August 2022

Dear Friends,

An unexpected phone call, a plan’s “rearrangement,” the weather, a detour sign – all, and many more, are examples of the need for an inner adjustment. We accommodate these small demands in daily life, some days better than others. In fact, our ease with change reflects some of our temperament, our history, our maturity, right? I can say this about myself and am guessing it might be true about you, too. Our practice of accommodation is also influenced by the repeated demands of change, isn’t it? If, let’s say, a vacation plan gets turned around, flights are cancelled, luggage lost – we become weary with the situation. Our patience is strained at the exact time when more patience is needed!

In my last Glimmer, I spoke of change and the growth it often demands. Many of you responded with thoughts about “growing pains,” do you remember those? I recall the term being used to describe the physical aches from young bodies growing, muscles and bones getting longer, bigger, stronger. But, of course, growing pains happen in our emotional and spiritual lives, as well. Here I am at 72, body changing yes, but the demand for growing really lands in my heart. The lessons of loss, of all sorts, continue and that internal process of adjustment becomes a pathway of growing.

“I’m so glad to find a way to love again.” I remember hearing these words at Sr Mary Fahey’s funeral. She was quoted saying them in response to a difficult person or situation. Her heart’s desire, “to love,” was the guiding light in her life, and as we know, circumstances can challenge that goal. Loss, difference, rejection, misunderstanding, betrayal – all part of our human experience – and yet, as a “lover,” I seek the path of reconciliation. I desire to love again, and again, and again. Before you misunderstand my proclamation, know that I fail miserably, that I forget to include myself in that goal, and that I often get caught in my own neediness.

These are my recent growing pains, this is where my heart is being stretched out into new shapes, new ways of holding the life I am living. And this is where I learn about love.

with affection, Lisa

Dear Friends,

After a couple adventures, I’ve returned to the land of lost socks and gardening decisions.

I return home with a heart stretched open, to hold the reality of the world I am living in. Gratitude has arrived and She is shining her light all around me. My heart and I say yes, we will participate in the journey of a soul-full life. The invitation is too precious….

The socks and garden pots speak, I slow down. This is my life and, in this moment,  I am experiencing it as a blessing:

an active awareness of “the More”

a kiss of the Divine

a Deepening that calls us home.

Some folks place “blessing” in a religious realm, but for me, there’s more.  John O’Donohue is quoted in this wonderful article saying, “Blessing is a more robust and grounded presence.” I am so grateful to have socks and a place to lose them! In the morning light, the garden awakens – each petal smiles hello, vines join me in the expanse of this new day, and I listen. Blessings appear, arrive, descend, are…

I return to you, dear friends. My spirit settles down and listens for the oriole’s call and the mourning dove’s coo. The heron’s prehistoric form rises into the sky and the squirrels continue their dance. My heart responds to the dawn of this new day and says, yes, I will embrace the life before me and, at the same time,  I will pray for the concerns of the world. I cannot turn away from weeping brothers and sisters in Afghanistan, startling fires and consequent destruction in California, global political discussions rooted in fear and the need for power. How do I cope?  I respond to the challenges in my little life with love. I get honest, grieve losses as changes happen and, ultimately, grow. I respond to the call of love we all are hearing, and I keep going.

I’m on the lookout for blessings and the morning light is a place to start, besides thinking of each of you, of course.

peace, Lisa