Unspoken trusts

Halloween finery

It's totally secular, Halloween.

Some people decorate their yards with enthusiasm, ghosts, and fake skeletons. Or maybe in the window just a string of pumpkin lights from the Dollar Store.

Kids creatively attired scamper from door to door for treats.

The young man in the amazing tall hat prepared a great spaghetti dinner last night. We had dropped his brother off at soccer practice and I suggested that he be the chef, and I would be his helper. He could tell me what to do.

He rolled that idea around the back of his mind while he talked about other things on the way home. I was careful to give him space to do that mental rolling. Could he trust me to really let him be in charge? Would I really do as he said?

Once settled in the kitchen, he asked, "So, what are we having for dinner?"

He viewed the spaghetti ingredients, then said, "OK, Grandma, you can slice the onions." I sliced and diced cheerfully. Thus began a delightful dinner preparation time together.

It's significant that I'm learning to really pray about each encounter with the grandchildren. It's especially important that our times together be good ones, because the boys are beginning to find their own activities now. We don't have overnights every week like we did when they were younger.

When I am able to really glimpse something of the oneness of God's good purpose, and to be clear that only one intelligent and caring Mind is in control, things go better.

Sometimes things go wonderfully.

The chef/helper idea was, for me, an inspiration from that one Mind. When it popped into my thinking, I realized it had come for a purpose. So I tossed it into the conversational mix.

The result was spectacularly joyous. I am incredibly grateful for these small gifts, these little joys, that add up.

Stowaways - Part 2

Mothering takes different forms.

When you can't be right there with or for your kids, it's always possible to pray for them. What has often comforted me is to realize their Father-Mother God loves and protects all Her children even more than I could if I were right there. Never absent, never on a coffee-break, God's mothering is a presence -- comforting, protecting, cheering, guiding.

There is never a moment when that spiritual mothering is lax, inattentive, bored, or distracted. The way I see it, Mother God nurtures and shelters, while promoting growth in all that is good, that will benefit the children and their world.

While Mom attends her meetings
the stowaways plan some adventures

Stowaways!

Stowaways discovered after take off!

How does a mom mother her children when she has to travel?

There are innovations. It takes creativity and a sense of fun.

What could grab a kid's imagination like planting a couple of small stowaways in his mom's travel purse?

What is there to do except record photos of their adventures?

What does it take to succeed?

Lucille Ball
The Beatles
Ulysses S. Grant
Michael Jordon
Thomas Edison
Walt Disney
Abraham Lincoln

What do these people have in common?

Would you believe they were all failures? Each was told they didn’t have what it takes to achieve anything worthwhile. But, and this is important, they persevered and succeeded anyway.






I would disagree with the conclusion at the end of the YouTube in this way. I would say life = perseverance. People succeed because they persevered through adversity.

We could add Bible heroes to the list above. Noah, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, the prophets; Jesus, Peter, and Paul.

They weren’t heroes because they were exceptionally intelligent or bright or great leaders. They succeeded, every one, because they leaned on God as Mind, Truth, and Life, and persevered through adversity to success.

So if life looks bleak to you right now, don't give up. There is a way to go forward. There is a God who loves and cares about you and for you. It's OK to ask that God to show you what to do to be a blessing. I know "blessing" is a bit of an old-fashioned word, but nothing else says it quite so well.

The reason it's OK to ask God to show you how to be a blessing is because it's a life law that in blessing we are blessed. In being a blessing, we find a way to move forward.

Interview with Bear Grylls

A mountaineer (reluctantly) talks about his faith and how it sustained him as he scaled Mt. Everest.

I love his honesty and modesty. Perhaps you will too.

Should life be fun?

How do we make choices? The shortest distance. The right thing to do. The easiest thing to do. The best of two not very good choices.

Or, sometimes just for the fun of it!

The beauty of mathematics

This mathematical symmetry is making the email rounds again. Thought you might enjoy puzzling it through, if you can.

I'm not sure I ever thought of math as beautiful before I saw this example. Is it a glimpse into the universe of mathematicians, people who live with these concepts all the time, and love and see them everywhere?

Does it make us think that maybe, just maybe, there is a universal intelligence behind everything we see that shows order, beauty, logic?

1 x 8 + 1 = 9
12 x 8 + 2 = 98
123 x 8 + 3 = 987
1234 x 8 + 4 = 9876
12345 x 8 + 5 = 98765
123456 x 8 + 6 = 987654
1234567 x 8 + 7 = 9876543
12345678 x 8 + 8 = 98765432
123456789 x 8 + 9 = 987654321


1 x 9 + 2 = 11
12 x 9 + 3 = 111
123 x 9 + 4 = 1111
1234 x 9 + 5 = 11111
12345 x 9 + 6 = 111111
123456 x 9 + 7 = 1111111
1234567 x 9 + 8 = 11111111
12345678 x 9 + 9 = 111111111
123456789 x 9 +10= 1111111111


9 x 9 + 7 = 88
98 x 9 + 6 = 888
987 x 9 + 5 = 8888
9876 x 9 + 4 = 88888
98765 x 9 + 3 = 888888
987654 x 9 + 2 = 8888888
9876543 x 9 + 1 = 88888888
98765432 x 9 + 0 = 888888888


Brilliant, isn't it? And look at this symmetry:

1 x 1 = 1
11 x 11 = 121
111 x 111 = 12321
1111 x 1111 = 1234321
11111 x 11111 = 123454321
111111 x 111111 = 12345654321
1111111 x 1111111 = 1234567654321
11111111 x 11111111 = 123456787654321
111111111 x 111111111 = 12345678987654321

Chicago Marathon 2009

Smiling at the end

I love my family. Each person is unique of course, but overall they are kind, caring, unselfish, generous.

For example, my brother-in-law has run for several years now in the Chicago Marathon. While he's running, he raises money for the Crisis Center of Southwest Suburbia. This facility shelters victims of domestic violence on a moment's notice. It's a good organization.

He was disappointed in his performance this year because, even though he completed the race, he got worn out at the 20 mile mark, six miles short of the finish line.

To a runner that may be important. To the rest of us, it is simply amazing.

The way I see it, unselfishness counts in that final six-mile push -- even if it isn't a "personal best."

I love the runners' quote from Isaiah,

"Haven’t you known? Haven’t you heard? The forever God who created the ends of the earth doesn’t faint, never wearies? His understanding is so vast, it can’t be search.

He gives power to the faint; to the weary He gives strength. Even the youths faint, and the young men drop in their tracks.

But those who serve the Lord renew their strength; they mount up as though on eagle’s wings. They shall run and not be weary. Those who simply walk will not faint."

For you dog lovers

For all who have marvelled at the unconditional love of dogs for their people, here's someone who has figured it out and set it to music.

To make the world a better place...

... start with the man in the mirror.

These lyrics made famous by Michael Jackson are sung by the writer herself.

As Siedah Garrett says, she knows nothing of his personal life, but Jackson's music touched her.

"If you wanna make the world a better place," she wrote, "start with the man in the mirror."

Don't you love the honesty! We can't change the other guy, so why go through that frustration? What we can improve, is ourselves.

What a concept! Taking that earnest desire a step further, especially if we feel that change is going to be tough, we can ask God to help us.

Here Siedah sings her song. Her spoken intro speaks of her own character as well.

God doesn't make junk

Ever felt you've let God down?

In this well-done little skit, God points out that we cannot possibly let God down, because it is God who holds us up. Not the other way around.

How willing are we to let God chisel away the stuff that isn't us?