RESURRECTION POWER

 

Sunrise on Folly Beach, SC

This is Resurrection Day, the day the church celebrates Easter.  It is the day we remember that Jesus rose from the dead victorious over the grave.   

On Friday we remembered Jesus as a victim who was taunted, mocked, flogged, tortured, and crucified on a cross of wood.  He died with only love and forgiveness for his tormentors.  He was buried in a tomb.  

Love raised Jesus from the dead.  He conquered evil and now reigns forever as pure love, pure light. 

Jesus lives in Resurrection Power and invites us to live in the spirit with him in resurrection power, loving those who treat us badly, and offering gifts to those who torment us.  He is our role model.  

This is the power of love.  It heals the sick, casts out demons, and raises the dead.  This love will eventually claim everything that is not love, redeeming all the brokenness of the world.  

Easter is not one day.  It is a season of fifty days.  

For the next fifty days, let us pledge to walk in resurrection power, co-partnering with God to see what God wants to do in and through us to redeem the brokenness of the world around us.  

Let us pray great big, bold prayers.   Let us call for the impossible to occur.  

Let us dare to believe that God wants to bring miracles into the world through us.  Let us dare to believe that for the next fifty days anything is possible.  

Join me in this prayer each day:

Lord of Love, Jesus showed us the way.  He is our role model.  Help us to let go and let you do something big, bold, and beautiful in and through our lives today.  We want to walk in Resurrection Power!  Show us how to take the first step.  Lead us on the way.  For Jesus' sake.  Amen.  

BEING A VICTIM

Hampton Park, Charleston, SC 

Today is Good Friday, the day we remember Jesus' suffering and death on a cross. He was betrayed by his own people, then turned over to the Romans who crucified him. 

It is a most troubling and humbling day of remembrance. 

One of the most humble, kind, and loving human beings who ever lived on this earth was flogged, tortured, and then nailed to a wooden cross. As he gasped for breath, he looked down on a scornful crowd. "If you're the son of man, come down from that cross!" they jeered. 

 Beloved Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit and power, was a victim.  How can this be?

Although Jesus is a role model for many of us, being a victim is the last thing most of us want to experience.  Don't we pity victims as weak, powerless, and passive? Of course, we want to be thought of as strong, capable, and in charge! 

Even Jesus struggled with relinquishing his will to submit to the horrors that lay ahead of him.  As he prayed in the garden of Gethsemenee the night before his death, he finally let go and prayed, "Not my will, but Your will be done."  But Scripture informs us there was much anguish of spirit before his relinquishment. 

We've all been victims in our lives. Many of us experienced childhood in a dysfunctional family; most women have experienced sexual harassment; many women have been raped; a good number of people have been betrayed by a partner who was abusive. Some have been victimized by those in the church they trusted.  Most of us have been blamed for something over which we had no control.  Victims all.  

What do we learn from Jesus about being a victim? 

Jesus showed us that is possible to be a victim with only love, compassion and forgiveness in our hearts, even for our tormentors. He showed us that love is stronger than abuse, stronger than death.

Jesus showed us what it looks like when love has taken over your very being, body, soul, and spirit.  

Lord, as we remember Jesus' suffering today, help us to understand how to more fully surrender to the power of love.  Help us to forgive our enemies and to bless those who persecute us.   Help us to return blessing for cursing.  Help us to give a gift in return for mistreatment.  For Jesus sake who leads the way to Live Everlasting.  Amen.  

THE BEST IS YET TO BE

 

Hampton Park, Charleston, SC in early spring

Like all human beings, and really all living things, my life has been a progression of phases from childhood, teenage years, young married life, raising my sons as a single mother, professional career heading up various nonprofit agencies, and retirement in the SC Lowcountry.   

What's happening now is the most gentle, loving, hopeful, joyful, and beautiful phase of them all.

OLD AGE.  

Don't laugh.  

You see I've learned how to live with my physical limitations and infirmities.  I'm happy for those who can skate and bike, walk long distances, and dance with nimble feet,  but those former pleasures are long gone for me.  These days I'm happy to sit in the sun and watch others who are at the apex of their physical powers.  

I'm content with the slower pace of life.  

There is time now to enjoy lingering walks during which I sit as much as I walk and pause as much as I like to gaze at the beauty before me.  There is time to enjoy Presence, both in my apartment and when I am outside in nature.  Now that I'm not so active, it is easier to be fully in this moment, enjoying the delicate beauty of this flower or that cloud.  This is intensely satisfying to my soul. 

Everywhere I go I feel compassion for the people I meet.  I know how hard and what a struggle life can be.  When I see someone who looks sad, my heart goes out to them and I lift a prayer.  If it's possible, I speak and offer a smile and a kind word.   

When I go to a park (which is often), I sometimes encounter a homeless person or two sitting or lying among the ancient oaks, trees that remind me what giving looks like over a span of 400 or 500 years.  True giving is effortless and flows from our very being.  All living things are all a part of a beautiful tapestry of aliveness.  We're dependent on and need each other.  

The animals I encounter are a special delight, especially the dogs running on the beach with their humans.  How joyful they are!  How completely themselves!  What a big smile it brings me to see them running with abandon toward the lapping waves and sometimes diving into the water!  They bring so much gladness and spontaneity to the whole environment they inhabit.  l want to be like them.  

Oh, how I thrill to the singing of the birds as I stroll in the woods or in the park!   Is there any sound more sublime?  They fill our world with joy and gladness as they scamper from branch to branch or spread their delicate wings in flight.  I want to be like them.  

God has blessed me to live in the historic district of Charleston, South Carolina, surely one of the most  beautiful cities in America.  Living here is a dream come true for me.  I still stand in amazement as I look out my window on the eighth floor and gaze at sailboats gliding down Charleston Harbor or watch hawks and eagles rest in the high perches of one of the gleaming white bell-towers rising from the historic churches right down the street. 

The Atlantic Ocean is close by so I enjoy going to the beach often to enjoy the sunrise there, followed by a sit of meditation,  thirty minutes or so of QiGong movements, and walk along the lapping waves with my toes in the briny water.  Sometimes I might even go to the beach again in late afternoon to enjoy the sunset and to watch darkness claim the sky as the stars and planets become visible in the inky dark dome.  

Yes, this is the best time of my life.  

My sons are close by so they can come visit.  How I love being with them!  It is a gift to get to know them as middle-aged men with wives and children and busy lives.  And they are getting acquainted with their "super mom" (what they used to call me) as an old woman.   

Pure gift.  Amazing grace.  

Everything changes, the days, seasons, our lives.  Nothing, absolutely nothing, remains the same from one day to the next.  Can we enjoy each moment?  It is precious and can never be recaptured.  

Old age for me is acceptance of what has been and embracing what is.  Everything works together for good.  

This moment is beautiful and will never come again.  I embrace it with joy and gratitude.

Based on the past, I know that life can be filled with the unexpected, with sickness, with tragedy.  This past year as we've all lived through the COVID-19 pandemic is a good example.  Yet, there is within me the sure knowledge that the best is yet to be.  

That's right.  The best is yet to be!

There will come a day when each one of us releases our physical body.  When that time comes, we will be prepared to let go and let God.  Old age teaches us and shows us the way.  There is nothing to fear.  

Rejoice and be glad.  Embrace this moment, whatever is happening.  THE BEST IS YET TO BE.

DARE MIGHTY THINGS

Winter Sunrise From My Window

 Yesterday was a cold, rainy day in Charleston.  Carman, a Christian performer I knew personally, had died so I was grieving the loss of yet another person I love.  It seemed too many people I knew and loved had died in the year past.  The frailty of life hit close to home and reminded me of my own mortality.

Then a text from my neighbor, Sarah, emerged on my iPhone screen.  I welcomed the distraction from my grief and existential reflections.  

Sarah was watching the NASA landing on Mars and sent me the link.  I immediately clicked on it and began watching the live stream while she and I continued to text.  

We became as giddy and excited as two teenage girls about what was happening right before our eyes.  As we watched moment by moment, a spacecraft was about to land on Mars!

The NASA team named the spacecraft/rover Perseverance.  It landed close to where they wanted it to land.  Everyone jumped up and down in celebration.  Sarah and I celebrated along with them; I with a big lump in my throat and eyes brimming with tears; she with exclamation points.  

I felt so proud of the team that had persevered to accomplish such a feat!  And incredibly blessed to be able to watch the landing with them!  

I was totally in the moment.  Totally in the flow of sharing a cosmic event with my neighbor and the whole NASA team.  

The television cameras showed us all around the NASA team's workspace with its computers and large screens.  I noted a big banner with the words, DARE MIGHTY THINGS, on the wall.  This was apparently the slogan they adopted to guide them as they designed and built the spacecraft, rover and helicopter that would land on Mars and collect important data about previous life there.  

Imagine daring to design and build a spacecraft that would land on Mars!  

Go Team Perseverance!

Then I saw a depiction of the helicopter they designed to fly in the Mars sky which would augment the rover in finding and collecting data.  They named it Ingenuity.   One of the engineers noted there is a great deal to learn about how to navigate (take off and land) a flying object on the surface of Mars.  The team seems excited and expectant to learn if they got their calculations right.  They'll learn moment by moment, just like the rest of us.  

I, too, and perhaps many others are excited to see Ingenuity navigate Mars.  

Perseverance and Ingenuity have guided the mission thus far as the whole world celebrates their accomplishments with them now.  

BRAVO, Team Perseverance and Ingenuity!  You inspire me!

How can I dare mighty things myself?

What can I do that will give my life purpose and make it fun while using my God-given gifts in accomplishing a goal that will inspire others?

A worthy question for each one of us.  

Am I daring mighty things?  Are you?

If not, let us start today to dream big dreams and see ourselves as capable of mighty things.  

MY THANKSGIVING TURKEY

Thanksgiving Morning 2020

 

Maggie is twelve years old today.  She was a kitten when my Nashville friend, Liz Himes, found her meowing outside her porch steps in a cold rain.  Liz texted me, "What should I do?"  

"Bring the kitten inside!" I implored.

"But I already have four cats!  Doug will fall in love with this kitten and want to keep it!" she protested.

"Liz, please, just bring the poor little thing inside and dry it off!  I promise I'll help you find a good home for it."  I said the words firmly, with more confidence than I really felt.    

Liz dutifully brought the kitten in and took her upstairs to her office to segregate her from her brood of four adult cats.  She placed a towel in the bathroom sink where the kitten slept her first night and every night thereafter.  

Little did I know it would be love at first sight when I met the kitten the following weekend.  Liz had already put signs up all over her neighborhood to find out if the kitten belonged to one of her neighbors.  No one claimed her.   

'Uh, Liz, I think I've found a home for the kitten."  I said tentatively.  

"WHO?" she asked, her eyes wide.   

"Well, for starters, when I first laid eyes on this kitten, she rolled over and let me rub her little white belly."  I cooed.  "Then she yawned and stretched out her little white paws before she made her way over to the window sling.  She leapt onto it, and lazily stretched herself out like a little princess on a throne.  Quite frankly, I was immobile watching all of it unfold."  

Liz started chuckling.  "So she's yours, huh?"  

"I think so."  I smiled back.  

There was a glitch.  I was renting a house on Sherwood Road in Sewanee with oriental rugs on the floors.  My landlord expressly requested that no animals of any kind be allowed in the house, so I gave her my word.   

"No pet shall come into this house, either mine or anyone else's," I promised.  How was I to know a cat was about to leap into my life and steal my heart? 

I started looking for another place to live that allowed pets.  

I found a small seniors apartment complex in the valley with beautiful views that allowed pets.  All apartments were at ground level and there was a front porch for sitting.  Perfect for me and a cat!

Liz and her husband, Doug, kept the kitten until I could move into our apartment.  Doug, who was quite fond of her and carried her around on his shoulders, suggested we name the kitten Mary Magdalene and call her Maggie.  

Perfect!  I loved the name.  

Since Liz' birthday was November 26th which often fell on Thanksgiving Day, I decided to make that day Maggie's birthdate as well.  I'd celebrate Liz and Maggie together on November 26th.  

Mary Magdalene and I moved into our apartment in May of 2009.  I taught her to walk on a harness so she could go outside to enjoy the sights and smells of the fragrant rural air.  All my neighbors fell in love with the little tabby cat in the red harness.  

My neighbor, Vera, sat on her porch and called out, "Hey Maggie!"  Maggie turned to look directly at her.

"She knows her name!" Vera beamed.  

Maggie and I lived in that little apartment for ten years.   She was very happy as a rural cat often sitting on the front porch with me as the sun rose in early morning and as storm clouds gathered overhead in late afternoon.  When thunder rumbled in the distance and lightning lit up the sky, she sat contentedly on my lap as I rocked and rain pounded the ground all around us.  She loved a good storm as much as I did.  

Her favorite activity, however, was a fast run straight up one of the tall trees on the property.  Maggie, perched high up on a tree limb, would peer down at me as I nervously coaxed her to come down.    She'd often climb even higher as I watched and prayed. 

She began following me when I walked down the sidewalk to get the mail or to go to the laundry room.  My neighbors laughed at the sight of Maggie following me.  Sometimes they'd holler, "Mary had a little lamb!"  Big smiles on their faces.  

Now Maggie is a city cat.  Her perch is a window sill looking out from the 8th floor over the Holy City of Charleston, South Carolina.

Maggie's adjustment to city life has been seamless.  Like all happy animals, she totally inhabits this moment and her space.  Like me, she enjoys looking at the billowing clouds on the horizon and the hawks that fly to their nest in a nearby bell tower.  Just like her Mama, she is never bored.  

On this Thanksgiving Day, I give thanks for my friend Liz Himes who lost her battle with lung cancer earlier this year.  She was a good friend who would have been 73 today.   Liz was Maggie's foster mother, then she and Doug became Maggie's godparents.   

Happy birthday, Liz.  I shall never forget your kind and generous heart.  You were a good friend.  

Happy Birthday to my thanksgiving turkey, Maggie.  What joy she continues to bring to my life and what valuable lessons I learn from her on a near daily basis.  She continues to be my inspiration and muse.  

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you.  We celebrate life together and grieve for those who are no longer with us, but continue to inspire us with their legacy of love and kindness.  

Maggie in a morning sunbeam

LETTER TO MY SONS

 

Dearest Keith and Kevin,

My heart is open and full of love this morning.  Thanksgiving is only a few days away.  Could my heart be more grateful for all that is happening?  

Yes, it's been a very difficult year as the pandemic has put restrictions on all our lives.  For those of us living alone, it has been hard, especially when bad news came.  There's been lots of bad news this year.  

My brother died on Valentine's Day and then a succession of other deaths occurred, one after the other, leaving me sobbing alone in my apartment.  Grief in solitude is cruel and never intended for social animals.  But it drew me deeper into my heart where Love Sufficient for the deepest grief wraps its warm arms of love and comfort all around us, and where tears, precious tears, are kept in a bottle.  

How I have longed to be with you!  To look into your eyes and share stories, to sing songs together,  to be silly and laugh, and, most of all, to open our hearts and bask in the light that always shines there.  

When Keith invited me to his house for Thanksgiving, my heart was overjoyed!  Yes! Yes! Yes!  I want to be with my family again!  I want to see the beautiful faces of my grand-daughters and to hear their chatter!  I want to spend the night and go for a long walk in the woods on Friday morning.  I want to play with my great-grand-dog, Harper, and let her lick my cheeks.  I want to sit on the porch swing with Keith and watch the sunset. 

Then my mood turned somber when I remembered the pandemic.  I lifted a prayer, asking God to show me what to do.  His answer came through the CDC request to all Americans yesterday to stay home for Thanksgiving.  "The virus is spiking again and it's just not safe to gather indoors without masks to socialize and eat a big meal together."  I immediately recognized God's voice and wisdom.

"Yes," I said quietly in response.  "It's heartbreaking, but the responsible thing is to stay home."  

How I want to be with you on Thanksgiving!  How I long to hug each of my grand-daughters and to congratulate Molly on her engagement!  I want to eat turkey and dressing and cranberry sauce as we're all gathered around the table, chatting away about what's on our minds.  I want to hear what's happening in each life.  I want to be with my family.  

But not this year.  

Wisdom mandates caution.  I live among very vulnerable people at Canterbury House. I've grown to love my neighbors.  It is best that I not expose myself or them to the virus.

My  precious sons, you and your families will all be in my thoughts on Thanksgiving Day, grateful for each one of you and all God is doing in each of our lives.  There may be a few tears, some sad ones because I miss you, but also tears of joy because I am so very grateful for each of you.  May my love reach across the miles and embrace you all in a great big HUG.

Love triumphs!  That is our story and it is worth telling over and over. 

Always,

Mama Bird

November 28, 2019 - Thanksgiving Day

 

REMEMBERING SEPTEMBER 11, 2001

 

Sea Holly, Royal Botanical Garden, Edinburgh, Scotland, 2014

Nearly 3,000 people lost their lives when suicide terrorists flew jets into the twin towers of New York City on this date nineteen years ago.   With terror and disbelief on our faces, we all watched the tragedy unfold on television.  

That day will never be forgotten in America.  It brought us together as a nation in a way that nothing since the sacrifices made in World War II has done.  United we stood for each other and for our country.

Today as I remember that tragic day with moist eyes and a big lump in my throat, these are my thoughts.   

Human life is precarious and precious.  None of us are ever promised tomorrow.  Nor are those we love promised another day.  This is the reality of life on this earth for all of us.  

Violence and war are at the heart of the human condition.  We cannot control or stop those who would try to do us harm.  

But we can live our lives fully with dignity and love in our hearts for all living creatures.  This includes those who would do us harm if they could.  

It is possible to fully embrace this day and enjoy the beauty all around us.  Taste, smell, look at, listen to, and touch the gifts that come in each moment.  Really taste our food, listen to the song of the birds, gaze at the colors of first light, smell the fragrance of the ocean, and touch the soft fur of a purring cat.  

It's the simple things in life that make it enjoyable.   Holding the hand of a loved one.  Enjoying a meal with our children.  Spending the day at the beach.  Eating a picnic lunch on the banks of the river.  Gazing at the dolphins playing close to shore.  Checking in with a friend.  Doing the dishes.   Writing a note.  

Life is precious.  This day will never come again.  Join me in making this the best day of your life. 

Love and blessings.