monday prayer

Prayer for Monday

Keep us, O God,

from all pettiness.

Let us be large in thought,

in word, in deed.

Let us be done

with fault-finding

and leave off all self-seeking.

May we put away all pretense

and meet each other face to face,

without self-pity

and without prejudice.

Grant that we may realize that

it is the little things of life that

create differences, that in the

big things of life we are as one.

And, O God,

let us not forget to be kind.

- Mary Stewart

from Prayers for a Peaceful World

Let Peace Fill my Heart

Benetvision.org

art by Rob Reynolds is from here

be kind

“Part of kindness

is loving people

more than they deserve.”

~Joseph Joubert

"The Good Samaritan" is by Chinese artist HeQi

and the interpretation of the art is from Howard Carter’s

blog which is located here

Today I hit the 1000 mark on my posting meter....
Imagine that! 

Intentions & Transformations

"There is a huge force field that opens

when intention focuses and directs itself

toward transformation."

- John O'Donohue

I recently took my granddaughter down to Kah Tai Lagoon in Port Townsend. Lydia, who is 9, was intrigued from the moment she entered the park. It was all I could do to keep her on the path as she darted to and fro, talking at 100 miles a minute, while touching wildflowers and pointing out all the strange bugs. I could hear myself saying, "be careful" and "don't get too far ahead" and other sorts of adult admonitions. It wasn't until she ran straight towards a tree (off the path of course), wrapped her arms around it and exclaimed, "Oh Grandma! this is my favorite tree in the whole wide world" that I realized that she was having a completely different experience than I was. She was seeing through a child's eyes. Lydia was intent on blessing everything in her path and her intention was having a direct effect on me - it was actually transforming me.

John O'Donohue penned a beautiful book of blessings* several years ago that never ceases to move me. Listen to these words: "We have no idea the effect we actually have on one another. This is where blessing can achieve so much. Blessing as powerful and positive intention can transform situations and people. The force of blessing must be even more powerful when we consider how the intention of blessing corresponds with the deepest desire of reality for creativity, healing, and wholesomeness. Blessing has pure agency because it animates on the deepest threshold between being and becoming; it mines the territories of memory to awaken and draw forth possibilities we cannot even begin to imagine!" **

As I watched Lydia hug her tree I wondered if the tree was aware of her blessing, her love. And as we reached the water's edge and Lydia dipped her hand into the cold current, I began to sense that the water was enjoying the pureness of her attention. I was crossing the threshold between my perception of the park and Lydia's...and with that came a deep sense of kindness towards my surroundings. It's amazing to think of the power of one's intentions, isn't it? May we remain open to all the blessings that are coming our way today.

* To Bless the Space Between Us, A Book of Blessings by John O'Donohue, Copyright 2008
** quote from page 217

what lasts through the ages

"...can you pick one (beautiful thing) that will last longer than an unselfish act of service.

A rose or a violet is beautiful but how long will it keep its perfect form and color.

A tree is beautiful but eventually its heart will decay and it will fall to the ground.

A large well-proportioned building made of marble and granite is beautiful

but at last it will become a ruin.

A simple act of kindness will outlast them all;

will live on through the ages."

These are the opening lines of the graduation speech of Wynona Whitcomb,

first high school graduate of Forks, WA school system

granddaughter of pioneer Martha Maybury,

founder of Congregation Church in Forks, WA

source: 'Women to Reckon With: Untamed Women of the Olympic Peninsula'

by G. Peterson & G. Schaad

(the school is being demolished to make way for a new high school)

the joy of swerving

"If you stop to be kind,

you must swerve often

from your path."

-Mary Webb

pay attention

"…And when Jesus comes along saying that the greatest command of all is

to love God and to love our neighbor, he too is asking us to pay attention.

If we are to love God, we must first stop, look, and listen for him

 in what is happening around us and inside us.

If we are to love our neighbors, before doing anything else

we must see our neighbors. With our imagination as well as our eyes,

that is to say like artists, we must see not just their faces

but the life behind and within their faces.

Here it is love that is the frame we see them in."

-Frederick Buechner, Whistling in the Dark

happily-ever-after

But remember kids....

“It is only possible to live happily-ever-after

on a day-to-day basis.”

-Margaret Bonnano

(I'm such a sucker for cute & cuddly animal pictures. I looked up "cuddly" and I love that it means "to nestle" and "to snuggle" and "to hug tenderly". I suggest that we all reach out to cuddle today)

Rogue Wave

"Every human interaction offers you the chance to make things better or to make things worse.  To decide to make things better can cost you bundles of self-interest.  To decide to make things worse generally feels a lot more powerful.  The only problem is that the power rolls away from you like a rogue wave, as the person you slammed into finds someone else to slam into, and so on, and so on.  The good news is that you can set off the same sort of chain reaction with unwarranted kindness.  Kindness is not a bad religion, no matter what name you use for God."

from An Altar in the World
by Barbara Brown Taylor, p. 114-115.