behind my back yard that I have neglected for way too long….broken limbs, wisteria, weeds of every genre imaginable….in other words….the “not fun” part of keeping a garden and yard up….

But the fun part came when Tim added more lights to the oak tree in the garden… and wound lights around the electric cord that runs through the trees to operate the fountain. (Great suggestion Mollie!) Now look at the old oak tree in the back…it’s just beaming with pride while appearing all “lit up.”

The month of May gets its name originally from Greek mythology….she is called Maia and is known as the goddess of the growth of plants. (Quite appropriate)

Today she is a star….actually a real star in the constellation  “Pleiades.” (sometimes called “The Seven Sisters.”) While still a goddess…she was the eldest of the seven daughters of Atlas and Pleione. Considered the most beautiful of the daughters…she was also the shyest and lived alone in a cave on a mountain in Arcadia.

But no mountain cave is too secluded for the powerful Zeus…who spotted her one day and just had to have her. She soon bore him a son names Hermes (the messenger) and even as an infant he could play the lyre so beautifully he enchanted everyone who heard him.

An old legend says that if you listen carefully at night while watching this constellation of stars…you, too, will fall under the spell of the magic music of the lyre played by Maia’s son- Hermes.

* It is, ironically, in November (sometimes known as the month of “Pleiades”) that one can see the constellation best…from dusk to dawn.

* Interesting trivia fact…in ancient times the Anglo-Saxons called the month of May “Tri-Milchi”…meaning that in this particular month the green grass grew rich, and farmers could milk their cows three times a day.

Today we celebrate this beautiful month on the first day (May Day) with traditions from Europe and Asia. America has also come up with its own regional customs….like….

1) Barefoot Day– in the South, traditionally, the first day of May was when children could finally get rid of their socks and shoes…wiggle their toes in freedom. Brooke said she remembered this day because she and her childhood friend Lou, would start walking to school and back and everywhere else barefoot so that by the time summer arrived…the calluses were hardened and they could walk anywhere on anything without a single whimper of pain.

* Brooke commented that it was ironic now that she and her “barefooting” friends from the past pay good money to get their calluses removed ..such is life!

2. Maypole Day….The Ya’s call me “Maypole” because my senior year at Erskine I was chosen to represent our senior class in the May Pole festivities. It is all pretty much a blur but at least I got a new outfit to wear from all the festivities.

* I know you are laughing… at the ” Big hair and new outfit” but please remember it was the 70’s (blame it on the decade)….and see… I was a tree hugger even back then.

3) May Day Morning Dew: A widespread superstition is still held that washing your face in the May Day morning dew will beautify your skin. -( wish I had read that sooner….oh well…next year)

The Irish take it one step farther: (The May Day Dew – Should you roll naked in it?
by Bridget Haggerty

The plainest girl will be beautiful if she rises early on May Day and bathes her face in morning dew at sunrise. So goes the old Irish saying…

If she was daring enough to undress and roll naked, she was given great beauty of person; the dew was also believed to bring immunity to freckles, sunburn, chapping, and wrinkles during the coming year. It cured or prevented headaches, skin ailments and sore eyes and, if applied to the eyes, it ensured that its user rose every morning clear-eyed, alert and refreshed, even after a very short sleep.

So until tomorrow…Let us enjoy this most beautiful month of the year….I think I would never grow tired of these past two days if I got caught up in a “Groundhog Day” dilemma….I could repeat these days for a long, long, time. God…thank you for May.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* Eva Cate…Look…do you see what I see…a shadow of a fairy running by her now lighted orange mushroom….the garden fairies are here.

* Please let me know if any of you are having problems receiving this blog… as of late…Johnny Johnson and some other subscribers have not gotten their morning blogs on their emails….let me know if you are one of them and/or if it has been corrected…the same thing goes for Facebook readers.

Some readers were afraid that I was sick again…but let me assure you I feel terrific! I’m still here…where are you?

Dear Reader:

It was so beautiful yesterday I could not stay inside…the cool weather, warm sun, and soft breezes were calling me like the sirens of old…

I ended up cutting the front yard….cutting back weeds, more bamboo, and wisteria…(like you Jo!) I am one of those “strange” people who actually enjoys cutting the grass…while it is still cool. Come summer with its extreme heat and humidity…I will gladly turn the reins back over to Tim again.

Even pulling weeds didn’t seem half so bad…on such a beautiful day. After turning off the loud lawn mower…everything seemed extraordinarily quiet and serene. All I could hear were the birds, my new chimes (Joan) and the distant sounds of cars and voices.

As I traveled from spot to spot pulling weeds I ended up in the front yard and noticed a small bud just beginning to open on the hydrangea I planted last year to no avail…but this year…it was growing and now budding….it is probably too early to know what color the hydrangea will eventually become…but for now it is this soft creme and light green….so beautiful.

I bought this hydrangea in a plastic bag with just one stem sticking out from the Tractor/Supply store last year….the heat did it in then…but now it is happy and green.

When I looked up the symbolism behind the hydrangea plant it said:

This beautiful plant represents the silence of  heartfelt moments and sincerity in its most graceful and beautiful blooms.

It was the silence that accompanied my discovery of this first bloom of the spring season from a plant I considered “dead” last winter. Upon closer scrutiny the white bloom emerging looked just like a little angel…peeking through.

I watered it well…since hydrangeas can never get enough, it seems…and headed towards the porch where another exquisite discovery was waiting.

Three purple morning glories were smiling at me as I climbed the steps and sat on the porch….I then glanced at the other container of morning glories and there it was…in all its glory. I had never seen such an unusual and beautiful morning glory.

“The soul always knows what to do to heal itself. The challenge is to silence the mind. (C Myss)

All it took was these two heartfelt moments to restore my soul. As the old hymn says: “It is well…it is well…with my soul”

Oh  my goodness…it is more than well with my soul….I had emailed Anne to ask her if she still had a picture of the wild Irish morning glories and she did…..Look at this photo! (I think we must have brought back one Irish morning glory!

Isn’t it beautiful? It brought back such memories…but then Anne emailed this message:

Do you have your May baskets ready?  In school (Catholic) on May 1st we honored Jesus’ mother, Mary, and made woven May baskets.  We filled them with flowers, attached them to a neighbor’s door, rang the bell and ran away!  Somewhere in there we wove in and out around a Maypole.  I’ll have to check with my sisters on that memory.

I emailed back….Come on over! When Anne arrived she did have a flower but not a basket…the flower was in a frame…I am still shaking thinking about it….Look!

Can you believe it? Look at that painting Anne did. For several months I have been telling her that I wanted one of her artworks on the B&B side since she donated all the living room furniture…I have Joan’s two beautiful paintings in the dining room…she needed something too.

And now for May 1…here it came! It looks so beautiful…as if  the walls had just been waiting for it. It just seemed to sparkle in contrast to the recently painted gray walls.

There is now new meaning in the word “heartfelt”….Anne…this painting is the most “heartfelt” gift to bring in the month of May I have ever received! April showers bring May flowers.

We decided to celebrate with a glass of wine on the deck….suddenly Anne looked down and there was a penny in the bottom of her wine glass. (Eva Cate had wanted to use a wine glass when Ady Grace came to visit….and had plopped her ‘say a wish’ fountain penny in the glass.)

She never ended up using it…instead she drank out of her plastic “Frozen” cup…but the penny was forgotten and  remained in the wine glass….it must be bringing Anne the best of luck for the talents she shares with friends.

Unbelievable! I still can’t get over that painting…every few minutes I find myself running back over to look at it again!

The sun was starting to go down when we went in and Anne got some beautiful photo shots of the last rays of sun on the pine trees. What a fabulous day!

I gave Anne some Inis (Irish body cream) and a “Shark” product that I saw on the show….Rosemary Pipcorn. Delicious!

So until tomorrow…Surprise someone with a gift for no reason except kindness and love and shared life experiences. It changes the day…and the world for them. I know.

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

 *May 1- May Day – Don’t forget to say “rabbit” for good luck this month. My garden rabbit looks like she is ready to deliver a basket of flowers on May Day….it will sure bring a smile to someone.

*Tomorrow we will talk about more May Day customs and  traditions…so if you know one…please share.