The Dragon Looked Me in the Eye

A dragonfly looked me right in the eye,
as I minded my own business and watered 
the garden. The iridescent blues brightened
the day and shed a sudden lustre that colored
my world.  Blessings come that way on the wing,
gazing upon you with gloss of heaven's hue,
a momentary glimpse of God darting about,
to look upon creation.  



I don't usually comment on my poems.  Better to leave the reader with his or her own impression instead of mucking it up with mine.  But I suppose there are times when God takes a trip into the world and looks upon.  When God does that--isn't that the time that world is colored in a new way for us.  Isn't that the heart of a blessing? the momentary recognition before it flies away?

 
The Dragonfly
By Louise Bogan

You are made of almost nothing
But of enough
To be great eyes
And diaphanous double vans;
To be ceaseless movement,
Unending hunger
Grappling love.
Link between water and air,
Earth repels you.
Light touches you only to shift into iridescence
Upon your body and wings.
Twice-born, predator,
You split into the heat.
Swift beyond calculation or capture
You dart into the shadow
Which consumes you.
You rocket into the day.
But at last, when the wind flattens the grasses,
For you, the design and purpose stop.
And you fall
With the other husks of summer.

Wallenda High Wire Walk

Nik Wallenda high wire walks Canyon Gorge

Nik Wallenda was born with a challenge unlike any other--to continue the legacy of 7 generations of high wire walkers.  He also has a wife and 3 kids who are intricately woven into each walk--he may not come back.  Let's put this one on the line:  is faith in this case tempting God?  If we undertake a deliberate act of risk to our lives, and then ask for God's protection, is that tempting God (or at least fate?)  Now, the astronaut takes a big risk too.  Like Wallenda, the astronaut has exclusions in his life insurance policy!  But doesn't the end justify in some sense the risk--the astronaut exploring space vs. the high wire walker trying to live his legacy? 

Think about about it?  There he is 1500 feet up, no harness, 18mph wind, and he kneels to focus.  And exactly why is he doing this?  Because he was born into the yoke of his family?  Forget Wallenda.  How many folks do we know who spend their lives trying to prove themselves to themselves?  The reverse is true.  That we are given our lives by the Creator who in turn bids us to create more life.  That is the purpose of life--with its infinite variations to enhance life and living--but the bottom line is the same, how are you creating life? Or, do we tempt God to give us something in life that we think is more than the original gift from the Giver? 

The point of life is found in the closing picture for me.  What else is there? 

Wallenda's wife greets him

Crowd Funding Craze

Crowd-Funding Reveals Who We Are.........

 Look at this development….come up with an idea, a working concept, go on line and ask for funding, people line up to back you—and as one person said, “your computer becomes an ATM machine!”  It’s the craze called “crowd-funding” by such companies as Kickstarter.  Of course, there’s more details about the time limit you have to raise the funds or you get nothing.  But it is very true that there is absolutely no accountability—you can do what you want with the money!  In fact, irony of ironies, two producers are trying to make a documentary about this funding called “Kickstart.”  But they ran out of money!  So why not put it on the web, collect the $85K and finish the movie. Yes, they got the funds.  

The whole point behind “Stones Shout” is to look at the building blocks, the foundation of who we are and what they say.  Not to comment on the idea itself.  When I first heard this idea of crowd-funding, I thought immediately about our need to create—on the front end with the idea or the back end with the funding.  It speaks to our need to be a part of something larger than ourselves. Millions of dollars have been raised through this avenue that connects with people and the deeper creative person in us all.  

Looking for Love in all the RIGHT Places

"Why are you outside looking on the ground," asked Nasruddin the Mullah.

"Oh," said the man, "I have lost the key to my house."

"Let me help you,"  said Nasruddin, "where do you think you dropped it?"

"In the house," replied the man.

"So why are you out here looking for it," asked the Mullah.

"Because there is more light out here," said the man.


There's more wisdom to this story than just looking in the wrong place.  The point is that our eyes become so blind to the Truth, which we have misplaced along the way of life, that we don't know where the true light of Truth is.  Our eyes are not able to see the real Light.

Remember the CSLewis book in the Narnia series, The Last Battle?  The eyes of the dwarfs live in darkness and think it is daytime because they are so conditioned that they say they see, but are blind.  We do not need to look very far, do we, to remember Jesus confronting the Pharisees and saying, "there are none so blind as those who say they see!" 

The true wisdom is of "light uncreated," that wonderful Dillard phrase.  She might not have meant it this way, but love is light uncreated--in the best and worst of times, love lights the way.  In the midst of deep darkness, we follow the light and know it because it simply is not something (in my view) which we manufacture, but which God shares through us.  

Alan Sandler--One Click Away!

 Find the Real Character in Alan Sandler!
 
 Sorry!  Not a movie review!  Every once in a while a character is summoned from the reality of our lives and this happened in the movie "Click."   Henry Winkler plays the father of Alan Sandler, his real father who had died and became the subject of the movie, "Click."  Winkler said that at several times during the shooting of the film that Sandler's concentration and contact with him was so powerful that it overwhelmed him.  He said it came from such a "very deep place" in Sandler -- and what I heard was, the seat of life itself.  Deep down in every person is the core, bed-rock foundation upon which our lives sit--"the seat of life"--and in those scenes in this movie, Sandler stood on that foundation and spoke "life"--that came from his connection to his father. 

Where is the "seat of life for you?"  It is formed from relationships, our instinct for life and survival, and this incredible need for meaning, transcendence, which comes from being held above our lives to see it for what it is.  As if we had that out of body experience in which we could look down and see ourselves for who we really are.  Although the seat of life has common elements, surely the combination of those elements differs for everyone.

Now here is the opportunity!  William James, father of modern psychology, has compared these elements to a pool table--same for everyone, infinite number of combinations.  He talks about "conversion," not just faith but an essential rearrangement on the table through experience.  It acts like the cue ball hitting the rack of balls and making a new combination.  For most of us, the is combination is set early in life, as most developmental psychologists agree.  Here's the difference and opportunity. New experience can be the chance to rearrange our sense of who we are, what we are about, and who and what we value.  The death of Sandler's father was just such an experience. It became the opportunity for him to deepen his character and thereby his profession as actor.

 The question for us is how we use new experience.  Do we go through life on automatic pilot?  Do we switch off to manual controls--and make intentional choices?

Yes it is also true.  Walk past the question and miss the answer!


Best to SIT with the question and see what answer comes up from your SEAT of life!  

Texas Giant, Phoneix Floods, CA Wildfires

The Texas Giant Roller Coaster

"Even now, O Lord, while we are placed among things that are passing away, 
help us to cleave to those things which endure,
through Jesus Christ our Lord.  Amen" 


The rash of tragic events across the country has certainly grabbed headlines--the woman who falls from the coaster, the sudden floods in Phoenix and then raging wildfires in California.  They play into the deepest fears of the psyche--we have no firm grip on this world.  Surely we don't go through the day expecting these same events to happen to us.

Phoenix Floods Wash Everything Away!

 That's not the point.  But take Camus or Sartre--or even Jesus and the parable of the flood washing away the house--and the same point is there.  Where and how do we get a grip on things?  There is the sense that we lack any permanence in ourselves, no hold on life, or what the Harvard Business Review calls "Sky Hooks"  (because "the earth moves under our feet" as the song goes!).

CA Wildfire--Is there ever enough retardent? 

Handle of the World

There’s no place in the world,

like the Ship Ahoy dock,

the floating anchor,

that ties me to the one place,

where I hold the handle of the world,

against currents of tide and wind,

that threaten to sweep me away.

When will I learn the secrets,

Of eider ducks who swim,

with the stream without a paddle,

Or gulls who fly like white kites,

without moving their wings?

Perhaps it is enough just to let go!

 

Forgive my ruminations! 

 The parable of the house that stands against the flood is not that it has within itself a foundation all of it own.  Or, that the Christian faith is an insurance policy against the floods. Far from it.  In Christ, the the floods still come, He is our foundation, or as Tillich says, "the ground of our being."  We cannot fall out of Christ ultimately--we are in his everlasting arms, as the old spiritual sings. 

J.K. Rowling and The Cucko's Calling

J.K. Rowling

Well done!  The mystery writer put one over on all of us!  The story is out that best-seller creator of Harry Potter--JKRowling wrote a mystery novel as "Robert Galbraith"--and for a while got away with it.  Eventually, the press unraveled it--but not before the book got rave reviews, yet still remained at the bottom of the reader's list.  Add JK Rowling's name to it and what happens--
"write" to the top, 500,000+ orders for Amazon alone.

Surely it says something about readership not recognizing greatness for itself--even when told it is a great story.  It says something about JK herself, proving to herself that she is a great writer to get those reviews, despite a public that is conditioned to respond automatically to her work.

"I felt liberated!" 

 
That's wonderful.  She's no longer a mystery to herself.  She now believes in herself or at least what the critics say.  With or without her name--she's a great writer.  What does it take for us to believe in ourselves?  Do we need somebody "out there," some critic's corner to certify us?  Or, do we believe enough in ourselves and who God made us to be -- that we only need "to know ourselves as we are known by God."  (Parker Palmer)


                                                                                                  Excuse me now.  I have a book to order!

Dennis Farina Rest in Peace

Dennis Farina, dies at age 69

     "My personality was formed by Chicago, It's very American, very straightforward. If you can't find it, or make it there, you won't make it anywhere. It's a very honest place."    Dennis Farina

  

I enjoy Law & Order, especially as I have watched different characters build into the series.  The harsh taste of reality is that some actors have really died along the way--such as my favorite "Lenny Briscoe"  with his one-liners played by Jerry Orbach. It was then that Det. Joe Fontana entered the show in 2004, partnered with Ed Green who was getting over the loss of partner Lenny Briscoe.  (My favorite with the one liners.)  Remember Farina from  "Saving Private Ryan" and "Midnight Run," and the HBO series "Luck?"

Partners Ed Green and Joe Fontana

The guy brought the same earthly, plain-speaking, direct talking detective known in the series--while remaining his own character who brought the vintage veterans years to Law & Order.  My favorite show?  When he screws up in a case, goes to the man's door to apologize, and when the door opens--Fontana's open hand meets a door slamming shut in his face.  The part could not have been played better.  Something told me in that scene that he was not in a script--that perhaps he had already lived it after his career as a cop.  It is that kind of genuine acting on the stage that does something for being more authentic in our own lives beyond our scripts. 

"May he find even greater roles to play 

in a place where the Cubs always win the pennant."

Lori de Waal, spokeswoman

41 Guns Salute Royal Birth

But trailing clouds of glory do we come

From God, who is our home:

Heaven lies about us in our infancy!                                                                  William Wordsworth  Joy for William and Kate in knowing firsthand the glory of God that came trailing into their hands. A reminder that every birth is royal in the Kingdom of God where a young couple embraced light uncreated in the face of a Son born in a manger, the symbol for feeding others with life. For Christians, our real names and heritage date from that birth and not our own.

Patch Adams: Looking Beyond Problems

Seeing Beyond the Problem!

Arthur Mendleson with Patch Adams

Arthur Mendelson: How many fingers do you see?
Hunter Patch Adams: Four.
Arthur Mendelson: No no! Look beyond the fingers! Now tell me how many you see.
Arthur Mendelson: You're focusing on the problem. If you focus on the problem, you can't see the solution. Never focus on the problem!
Arthur Mendelson: See what no one else sees. See what everyone chooses not to see... out of fear, conformity or laziness. See the whole world anew each day!

Next time it hits the fan for you....try this RX. 
1.  Put a hand at your side,
2.  hold out four fingers,
3.  breathe deeply,
4.  and remember what came later in the movie.

Mendleson was in the hospital by his own choice.  Patch persuades him to become a part of his clinic to help those in need.  In fact, Mendleson decides to purchase the property to make it all happen.  He himself has looked past his own problem to see the world anew.  He has taken his own medicine.  So when his accountant chases him around the new property trying to talk him out of the sale, he says to Patch:

Arthur Mendelson: You learn anything about proctology yet Patch? Good, take care of this asshole for me, will ya?

5.  Then go ahead and laugh! 

Fight or Flight: Your REAL Defense?

What is your REAL Defense?  


This monster snapping turtle climbed out of a lake near Boothbay ME.  The car was stopped, the picture taken, and the critter was left alone.  He was ornery enough to eat a garbage truck

Sometimes called “the dinosaur” of turtles because of the prehistoric appearance—this turtle is known for its belligerent disposition and immediate defense—S-N-A-P!  This cannot escape into its shell, so it has developed a long neck with vicious teeth to protect itself.  Monster though it be, Nature needs the turtle as a scavenger and to balance the ecology of ponds and lakes.  

Now, I am not going to get myself into trouble, but will tread lightly when I say that the snapping turtle is second to the S-N-A-P of people.  We too have defense mechanisms, but unlike the snapper, we can withdraw into our shells.  This flight or fight defense pattern of people is sometimes needed when overloaded emotionally.  But there does come a time when we learn this basic truth—that defense mechanisms do not work as a way of life.  When we “fight or take flight,” we protect ourselves and loose something of ourselves at the same time.  The journey of life is to develop the ego strength which does not fear other people because we can only let them harm us—so we can hang in there, and the stones thrown are those that hurt the offender.


Case in point…and this may sound like a stretch…but remember Frodo and the ring?  Put on the ring and you disappear.  You take flight.  But it makes you even more vulnerable to the Evil Eye of Mordor.  

Actually, I watched a YouTube about snapping turtles.  A guy demonstrates how to pick them up carefully without getting bitten.  Or, if you just let them be—you cannot get snapped either.  But it takes a sense of personal security not to fly into fight and kill the turtle—or the one who snaps at you!  

Rob Lowe Speaks about Corey Monteith

Rob Lowe

I know, I know.  Rob Lowe & Wisdom--isn't that an oxymoron?  Let's give the guy a break. This morning, I heard him interviewed and he discussed his "Dawn Project" to save birds in the wilderness.  Alot of charities out there--none quite like this one.  Lowe showed that we are never too big or small to find our niche in the world.  Can the same be said of us? 

But even more so.  Listen to this. Lowe has hit low points in his career--and I think he demonstrates growth and wisdom.  He was asked about Cory Monteith and his death from addiction. 

People think that once you make it to the top you have it all--everything you need.  

But you are the same broken person with the same needs.  

Success does not fix that.  

Back to finding your niche.  Once we find our niche, no matter how broken we are, we can then fit into a bigger WHOLE.  

I am always lost in wonder as the priest breaks the host in the Eucharist.  The brokenness of Christ’s life invites us to join and become one with him.  We break into WHOLENESS that he alone gives. 

Wash your Spirit!

Freeway Fantasy

There I was gridlocked to the world....
a mere extension of the mechanical beast,
strapping me in its grip, imprisoned and shackled
a beast ob burden carrying the day.  

When my spirit let go and took flight, soaring 
above the metal monster crawling to nowhere.
Freed to fly into the caverns of my heart,
there to bathe in the flow of life itself, 
to wash the world away and remember who I am 
as a child of nature.  

Keep close to Nature's heart...

 and break clear away, once in awhile,

and climb a mountain

or spend a week in the woods.

Wash your spirit clean. 

                                                        John Muir

Mariano Reveria: All Stars' All Star!

They stood and applauded.  Mariano Revera went out to pitch the 8th inning All Star Game--and he was the only one there. The All Stars stood at the edge of the dugouts and applauded and applauded.  Forget the wave--the wave of applause was heart-stopping. They recognized the best reliever in the game and probably all time. They stood because of what he represents for the game as a character who stands above it as a sportsman.  And if you listened very quietly, you could hear the roar above the applause by all the kids he has helped for a generation.  Oh, they don't need to pitch like him...but they could not find a better model for how to live.  He's an All Star--All Star!

Twinkies are Back!!!!

 NUTRITION FACTS

F Grade

150 Calories

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 cake (43 g)

Per Serving % Daily Value*

Calories 150

Calories from Fat 41

Total Fat 4.5g 7%

Saturated Fat 2.5g 13%

Cholesterol 20mg 7%

Sodium 220mg 9%

Carbohydrates 27.0g 9%

Dietary Fiber 0.0g 0%

Sugars 18.0g

Protein 1.0g

Vitamin A 0% · Vitamin C 0%

Calcium 0% · Iron 2%

 

Okay everybody!  Forget the facts of nutrition.  Twinkies are back.  Try as we did...like the Age of Prohibition--we could not get the Twinkie out of our national diet.  We are just that conditioned!  Remember when they took away Coke and gave us New Coke?  What a fiasco!  Yes, we were that conditioned--so that Coke Classic came back and New Coke just vanished off the shelves!   And by the way....I am one of the worst offenders.  That's why I know how to write about it.  What's that you say?  I am missing the bigger issue?  Oh yeah, that one.  Do you really and truly think that big business cultivates this conditioned taste for profit?  Somebody has made that case for cigarettes and young people--but it is too late now.  Try getting that addiction out of our diets even as we watch relatives cough up their guts from emphysema.  What chance do you think the Bread that lasts for eternal lives has against the Twinkie?  We'll see at the end of time.  

Corey Monteith: Sadness for Glee

"It's all about perseverance. 

Absolute perseverance. 

You can always get back up.”   

Corey Monteith

Apparently, Corey could not get up again when he returned  to his hotel room in the early morning hours and was not seen alive again.  He admitted to his drug addiction problem, had entered rehab treatment in the past, and without the autopsy findings -- the sudden death of a 31 yr old without foul play points to his recurring demon.  We grieve for his family, friends, and colleagues on the show.  He said several times that Glee turned his life around.  There is a lesson he bequeaths to all of us on the stage of our lives---we are all members of a cast, we are in the thick of a plot and our lives depend on each other.  The one person solo performances can be done--for sure!--but they are the most dangerous when we run out of lines and the plot runs out in the dead of night. 

 So what is the way up the mountain of life?  We go hand in hand, tied on by some enduring thread that links us together.  We are most at our peril we lose those relationships and step out of community.  Careful!  I am not saying that we cannot step out of community.  I am saying that those with special struggles need to make intentional choices about staying with others when on the risky side of the mountain.  

I have always loved William Stafford's 1988 poem, The Way It Is.   It speaks to how we go through change, sometimes risky changes...yet we don't ever led go of the thread that connects us with others.
 
The Way It Is
by:  William Stafford

There’s a thread you follow. It goes among
things that change. But it doesn’t change.
People wonder about what you are pursuing.
You have to explain about the thread.
But it is hard for others to see.
While you hold it you can’t get lost.
Tragedies happen; people get hurt
or die; and you suffer and get old.
Nothing you do can stop time’s unfolding.
You don’t ever let go of the thread.

 

Zimmerman's Brother Speaks Truth to CNN'S Piers Morgan

Piers Morgan Interviews Zimmerman's Brother

Everyone has commented on this trial and most have formed their own opinions. Listening to Robert Zimmerman, brother of the acquitted, I heard a helpful perspective--which even Piers Morgan refused to accept because it did not keep the news alive as the story he had made it into.  Robert Zimmerman reminded everyone of these perspectives:

• Nobody is celebrating; there are no high-fives. A life was lost, another changed forever.
• He expressed sympathy for the Martin family,
• The verdict was not--"innocent," but "not guilty" beyond a reasonable doubt. 
• The legal system worked--not to everyone's satisfaction--but structured a process in which the case was argued fully by duly prepared legal representatives, moderated by an impartial judge and decided by a jury of impartial jurors--who worked overtime.  The system failed those with predetermined verdicts.  
• Because somebody has died--no matter how tragic that is--do we have to find somebody guilty?  
• Civil suits can now be brought. 

Piers Morgan thought he had the last word when he asked Zimmerman how he would be feeling if the roles had been reversed, his brother killed, and the killer now freed.  Said Zimmerman with a question: "How would I have felt if my brother broke somebody's nose, injured their head in a fight so that he was killed by self defenses?"  

 

 My Turn at the Microphone

 Thought I to myself:  "Shame on you, Piers.  The verdict has just come down and you flip it on the brother who was just found not guilty?"  I am accustomed to having moderators use language of care--"This must be difficult.  Thanks for coming on the show," instead of "Gotcha journalism" which had hoped for the guilty verdict before the jury deliberated. 

The other side of love

Holiday Inn, Boxborough, MA

True story….

It was a dark and stormy night—really!—just striking midnight, when I pulled into this Holiday Inn, Boxborough, MA off exit 28.  As I entered the lot, I saw the car behind me and we both parked next to each other.  We dashed for the door in the rain.  I got there first, opened the door for the other people, greeting them with a smile and some comment about the weather.  We made our way to the front desk—and guess what?  They got the very last room in the entire motel.  It took me another 40 minutes to find the Comfort Suites in Haverhill, MA. 

This Christian living can really challenge you!  If I had gone in first, well…you know as Paul Harvey loved to say—the rest of the story!  You bet I thought to myself as I dragged myself up the road---that was for you, Jesus.  But I am still tired as …..

 

 Same Song, Second Verse...

Then recently, there was the very, very long line of traffic that I sat in—it was endless.  Here was this truck on a side street, poking his nose out and trying to catch a break to get into the traffic.  Of course!  Be a neighbor!  Let the guy get into the lane.  Then I gasped.  It was a garbage truck…and it stopped many, many times creating its own back-up behind the back-up!  I was furious at myself for not seeing what I had done.  Oh by the way,  that was for you too, Jesus!  

In both cases, I acted as a Christian initially--open the door and let the others go ahead, and letting the truck out into the traffic.  However, I was not prepared for the personal cost for that -- should I say, love?  Love acts in a disinterested way, selfless, putting the other person first.   Maybe it is enough for me to caution myself--to reframe my action by saying,  that was for you Jesus. 

Then again, the story of Jesus is that he knew the price that he would pay before he acted--and he still acted showing us the true love of God.   

Whale Shark! Ride of a Life!

Kreis hops aboard Whale Shark

What Happened.....
The incredible encounter happened last Saturday 30 miles off the Captiva's coast, where the 19-year-old ran into the boat-sized fish. Kreis jumped on the shark's back, grabbed hold of its fin and rode it for about 20 seconds. He later posted a video of his adventure on YouTube.
‘When I started holding on I felt the whale shark it started moving itself, it felt the drag and it didn't really want me on there so I let go and that's it,’ Kreis boasted on Facebook last week that his encounter with the critter was an 'unbelievable experience.'
 
 Whale sharks are the largest fish in the sea reaching lengths of 40 feet or more. Despite their fierce name and appearance, they mostly feed on plankton and small fish.  Marine biologist Bruce Neill told the station that the docile fish could have been injured as a result of the ride. ‘When people spend a lot of time and pressure on a fish it takes away a slime that covers the fish. They need that layer to stay healthy,’ Neill said.  When interviewed about it by NBC later, the 19-year-old confessed that he had no idea that his actions could be harmful to the animal’s health.  ‘I would jump in if I saw one again, but next time I wouldn't touch the fish,’ Kreis promised. 

So What..... 
Take away the the spectacular fact of the encounter.  What you have is the attraction of a person to something infinitely bigger than he is.  Would the guy have jumped in to swim with mullets, a dolphin, maybe a sea turtle?  

How do you say this?  People have a response to the transcendent, to that which upholds us in existence.  John Donne reminds us that we are part of the bigger continent and that we need a place from which to see it.  So, Kreis found it in a Whale Shark alright! Most of the time, we may feel like a needle in the haystack of the world. Not so from the back of a Whale Shark.  Once seen, we want to be a part of it. 

Golfing through the Game of Life

So that's it....
just put the ball in the hole.
That's the game of golf. Only you have start more than 100 yards away and with metal plates on sticks, club your way onto the green to put the ball in the cup.  Right?

True Story.  Just accept it. I visited some good friends recently and when asked what I wanted to do--I said, "You're the big time golfer.  Take me out and let me watch you" I always revel in feeling the passion of people challenged by their sport. This guy loves golf and can walk onto an Executive PGA Course from his front door. 

Now I have not played since high school. I just wanted to watch him.  But after the first hole, his joy in golf was contagious.  I dropped a ball on the very edge of the green and stepped up to putt.  After he told me everything I was doing wrong AND then what to do right--I was lucky to even hit the ball. Hit it I did as we watched the ball glide the 50ft right into the cup. "Well," he said unflappable, "You did everything I told you to do!" 

On another hole, we gave way to three players who did not look much better than me.  The first two guys shot off the course in different directions--the sawed off shotgun approach, my friend said.  Then the woman in the trio stepped up ti to the T for women, who as we know cannot hit as far as guys and therefore need a handicap My friend commented that all three looked handicapped.

So she teed off and hit a line drive more than two hundred yards...and we both watched it hit the ground, slide like a shot across the green--hit the pole dead on before dropping into the cup. Yes, eat your words for this hole in one.  I'd never seen one before in person; neither had my experienced friend.  As she walked up to the green to claim the ball, she smiled and said, "Just 3 years I have been at this game! 

So maybe physics can give the exact formula so that both my long putt and the hole in one can be explained.  But let's face it and admit the random luck for both of us--certainly more for her!  I wonder--how many of us club our way through life, hacking at the ball not knowing quite where it will land. 

I'd say this much.  We all walk the course of life. We can just let things fall the way they do and take the next shot. Or, we can find the way to focus who we are, what we love and have a passion for, and then direct it toward the purpose for being out there in the first place.  Forget what happened.  I found what I was looking for--the passion and zeal of the man I was with which goes beyond golf.  Hitting my putt and then watching the hole in one reminded me how special life is--though uncertain--but not why we go out onto the course to begin with.  We play the game of life because it demands the most of us and draws the best from us. 

Stop the Race, Lord!

I was coming home out of the western Maryland mountains down a winding interstate. The radio broadcasted severe thunderstorms with 60mph winds.  Brilliant lightning streaked the sky.  Above me hung what looked like the dark edge of the storm, massive dark fingers.  I felt like they were going to reach down and grab me.  The wind swirled, with gusts that bent trees over and pushed my cars. In the back of my mind were two thoughts:  outrun the storm or stop and enjoy it letting it pass.  I chose to outrun it. I got momentary downpours—but, I seemed to stay out in front of it.  What would you have done?

There is something deep in us that does not stop, accept what is happening and let it have its way.  We’d rather assert our control and dominance over it.  No matter that a friend of my family ran off this very same road and was killed in a storm. 

Forget the storm. We also try to outrun our mortality.  The anti-aging pills flood markets, the books that turn back the clock are rampant, and the lengthening of lives goes on and on.  Better luck turning back the hands of time.

Maybe it is time to see the sign for the Rest Stop and do just that—STOP and REST!  Don’t we always see the Rest Stop sign and think—bathroom break?  How about a whole new vision.  Go with the storms.  Don’t fight them…  Go with the day…  Enjoy what you can.   Maybe Jesus had it right when he said to  take his yoke and find rest—give the day to him. Stop, rest with him…and offer the day and its storms and sunshine to him.  Exactly what would it have felt like for me to stop at that rest stop (which I did) and to have waited on the storm and soaked it in?  I never took the time to find out. 

Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me;

for I am gentle and humble in heart,

and you will find rest for your souls.

Matthew 11:29

Slow me down Lord!

 
"Slow Me Down Lord" 
Slow me down Lord
Ease the pounding of my heart
by the quieting of my mind.

Steady my hurried pace
with a vision of the eternal march of time.
Give me amid the confusion of the day,
the calmness of the eternal hills.


Break the tension of my nerves and muscles
with the soothing music of the singing streams
that live in my memory.

Help me to know the magical restoring power of sleep.

Teach me the art of taking MINUTE vacations,
Of slowing down to look at a flower,
to chat with a friend,
to pat a dog,
to read a few lines of a good book.

Slow me down Lord
and inspire me to send my roots
deep into the soil of life's enduring values
that I may grow toward the stars of my greater destiny.

Author: Wilfred A. Peterson