See you August 20th

Hello good friends near and far,

It's been such fun looking at so many aspects of life from a spiritual viewpoint -- putting on the new cloth, the new garments, of who we are as God knows us.

It's time for a break, so I look forward to seeing you again soon -- August 20th.

In the meantime, you might enjoy looking at some of the posts for June or May or April or March, or February!

Just scroll down the right hand column until you see "Blog Archives." Then click on the little triangle next to June. Then click on the word June. And voila! You have all the June posts before you. You can repeat this for any month.

May you enjoy your own special journeys and feel the inspiration and pure joy of God's loving care and presence in your day.

Until then, blessings on your head and all the rest of you!

Sandi

What size is your puppy?

A friend sent an email called “Puppy size.”

"Puppy size" tells about a little girl who helps her parents understand hearts speaking. Her mom takes her to an animal shelter to find just the right puppy. The little girl knows she will recognize it by its puppy size. Week after week she cannot find the right puppy. Her patient, but exasperated, parents are clueless about why the little girl isn't selecting a puppy. Finally she finds the right puppy and is able to explain to her mom that the puppy sighed when it was in her arms.

All along she was looking for puppy sighs (not size). She knew the puppy loved her when his heart sighed in happiness.

Thus heart speaks to heart. How comfortable we feel in the presence of those who love and care about us. And how comfortable they feel when they can trust and lean on our love. It's a mutually giving and appreciating.

This love isn't selfish or possessive, doesn't have a hidden agenda. We're talking about an affection that's pure, honest, gentle, strong – all at once. The comfort the little girl and the puppy recognized was a genuine mutual caring that just snuggles in and trusts.

As I see it, this symbolizes the all-embracing love God has for each of us as His/Her children. Straight-forward, pure, honest, dependable, unconditional. That's a big one. Unconditional love. Knowing our own short-comings, we might object and say, "I'm just not worthy of that kind of love."

Yet there is something we can do to thank our Maker for the depth and strength of such love. We can love each other better – in the highest sense. We can look for opportunities to be kind, thoughtful, patient, caring – even in the middle of our busy days. Even when we are struggling with personal issues. In fact many people have found that spontaneously helping others breaks the mesmerism of feeling trapped in their own inner wrestlings.

We are worthy to be called the sons and daughters of God. And we have endless opportunity to show our thanks for such love.

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When the heart speaks,

however simple the words,

its language is always acceptable

to those who have hearts.

Mary Baker Eddy

Now I am giving you a new command --
love one another.
Just as I have loved you,

so you must love one another.

Christ Jesus

Phillips Modern English

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Toscanini's trumpet player

Arturo Toscanini is said to have told a trumpet player, "God tells me how the music should sound, but you stand in the way."

Glad I wasn’t that trumpet player! Being chewed out by Toscanini would be something to remember. A maestro brings out the harmony, the music’s special messages – its sorrows, and joys, its struggles and triumphs. He or she molds the music by sharing his vision with the musicians.

Christ works pretty much the same way. Christ knows the whole score, the big picture, and shares the vision of what our lives can be -- our lives are the music God has written for us to play. So even while we are participating in the beauty of living the music that is our lives, we’d best not get in the way of it.

What helps me to stay aligned, and to not get in the way, is to keep an eye on what is good and worthwhile and constructive, because that's what God is doing in the world. If I begin to feel burdened or imposed on, or if things are not coming together, that’s a clue that infinite good has slipped from being central to my day. At the risk of mixing metaphors, some wag noted, If God is your co-pilot, change seats.

Because whatever God gives me to do is not a burden – He/She is right there with me, giving me right ideas, helping me bring out the best in others, helping others to see how to give their best. If what I'm doing is burdensome -- it didn't come from God.

Where conflict arises – that means I’ve become Toscanini’s trumpet player. Somehow I’ve gotten in the way of the plan. And usually it’s because I’ve forgotten to ask God what to do next, and just plunged ahead with my own interpretation, my best guess.

The good news is, it’s never too late to ask God what to do, how to do it, where to go. And if we really want to know, God tells us. Usually we have to silence the chatter of our own opinions, anxieties, likes, and dislikes before we can hear. But He/She always answers our honest questions.

When the musicians perform under a skilled conductor’s interpretation of the music, the results can be magnificent.

When we do our part in God's magnificent purpose, humbly and with loving attention to detail, the results are huge in their potential for universal blessing.

Related links:

Music is the rhythm of head and heart.

Harmony in man is as real and immortal as in music.

Sing unto the Lord . . . with trumpets

Appreciating men AND women

First it was Polish jokes. When poking fun at cultures became politically incorrect, blonds picked up the brunt of appearing empty-headed. Close after came humor bashing men. Lawyer-knocking jokes still make the rounds. Wit making seniors look foolish enjoys popularity as well.

While I confess to having chuckled at the novelty of each appearing joke group, it dawned on me that bashing people groups isn’t friendly. And, even though some of the jokes are really funny, I don't want to be part of putting others down.

This is because I tremendously value what the women in my life (Polish, blond, and otherwise) share – empathy, concern, wisdom, joy, encouragement, nurturing, honesty, helpfulness, flexibility.

And I love what men bring to the mix – breadth of vision, spontaneity, adventure, quirkiness, humor, dependability, respect, thoughtfulness, generosity.

I have a dear lawyer relative, and his stability, kindness, caring and goodness mean all the world to me.

And seniors -- those gentle, wise, active folks who have been around the block a few times, are always there with help and advice. Even the curmudgeons have marshmallow hearts.

For that matter, I treasure my Presbyterian, Methodist, Catholic, Christian Science, Baptist, agnostic, and other friends whose worship I may not know, for the honesty, cheer, and daily dedication they bring to our relationships.

Since I credit God as the source of all that's good in life, I thank Him/Her for this wonderful variety of people who so enrich my days and years.

I take heart in the diversity with which God expresses His love and comfort for letting us help each other. This world isn’t always an easy one, and we need one another to strengthen our journeys with hope, courage, joy, and the confidence that we each have something worthwhile to contribute.

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Keep out of debt altogether,

except that personal debt of love

which we owe one another.

If you love your fellow man

you have carried out all your obligations.

Paul to his Roman friends

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Things are not always what they appear to be

A friend sent this email.

Bill owns a company that manufactures and installs Magic Wand Car Wash Systems. These are complete systems, including the money changer and money taking machines. Bill's company installed a car wash system in Frederick, Md

The problem started when the new owner complained to Bill that he was losing significant amounts of money from his coin machines each week. He went as far as to accuse Bill's employees of having a key to the boxes and ripping him off. Bill just couldn't believe that his people would do that, so they set up a camera to catch the thief in action. Well, they did catch him on film!

Also, they found that it wasn't just one bird - there were several working together. Once they identified and tracked the thieves, they found over $4000 in quarters on the roof of the car wash and more under a nearby tree.

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Things frequently aren’t what they appear to be. The new owner had a problem – his income was being regularly stolen, so he leapt to the most obvious conclusion and blamed the installer.

What did not happen is significant. The installer did not react in kind. He was able to step back, look at the broader picture, and come up with a plan to identify the culprits. And because of his intuitive approach to problem solving, we are all enjoying an amusing story with backup photos.

There’s a good lesson here about defusing antagonism. Refusing to react is always an option.

Learning about God’s law of infinite love has helped me to step back from the brink of anger more than once. Consistently turning from aggravation ratchets down the emotional turmoil. So this universal law of Love that relates us all constructively to each other also guides us safely away from hostility as well.

In this case, into a place where Bill and the owner could laugh together as friends.

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Understand this, my beloved brethren,
let every man be quick to hear (a ready listener),
slow to speak,
slow to take offense
and slow to get angry.
Amplified Bible

He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty;
and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city.
Amplified Bible

The Christian Scientist cherishes no resentment;
he knows that that would harm him
more than all the malice of his foes.
Mary Baker Eddy

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Daring Starlings more photos

An unexpected friend

Escorted toward safety

Good grief! Another war story? you ask.

Yes! Please bear with me. This is another great true story of respect across enemy lines. It's important because it illustrates a higher humanity.

Today we leap from the trenches of WW I (See July 8 post) to the skies of WW II. We join American pilot Charlie Brown as he nurses his severely damaged B-17 back to a British airbase. Only trouble is, he's flying the wrong way.

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Charlie Brown was a B-17 Flying Fortress pilot with the 379th Bomber Group at Kimbolton, England. His B-17 was called 'Ye Old Pub' and was in a terrible state, having been hit by flak and fighters. The compass was damaged and they were flying deeper over enemy territory instead of heading home to Kimbolton.

After Brown flew over an enemy airfield, a pilot named Franz Steigler was ordered to take off and shoot down the B-17. When he got near the B-17, he could not believe his eyes. In his words, he 'had never seen a plane in such a bad state'. The tail and rear section was severely damaged, and the tail gunner wounded. The top gunner was all over the top of the fuselage. The nose was smashed and there were holes everywhere.

Despite having ammunition, Franz flew to the side of the B-17 and looked at Charlie Brown, the pilot. Brown was scared and struggling to control his damaged and blood-stained plane.Aware that they had no idea where they were going, Franz waved at Charlie to turn 180 degrees. Franz escorted and guided the stricken plane to and slightly over the North Sea towards England. He then saluted Charlie Brown and turned away, back to Europe.

When Franz landed he told the c/o that the plane had been shot down over the sea, and never told the truth to anybody. Charlie Brown and the remains of his crew told all at their briefing, but were ordered never to talk about it.

More than 40 years later, Charlie Brown wanted to find the Luftwaffe pilot who saved the crew. After years of research, Franz was found. He had never talked about the incident, not even at post-war reunions.They met in the USA at a 379th Bomber Group reunion, together with 25 people who are alive now - all because Franz never fired his guns that day.

Research shows that Charlie Brown lived in Seattle and Franz Steigler had moved to Vancouver, BC after the war. When they finally met, they discovered they had lived less than 200 miles apart for the past 50 years!!

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Individual acts of mercy, courage, heroism -- in wars gone by -- encourage hope that despite the floods of chaos, fear, and misunderstanding in war zones today, individual sparks of humanity find their own expression to bless and heal.

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"When a man's ways please the Lord,
he makes even his enemies
to be at peace with him."
Proverbs 16:7

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Charlie & Franz's story

Joyeux Noël, Merry Christmas

Christmas eve truce 1914

I know, it's July, and it's hot. But this is a happening with heart, and it cannot wait.

Joyeux Noël. Merry Christmas. True story.

A miracle works its way gently into the hearts and minds of troops shooting at each other from WW I trenches in France.

Three lieutenants – Scottish, German, and French – agree to a Christmas eve truce. Some 600 soldiers leave their rifles behind and tentatively cross the war-scarred frozen earth to exchange pieces of chocolate, share photos of loved ones, play soccer, and –- discover they do not hate each other.

By mutual agreement, they extend the truce to Christmas day -- so that each side can bury their dead.

When the Germans get word that the Scottish and French lines will be shelled in ten minutes, they invite their former enemies to take shelter in the German trenches. The allied troops reciprocate, and the Germans shelter in the allied trenches when the bombardment is returned.

The big brass arrive at the front and order firing to resume, but the soldiers will not fire at one another. Their Christmas truce is exposed, and they are all punished for fraternizing with the enemy by being sent to different and more dangerous fronts.

This story strikes home because my maternal grandfather was there. My mom’s father, Walter, was with those Scottish troops on December 24, 1914, and he told his children about that amazing Christmas Eve truce.

It’s hard to relate that war to Iraq and Afghanistan today – where there is no front, and the enemy is not obvious; where the danger is unseen ambushes and hidden Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).

Yet the constant is universal humanity. The constant is one universal God who is Love. The constant is Christ, the divine goodness expressed in each of us. The constant is a universal yearning for peace and good-will.

Peace begins in the hearts and minds of individuals – you and me. We have it within our ability to bring peace to our own sphere – our families, friends, neighbors, colleagues. It's a place to start.

The Christian apostle Paul wrote, “For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.”

The more our lives are defined by our relationship to this God of Love, the more stable and grounded will be our inner peace, the more others will feel this calm. Inner peace allows intelligent, thoughtful, out-of-the-box solutions to emerge and influence the world scene.

One review of the DVD

What stone is in YOUR way?

Garden tomb

Julia Wade has an amazing CD, “Story for the Ages.” She joyously and sensitively sings Jesus' story – from the Old testament prophecies to his crucifixion, resurrection, and beyond. It's an eclectic, happy, and healing musical adventure.

I’ve been listening over and over to a song that blows me away. It’s titled simply “Lazarus.” It’s Christ calling Lazarus (who's been dead four days) from the tomb – with total expectancy that Lazarus will come forth.

Peter Link’s music and text brilliantly interweaves gentle Congolese rhythms and words as a backdrop for the dual message:

• Take away the stone.
• Lazarus – come forth!

This whole piece touches me deeply – because it’s not only about Lazarus. It’s a message of healing, about resurrecting in our lives all the little things that seem to have died. Lazarus becomes a metaphor for spiritual progress. For seeing past the material thing we call man, to finding the substance of who our friends and neighbors really are. Who we are. And calling forth that reality.

The graves in Jesus’ time were caves whose doorways were sealed with a slice of round stone.

“Take away the stone that stands before you.”

My friend Helene said, “Why that stone could be anything that doesn’t belong, that isn’t from God. That blocks you from going forward.”

Right. It could be anger, fear, self-pity, pride. Whatever it is, don’t let your life purpose stay buried. Take away the stone!

“Lazarus, come forth!” Come out from behind that obstruction and let your life move forward.

“See the perfect man that stands before you.
See the Christ in him, and him in me.”

See what God knows about his creation, right here. Honor man’s Christliness, and know he honors yours. When this deeply happens, healing takes place.

“I am Christ, and I am the master.
Death stands not in my way.”

Christ is the authority for healing, for renewing, for resurrection.

Related links:
Looking for an exit door? July 5 post
Story for the Ages - CD purchase

Freedom - you and I can make a difference

One July 4th found me flying across the country at nightfall. I remember looking down and seeing from above all these amazing displays. Ahead and behind silent bursts of manmade color punctuated the darkness.

As I write, explosions pop and rattle this night. Bibs, the dark calico cat, isn’t exactly afraid, but she comes in and asks for assurance. I lift her up on the day bed where she commences a thorough bath.

These nation-wide community fireworks commemorate freedom – the American colonies’ successful break from their mother country, Great Britain about 231 years ago. The rallying injustice was taxation without representation.

Today different injustices demand our attention. We rejoice that Alan Johnston, the British journalist kidnapped in Gaza and held for 101 days, was released today. His sudden freedom symbolizes the release of all who in some way are captive to circumstances beyond their control. Enslaved by tribes, cultures, or businesses taking advantage of poor families willing to sell their children for cash, people with no voice are yearning for hope and freedom.

So what can we do? What difference can you and I make? I think it has to do with how we view God. If God to us is infinitely good, caring, and powerful, then we have hope that things can be better. If God is Love, Truth, and Mind as well, then we can expect our prayers to contribute to finding practical solutions for universal fairness and opportunity.

The God who requires His/Her creation to honor and praise Him, also provides us with the ability to discover how to do that. It is man’s nature to treat others as we wish to be treated. Deep down we are not at peace with ourselves unless and until we align thoughts and actions with that life-principle. Our universal need to be humane and to honor the dignity of all life will work its way to the surface and demand expression.

All people need to be free – more than personal freedom to do anything – the larger freedom to employ our intelligence and ideas on a broader scale to make the world a better place. Each of us can weigh in for good.

The moon, railroad tracks, and you

The senses are useful. They help us enjoy life – tasty things such as sweet strawberries, or blueberry pie, or a favorite soup. Through the senses we enjoy music and art. They also alert us to danger.


Yet they don’t always tell the truth. For instance in the railroad tracks photo two illusions leap out at us. An amazingly large moon hovers over parallel tracks that appear to meet in the distance beyond the photo.

In the other moonrise photo, below – how immense the moon appears.

Experience tells us that the moon doesn’t change size, that the tracks remain forever parallel. In fact the photos may have been fiddled with to give these special effects. We process what-appears-to-be-true and reject it for our contrary knowledge of what is really true so quickly, we don’t even think about it.


It’s helpful to participate in all of life with a willingness to step back and reassess what’s valid. If we accepted the illusion of converging tracks as reality, we’d never get on the train. If we believe that health for instance, is solely dependent on matter, we become restricted to what matter allows and permits.

If there’s a higher source of health, say God, or Truth, or Spirit, our whole life perspective begins to enlarge. The fetters of matter-based being start to fall away. Spiritual laws of Life find a place in our thinking, and somewhere an intuition kicks in that says there’s way more to life that the human senses are able to tell us.

What if the things we see are actually made of things we don’t see? So that where any material object appears to be, right there is really a solid spiritual fact expressing itself. And the spiritual fact is what’s true, what can be depended on.

The way this plays out for me is that anything negative or discouraging, can usually be traced to the limitations of believing matter is a reality, even a law-maker. Whatever is good and hopeful can be traced to that higher power called Mind or Truth. And that’s proving to be a good source for finding out what’s really true.

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It is the province of spiritual sense to govern man.

Spiritual sense is a conscious, constant capacity to understand God.

Spiritual ideas lead up to their divine origin, God,
and to the spiritual sense of being.
Mary Baker Eddy

You must not judge

according to the appearance of things,
But by the reality!
Phillips Modern English

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In praise of "the other grandma"

Molly is my counterpart – she’s the other grandmother of our shared grandsons.

Generous, kind, caring, and thorough, she raised her boys as a single mom out of necessity when her husband died young. They are responsible dads and husbands today, so it looks to me like she succeeded.

Recently retired from a long nursing career, she spends her free time helping others – an aunt, a neighbor, a friend. Her career skills make her welcome everywhere.

This year I had the privilege of witnessing her humanity at its best. Three times.

(First) Kathy had a medical emergency, and Molly called the ambulance, stayed at the hospital night and day, and then camped on the couch two weeks at Kathy's home until recovery was solidly underway. Patient, kind, never a cross word.

(Second) Weeks later we attended a celebration together, when my nephew’s girlfriend, Lynn, collapsed on the driveway. Molly was right there applying her nursing skills as somebody called 911. My nephew’s 13-year-old son Hank is very fond of Lynn, and was beside himself with anxiety, sobbing from the very depths of his being. The ambulance came and left with Lynn inside.

(Third) Seeing Hank’s despair, Molly came over and gently explained why, as a nurse, she felt Lynn would be just fine. Hank felt comforted. Grabbing the hope Molly had given him, he rallied; the tears and uncontrollable shaking stopped. Lynn rallied too.

More recently we were watching our grandsons play Park District summer baseball. We do squeeze some conversation into these sports outings, and Molly told me, “I just ask, ‘Where do you need me today, Lord?’ And I go.”

This touched me deeply. It explained the prayer back of all her good deeds. The unseen order of her ministry comes from her love for her fellow man, and her desire to serve God.

We are of different faiths. And I’m awed as she quietly lives her faith through her good works.

Mary Baker Eddy, the American woman who founded my faith, includes this poem in her autobiography. I'd say it fits Molly:

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Ask God to give thee skill
In comfort 's art:
That thou may'st consecrated be
And set apart
Unto a life of sympathy.
For heavy is the weight of ill
In every heart;
And comforters are needed much
Of Christlike touch.
A. E. HAMILTON

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Related links:
Florence Nightengale