Plato

Listen for the Bell

A friend recently told me that just up the road from his home is a field, with two horses in it. From a distance, each horse looks like any other horse. But if you stop your car, or are walking by, you will notice something quite amazing.

Looking into the eyes of one horse will disclose that he is blind. His owner has chosen not to have him put down, but has made a good home for him. This alone is amazing. If you stand nearby and listen, you will hear the sound of a bell. Looking around for the source of the sound, you will see that it comes from the smaller horse in the field. Attached to the horse's halter is a small bell. It lets the blind friend know where the other horse is, so he can follow.

As you stand and watch these two friends, You'll see that the horse with the bell is always checking on the blind horse, And that the blind horse will listen for the bell and then slowly walk to where the other horse is, Trusting that he will not be led astray. When the horse with the bell returns to the shelter of the barn each evening, it stops occasionally and looks back, making sure that the blind friend isn't too far behind to hear the bell.

Like the owners of these two horses, God does not throw us away just because we are not perfect or because we have problems or challenges. He watches over us and even brings others into our lives to help us when we are in need. Sometimes we are the blind horse being guided by the little ringing bell of those who God places in our lives. Other times we are the guide horse, helping others to find their way. Good friends are like that. You may not always see them, but you know they are always there.

Humphry Davy

“Life is made up, not of great sacrifices or duties,

but of little things, in which smiles, and kindnesses,

and small obligations, given habitually,

are what win and preserve the heart

and secure comfort.”

~ Humphry Davy

Love and Kindness

St. Basil

Do not measure your loss by itself; if you do, it will seem intolerable; but if you will take all human affairs into account you will find that some comfort is to be derived from them. Many a man curses the rain that falls upon his head, and knows not that it brings abundance to drive away the hunger. Not the power to remember, but its very opposite, the power to forget, is a necessary condition for our existence.

17th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today and for the next four Sundays, our gospel readings are from the sixth chapter of John’s Gospel.  The chapter begins with the story of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes that we hear today, the only miracle story that occurs in all four gospels (Matt. 14:13-21; Matt. 15:32-39; Mark 6:35-44 and Luke 9:1-17).   John uses this story to frame Jesus’ discourse on the bread of life and to teach us about the Eucharist.  The Catechism of the Catholic Church tells us that, “the miracles of the multiplication of the loaves, when the Lord says the blessing, breaks and distributes the loaves through his disciples to feed the multitude, prefigure the superabundance of this unique bread of his Eucharist” (CCC 1335). 

 We are all so familiar with this beautiful story that it is easy to overlook some of the important details.  We get the big picture but there is a lot to consider in this event.  One of the more notable details is that Jesus did not perform this miracle on his own.  He had many helpers including the disciples, particularly Philip and Andrew, the boy with the loaves and fishes and the 5000 or more people who participated in the meal.   Without all these people, the story would be incomplete.  The miracle of the multiplication of the loaves and fishes was a shared community experience. 

In a similar way, Eucharist is a shared community experience for us.  The Catechism teaches us that, “Christians come together in one place for the Eucharistic assembly. At its head is Christ himself, the principal agent of the Eucharist. He is high priest of the New Covenant; it is he himself who presides invisibly over every Eucharistic celebration. It is in representing him that the bishop or priest acting in the person of Christ the head (in persona Christi capitis) presides over the assembly, speaks after the readings, receives the offerings, and says the Eucharistic Prayer. All have their own active parts to play in the celebration, each in his own way: readers, those who bring up the offerings, those who give communion, and the whole people whose "Amen" manifests their participation” (CCC 1348). 

Just as the people gathered around Jesus on the side of that mountain near the Sea of Galilee were nourished physically and spiritually by the five barley loaves and two fishes Jesus distributed, so the Eucharist we receive here nourishes us physically and spiritually.  Jesus himself feeds us and draws us into “unity of the spirit through the bond of peace: one body and one Spirit … one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:3-6).

O God, you open wide your hand,

giving us food in due season.

Out of your never-failing abundance,

satisfy the hungers of body and soul

and lead all peoples of the earth

to the feast of the world to come.

We make our prayer through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,

who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

God for ever and ever.

Amen

Without

The Eucharist

The Eucharist

My life was like a little box

The insides were all I could see

The walls were covered with mirrors

So all that I could ever see was me

Then I met you in the Eucharist

And you taught me something new

The mirrors turned into windows

Now I was able to see

A world I never knew​

God's Wings

After a forest fire in Yellowstone National Park, forest rangers began their trek up a mountain to assess the inferno's damage. One ranger found a bird literally petrified in ashes, perched statuesquely on the ground at the base of a tree. Somewhat sickened by the eerie sight, he knocked over the bird with a stick. When he gently struck it, three tiny chicks scurried from under their dead mother's wings.

The loving mother, keenly aware of impending disaster, had carried her offspring to the base of the tree and had gathered them under her wings, instinctively knowing that the toxic smoke would rise. She could have flown to safety but had refused to abandon her babies. Then the blaze had arrived and the heat had scorched her small body, the mother had remained steadfast...because she had been willing to die, so those under the cover of her wings would live.

He will cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you will find refuge.
Psalm 91:4​

Your Own Beauty

 

It Goes On

“In three words, I can sum up everything I've learned about life: It goes on.”
~Robert Frost

If we've ever dug in a garden and unearthed an ants' nest, we can recall their first reaction to our unintended destruction: they do everything possible to save their lives and supplies. The ants scurry around, moving the larvae to an underground room. Exposed contents are then relocated to unseen passages. In a matter of minutes, the ants are again safely underground and ready to resume their daily routines.

How do we react when some catastrophe or unplanned event occurs? Do we want to crawl under a rock or are we as resilient as the ants? Instead of moaning over postponed plans or the loss of something in our lives, we can try to be like the ants and learn how to best work with circumstances that come our way.

Life doesn't stop for us to lick wounds or add fuel to grievances. Hours pass, we grow older, nature continues. Every event is part of life's cycle. We can't run away from anything. We must meet life head-on and adjust to its ebb and flow.

I can look at an unplanned event in my life as part of life's cycle. I need to trust that life will go on.

~ Source Unknown

God, I Offer Myself to Thee

 

16th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Today’s first reading, Jeramiah 23:1-6, presents us with two contrasting portraits of shepherds. We have a graphic description of BAD shepherds (leaders) who were careless and who scattered the sheep and drove them away. And then God intervened, punishing the bad shepherds and taking responsibility for the sheep. God gathered the sheep together, brought them back to their meadow and appointed good shepherds who would “shepherd them so that they need no longer fear and tremble; and none shall be missing…”. God also promised to raise up “a righteous shoot to David”, “a leader who will “reign and govern wisely, he shall do what is just and right in the land. In his days Judah shall be saved, Israel shall dwell in security.”

The people of the world had to wait almost 600 years for the righteous leader Jeramiah prophesied about to appear. Shortly after Jesus began his ministry the crowds began to pursue him relentlessly. He recognized that they were lost, fearful and starved for messages of compassion and hope. They were “like sheep without a shepherd.” They recognized him as a good shepherd and they followed him. As Jesus tells us in St John’s Gospel when the shepherd enters the sheepfold, “the sheep hear his voice, as he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. When he has driven out all his own, he walks ahead of them, and the sheep follow him, because they recognize his voice. But they will not follow a stranger; they will run away from him, because they do not recognize the voice of strangers” (John 10:3-5).

The question for us here in Peachtree City today is do we recognize the voice of Jesus when he calls us out of our sheepfolds? Are we willing to follow this shepherd who was willing to lay down his life for us? Do we have the courage, compassion, love, forgiveness and fortitude to be good shepherds ourselves to all those people for whom we are responsible?

We all are called to be good shepherds. We all have a responsibility to nurture and protect the most venerable people in our world. We all also have a responsibility to nurture ourselves following the example of Jesus taking time for rest, reflection and prayer.

Our loving God,

your Son Jesus has revealed you to us

as more tender, warm hearted and compassionate

than any mother could ever be.

Be near to all who are wounded in life,

care for all the little people trampled upon in our world.

Help all those who follow your Son

become people who can forgive and heal,

and make themselves nourishing bread

for all who are hungry in any way.

Help us care for one another

as you care for us through Jesus,

your Son and our Lord for ever and ever.

Amen.

Face of God

In 1987, a newspaper photographer was sent to Ecuador to cover a devastating earthquake that devastated much of the country. In the midst of such catastrophic suffering, he witnessed a simple scene of compassion that moved him deeply. The photographer wrote:

The line was long but moving briskly, and in that line, at the very end, stood a young girl about 12 years of age. She waited patiently as those at the front of that long line received a little rice, some canned goods, or a little fruit. Slowly but surely she was getting closer to the front of the line, closer to the food. From time to time, she would glance across the street. She did not notice the growing concern on the face of those distributing the food. The food was running out. Their anxiety was beginning to show, but she did not seem to notice. Her attention seemed always to focus on three figures under the trees across the street.

At long last she stepped forward to get her food. But the only thing left was the lonely banana. Quietly she took the precious gift and ran across the street where three small children waited --- perhaps her sisters and a brother. Very deliberately she peeled the banana and very carefully divided the banana into three equal parts. Placing the precious food into the eager hands of the three younger ones --- one for you, one for you, one for you. She then sat down and licked the inside of that banana peel.

In that moment, I swear I saw the face of God.

Contemplative Prayer

We are meant to bring ourselves, with all our complexities and weaknesses, into God’s full light every day. In the great prayer traditions, one particular form of prayer, contemplative prayer, is singled out as being most helpful in doing this.

We pray in this way by wordlessly bringing ourselves into God’s presence in a way that we hide nothing of ourselves. Perhaps a description of how this kind of prayer differs from other kinds of prayer might best serve us here.

Normal, meditative types of prayer essentially work this way: You set off to pray, find a quiet place, sit or kneel down, make a conscious act to center yourself in prayer, focus on an inspiring text or thought, begin to meditate on those words, try to hear what is being said inside you, articulate the challenge or insight that is making itself heard there, and then connect this all to your relationship to God, through gratitude, love, praise, or petition. In this kind of prayer, your focus is on an inspiring word or insight, the response this creates in you, and your own response to God in the light of that.

Contemplative prayer, by way of contrast, is prayer without words or images. It works this way: You set off to pray, find a quiet place, sit or kneel, and make a conscious act to simply place yourself before God. Then you simply stay there, naked and unprotected by any words, images, conversations, rationalizations, or even by any holy feelings about Jesus, his Mother, some saint, some icon, or inspirational idea.

Contemplative prayer brings you into God’s presence without protection, with no possibility of hiding anything. The silence and absence of prayerful conversation is what leaves you naked and exposed, like a plant sitting in the sun, silently drinking in its rays.

Each day, we should set aside some time to put ourselves into God’s presence without words and without images, where, naked, stripped of everything, silent, exposed, hiding nothing, completely vulnerable, we simply sit, full face, before God’s judgment and mercy.​

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

New Start

Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 

~ Jeremiah 29:11

Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. 

~ Deuteronomy 31:6

Everyone who got where he is, had to begin where he was. 

~ Pope Paul VI

That's God!

Have you ever been just sitting there and all of a sudden you feel like doing something nice for someone you care for?
THAT'S GOD! He speaks to you through the Holy Spirit.

Have you ever been down and out and nobody seems to be around for you to talk to?
THAT'S GOD! He wants you to speak to Him.

Have you ever been thinking about somebody that you haven't seen in a long time and then next thing you know you see them or receive a phone call from them?
THAT'S GOD! There's no such thing as coincidence.

Have you ever been in a situation and you had no clue how it is going to get better, but now you look back on it?
THAT'S GOD! He passes us through tribulation to see a brighter day.

Don't tell GOD how Big your storm is.
Tell the storm how Big your GOD is!

Contradictions of Life

French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson pioneered modern photography as an art formThirteenth Century priest Thomas Aquinas once said, “No one can live without joy.” But many people do live joyless lives. And the reason is often simply because they don’t know how to be happy. They are so intent on the three Ps – power, prosperity and prestige – that they miss out on simple joy.

French photographer Henri Cartier-Bresson pioneered modern photography as an art form during the early decades of the 20th Century. He was a master of candid photography and something of a genius at spotting and photographing apparent contradictions: pictures that left mysteries unexplained.

One of his famous photographs was shot in a poor section of Seville, Spain in 1933. The picture depicts a run-down alley surrounded by decaying walls, strewn with rubble and riddled with bullet holes dotting gray walls. The setting alone evokes feelings of sadness and despair.

But then, the contradiction. Within the grim alley children are playing. They wear dirty and tattered clothes, as one might expect in such a setting, but like playing children everywhere, they laugh with carefree joy. In the foreground, a tiny boy on crutches hobbles away from two other boys, his face lit up with a broad grin. One boy is laughing so hard he has to hold his side. Others lean on the cracked walls, beaming with delight.

It is easy to spot the contrast – and the point. Joy amid the rubble of life. Laughter among life’s ruins.

We cannot avoid pain, however hard we try. But we can avoid joy. We cannot escape hardship and trouble, but we can miss out on much of life's peace and laughter.

If you feel as if you could use more joy, here are a few tips:

• Do something today just for the fun of it.

• Decide to fill your thoughts with less anxiety and more peace.

• Laugh a little more. A little more heartily and a little more often.

• Practice a hopeful attitude.

• Love as much as you can. Love people. Love experiences. Love ideas. Love beauty. In short -- love life.

You may occasionally find yourself amid life’s rubble. But strangely - even there you can discover joy.

It’s one of the beautiful contradictions of life.

15th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In today’s Gospel, Mark 6:7-13, Jesus sends the disciples out on their first mission to preach repentance, cure the sick and expel unclean spirits. We do not know exactly where the disciples went or how long they were gone, but we do know that sometime later they reported to Jesus “all they had done and taught” (Mark 6:30). The disciples, sent out two by two, traveled lightly, stayed with locals and apparently were very successful in their first missionary experience. At this point in their spiritual development, the disciples became apostles.

A disciple is a follower or an imitator of someone, in this case a follower of Christ. An apostle is a special messenger or an envoy, chosen and trained to fulfill a specific mission, spreading the good news. The word apostle (apostolos) is Greek. Translated into Latin, it is missio, from which we get the word missionary. As baptized Christians, we are called to be both disciples and apostles. We hear and accept the teaching of Jesus and then we share our faith with others. In our second reading today from Ephesians 1: 3 – 14, St. Paul reminds us that each one of us is “chosen, destined in accord with the purpose of the One who accomplishes all things according to the intention of his will, so that we might exist for the praise of his glory, we who first hoped in Christ.”

Our Church has an apostolic mission as well. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that “The whole Church is apostolic, in that she remains, through the successors of St. Peter and the other apostles, in communion of faith and life with her origin: and in that she is "sent out" into the whole world. All members of the Church share in this mission, though in various ways. "The Christian vocation is, of its nature, a vocation to the apostolate as well." Indeed, we call an apostolate "every activity of the Mystical Body" that aims "to spread the Kingdom of Christ over all the earth" (CCC 863).

God placed us in Peachtree City, Georgia. Our mission is to share the good news of the Kingdom of Christ right here. 

God of justice and mercy,

you have set us free from the evil of sin

by the life and death and rising again

of your living reflection and Word,

Jesus Christ.

Let his life and message inspire us

to voice his truth and bring his freedom

to everyone on this earth.

Give us no other assurance

than that we proclaim his Good News

and that our companion on the road is

your own Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Prayer for Protection

 

Don't Undermine Your Worth

 Don't undermine your worth by comparing yourself with others.

It is because we are different that each of us is special.

Don't set your goals by what other people deem important.

Only you know what is best for you.

Don't take for granted the things closest to your heart.

Cling to them as you would your life, for without them life is meaningless.

Don't let your life slip through your fingers by living in the past or for the future.

By living your life one day at a time, you live all the days of your life.

Don't give up when you still have something to give.

Nothing is really over until the moment you stop trying.

Don't be afraid to admit that you are less than perfect.

It is this fragile thread that binds us to each other.

Don't be afraid to encounter risks.

It is by taking chances that we learn how to be brave.

Don't shut love out of your life by saying it's impossible to find.

The quickest way to receive love is to give love,

the fastest way to lose love is to hold it too tightly,

and the best way to keep love is to give it wings.

Don't dismiss your dreams.

To be without dreams is to be without hope;

to be without hope is to be without purpose.

Don't run through life so fast that you forget not only where you've been,
but also where you're going.

Life is not a race, but a journey to be savored each step of the way.

Make One Person Happy

Try to make at least one person happy every day,

and then in ten years you may have made

three thousand, six hundred and fifty persons happy,

or brightened a small town by your contribution

to the fund of general enjoyment.

~ Sydney Smith

(1771-1845)

To Err is Human

 To err is human; to blame it on the other guy is even more human. ~ Bob Goddard

We are on a path that leads us to become better people with greater insight and stronger character. A central theme on this path is learning to take responsibility for ourselves, our mistakes, and our choices as we deal with our situations. We can make progress on this path by noticing our defensive reactions when we make a mistake or when someone criticizes us. Our old ways were aimed at shifting the blame or counterattacking to get someone else off our case. Now we are learning how to take on the blame when it honestly belongs to us.

One of the first things we need to learn in taking responsibility is that there is no shame in making a mistake. Everyone makes mistakes. But some people don't accept responsibility for them, and others do. We have much greater respect for someone who does. Admitting when we were wrong doesn't mean speaking in vague generalities, saying that "mistakes were made." It doesn't mean saying, "Yes, I did this, but only because you did that." It means saying what we did or didn't do and laying the facts out there for us and others to deal with. When we can do that, forgiveness almost always follows shortly.

Today I will hold back my defensiveness and admit the facts as they are.

Choose Joy

Joy is only a thought away. I choose joy.

As I look back on my life, I may notice how my spirits have ebbed and flowed. I may remember days of deep sadness and days overflowing with laughter. There have been periods of optimism and passion, and times of sorrow.

Awareness of my emotions creates an opening for change. As I connect with the Holy Spirit, I feel peace, love and happiness flow through me. I notice that when I change my thoughts, my emotions change. When I am feeling sadness, fear or anxiety, I remember that the choice is mine to keep my mind and heart attuned to the Holy Spirit. My every thought, word and action is an expression of the Spirit within.

I choose joy right here and right now.

I am Your Friend

I am your friend. I hold out my hand and bring you faith.
I award you serenity and self-esteem.
I bestow upon you peace and acceptance.
I wrap you in love and tender the shield of knowledge.
I volunteer humility and shower you with confidence.
I bequeath spiritual growth, emotional advancement and physical revival.
I am your friend; I will lead you out of the darkness into the light.
I will carry you when you are weak and escort you through honesty.
I will provide tools for the battles and binding for your wounds.
I am your friend. I will teach you about Jesus and release you from burden.
I will initiate forgiveness and I will foster willingness.
I will nurture ambition and claim back your life.
I am your friend. I am a Christian.

14th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In our readings today, we hear three prophetic voices: Ezekiel, Paul and Jesus. Prophets have an enormous responsibility. It is their job to proclaim God’s message and to bring people who have strayed back to God. Prophets are God’s PR people. Unfortunately, for most of the prophets, the people who were on the receiving end of God’s messages did not appreciate what God had to say. Of course, God did not make it easy for the prophets; he sent them to people who were “hard of face and obstinate of heart” (Ezekiel 2:4).

Not only were the people obstinate, they were the family, neighbors, friends and community members of the prophets. They knew the prophets as ordinary people who did ordinary things. Therefore, the people were not inclined to take Ezekiel, Paul or Jesus very seriously. Publilius Syrus, a writer in the 1st century BC coined the phrase “familiarity breeds contempt.” And contempt is exactly what the prophets experienced among their own people. In today’s gospel from Mark 6:1-6, Jesus observed, “A prophet is not without honor except in his native place and among his own kin and in his own house.” Worse than contempt, prophets often were subjected to ridicule, rejection, abuse and death at the hands of the very people they were trying to save.

By our baptism, each one of us shares “in the priesthood of Christ, in his prophetic and royal mission” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1268). We are called to be prophets. We are commissioned to proclaim God’s message to our families, neighbors, and friends and in our communities. We also run the risk of humiliation, ridicule, rejection and abuse. Being a prophetic voice in today’s culture takes courage. The good news is that we are not alone. In our second reading today, 2 Corinthians 12:9, Jesus tells Paul, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is made perfect in weakness."

God, our Father, your Son, your Word, 

came among us as one of our own flesh and blood. 

Help us to welcome him always and to listen to what he tells us, 

even when his Word upsets and disturbs us, for it is a Word of life and grace. 

Give us the courage to pass on his Word to one another, 

that it may liberate us all and lead us to you as your one people. 

We ask this through Christ our Lord. 

Amen

Independence Day

The second day of July, 1776, will be the most memorable epoch in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations as the great anniversary festival, with pomp and parade, with shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires, and illuminations, from one end of this continent to the other, from this time forward forevermore. You will think me transported with enthusiasm, but I am not. I am well aware of the toil and blood and treasure that it will cost us to maintain this Declaration and support and defend these States. Yet, through all the gloom, I can see the rays of ravishing light and glory.

~John Adams, letter to wife Abigail, 1776 July 3, Philadelphia

The most patriotic man, ladies and gentlemen, is sometimes the man who goes in the direction that he thinks right even when he sees half the world against him. It is the dictate of patriotism to sacrifice yourself if you think that that is the path of honor and of duty. Do not blame others if they do not agree with you. Do not die with bitterness in your heart because you did not convince the rest of the world, but die happy because you believe that you tried to serve your country by not selling your soul. Those were grim days, the days of 1776. Those gentlemen did not attach their names to the Declaration of Independence on this table expecting a holiday on the next day, and that 4th of July was not itself a holiday. They attached their signatures to that significant document knowing that if they failed it was certain that every one of them would hang for the failure. They were committing treason in the interest of the liberty of 3,000,000 people in America. All the rest of the world was against them and smiled with cynical incredulity at the audacious undertaking. Do you think that if they could see this great Nation now they would regret anything that they then did to draw the gaze of a hostile world upon them? Every idea must be started by somebody, and it is a lonely thing to start anything. Yet if it is in you, you must start it if you have a man's blood in you and if you love the country that you profess to be working for.

Have you ever read the Declaration of Independence? If you have, you will know that it is not a Fourth of July oration. The Declaration of Independence was a document preliminary to war. It was a vital piece of practical business, not a piece of rhetoric; and if you will pass beyond those preliminary passages which we are accustomed to quote about the rights of men and read into the heart of the document you will see that it is very express and detailed, that it consists of a series of definite specifications concerning actual public business of the day. Not the business of our day, for the matter with which it deals is past, but the business of that first revolution by which the Nation was set up, the business of 1776. Its general statements, its general declarations can not mean anything to us unless we append to it a similar specific body of particulars as to what we consider the essential business of our own day. Liberty does not consist, my fellow citizens, in mere general declarations of the rights of man. It consists in the translation of those declarations into definite action. Therefore... reading its business-like sentences, we ought to ask ourselves what there is in it for us. There is nothing in it for us unless we can translate it into the terms of our own conditions and of our own lives.... The task to which we have constantly to readdress ourselves is the task of proving that we are worthy of the men who drew this great declaration and know what they would have done in our circumstances. Patriotism consists in some very practical things—practical in that they belong to the life of every day, that they wear no extraordinary distinction about them, that they are connected with commonplace duty.

~Woodrow Wilson, Presidential Address at Independence Hall, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1914 July 4

"So let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania! Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of Colorado! Let freedom ring from the curvaceous peaks of California! But not only that; let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia! Let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee! Let freedom ring from every hill and every molehill of Mississippi. From every mountainside, let freedom ring."

~Martin Luther King Jr.

Happy Birthday, America!

Don't Change to Please Others

It’s easy to feel uncared for when people aren’t able to communicate and connect with you in the way you need. And it’s so hard not to internalize that silence as a reflection on your worth. But the truth is that the way other people operate is not about you. Most people are so caught up in their own responsibilities, struggles, and anxiety that the thought of asking someone else how they’re doing doesn’t even cross their mind. They aren’t inherently bad or uncaring — they’re just busy and self-focused. And that’s okay. It’s not evidence of some fundamental failing on your part. It doesn’t make you unlovable or invisible. It just means that those people aren’t very good at looking beyond their own world.

But the fact that you are — that despite the darkness you feel, you have the ability to share your love and light with others — is a strength. Your work isn’t to change who you are; it’s to find people who are able to give you the connection you need. Because despite what you feel, you are not too much. You are not too sensitive or too needy. You are thoughtful and empathetic. You are compassionate and kind. And with or without anyone’s acknowledgment or affection, you are enough​.

Rain

A little girl had been shopping with her Mom in a store. She must have been 6-years-old, this beautiful red-haired, freckle-faced image of innocence. It was pouring outside. The kind of rain that gushes over the top of rain gutters, so much in a hurry to hit the earth it has no time to flow down the spout. We all stood there under the awning and just inside the door of the Walmart.

We waited, some patiently, others irritated because nature messed up their hurried day. I am always mesmerized by rainfall. I got lost in the sound and sight of the heavens washing away the dirt and dust of the world. Memories of running, splashing so carefree as a child came pouring in as a welcome reprieve from the worries of my day.

The little voice was so sweet as it broke the hypnotic trance we were all caught in: “Mom, let's run through the rain.” she said.

“What?” Mom asked.

“Let's run through the rain!” she repeated.

“No, honey. We'll wait until it slows down a bit.” Mom replied.

This young child waited about another minute and repeated: “Mom, let's run through the rain."

“We'll get soaked if we do." Mom said.

“No, we won't, Mom. That's not what you said this morning.” the young girl said as she tugged at her Mom's arm.

“This morning? When did I say we could run through the rain and not get wet?”

“Don't you remember? When you were talking to Daddy about his cancer, you said, 'If God can get us through this, he can get us through anything!' ”

The entire crowd stopped dead silent. I swear you couldn't hear anything but the rain. We all stood silently. No one came or left in the next few minutes.

Mom paused and thought for a moment about what she would say.

Now some would laugh it off and scold her for being silly. Some might even ignore what was said. But this was a moment of affirmation in a young child's life. A time when innocent trust can be nurtured so that it will bloom into faith.

“Honey, you are absolutely right. Let's run through the rain. If God lets us get wet, well maybe we just needed washing.” Mom said.

Then off they ran. We all stood watching, smiling and laughing as they darted past the cars and, yes, through the puddles. They held their shopping bags over their heads. They got soaked. But they were followed by a few who screamed and laughed like children all the way to their cars.

And yes, I did. I ran. I got wet. I needed washing.

Positive

Keep your thoughts positive
because your thoughts become your words.

Keep your words positive 

because your words become your behaviors.

Keep your behaviors positive 

because your behaviors become your habits.

Keep your habits positive 

because your habits become your values.

Keep your values positive 

because your values become your destiny.