Patty and Frank! I have been out of town so much and no time to be on here, I apologize! As I went to write this entry, I saw the note from John Kennedy, "When written in Chinese the word 'crisis' is composed of two characters. One represents danger, and the other represents opportunity." and at that moment, my son called from Iraq! I read that to him! He was very, very quiet, and said, "That is good!" It has been really hard to have him over there this time.
I really, really have enjoyed this book by Joel Osteen, and the word "Becoming" is beginning to really be a 'stop and think about it' word for me. I purchased the book on CD, to listen to on my way back from the Nebraska Junk Jaunt, www.junkjaunt.com and I didn't get to listen till I got home. As we are doing this Chapter by Chapter, I thought I would only do catch up and then slow down to CxC. However... I listened to it all in two days while working! I LOVE it. There are points in it that just hit me like a hammer. I loaned it to my daughter who has had a recent life changing experience, and she is going to listen to it. Grant and I listened to part of it on the way back from North Carolina last spring, and we don't know where that CD set went, whether he has it or we do! LOL! But I will be sending that to him now, it is an awesome, inspiring book. Becoming. What a new beginning to some old thought processes for me that one word represents. Thank you, Patty, for the recent blog notes. You have caused me to think outside my own little box!
9 comments:
Rozan, you know how I can't resist adding images to your posts. I hope this one will meet your approval. I was just thinking of how we are BECOMING.... I think we do a lot of our becoming by what we think and write so this beautiful lady in a contemplative mode reminded me of you. I think you are the only one on the blog who is reading the book. As you can see, though, we have a new blogger named Maureen. She is a delightful lady who started a facebook group called "Positive Attitudes". I've been encouraging her in this endeavor and have invited others to join. I'll send you an invitation too. I think it is so admirable when people turn their scars into stars. That is what Maureen did after she lost her husband.
Anyway, back to your post. I am so heartened that you were able to use a quote from the blog to encourage your son in Iraq. That makes it all worthwhile. Welcome back to the blog, Rozan. I have missed you. I too have been getting a lot out of the book. God keeps putting things before me to deepen my faith. Everything I read seems to help me in my walk. I feel so inspired. I can't imagine what you are going through this time....with Grant back in Iraq. He is in my thoughts and prayers, for sure. Rozan, you and Maureen are helping broaden my horizons. Thank you for that!! God bless you. xxxxx
Frank and I were deeply saddened to hear that our friend lost her four-year-old son to e-coli. This is my affirmation of comfort today.
The ever-present spirit of God infuses me with peace and love.
Thoughts of comfort engage my senses as warm, reassuring images come to mind: my sweet granddaughters playing in the wagon they brought to my motel room last time I visited Kimball; the soft cheek of my new grandson Samson where I placed a kiss the day after he was born; my oldest granddaughter Jessie's dog Red jumping up to Hubby's chair to sit on my lap; sharing this blog with my spiritual guides.
The greatest comfort of all, however, is the comfort of ever-present Spirit. Even when there appear to be no answers, God is here. I breathe deeply and pray, allowing the peace and love that are present to infuse my very being. I am reassured spiritually, physically, and emotionally. Caring and peace surround me, confirming that I am supported and loved.
And I never have to pray alone. I can reach out on this blog to my spiritual sisters and my Hubby.
"Praise the Lord! ... He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds."--Psalm 147:1, 3
Today I am still dealing with the loss I feel about our friends' child passing. I wish I could do something to help them out. When something like this happens, one often wonders and questions life. What can I do with my life? What is the purpose? Why do I expect everything in life to work out the way I plan? Why are there challenges in life?
George Bernard Shaw wrote, "This is the true joy in life: The being a force of nature, instead of a feverish, selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy. I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community, and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die--for the harder I work, the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no 'brief candle' to me; it is a sort of splendid torch which I have got hold of for the moment, and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations."
I want to make my life count for something. I want to shine my light into dark places.
This reminds me of a story I put in my ONE WOMAN'S SPIRITUAL JOURNEY. I love this story. Robert Fulghum, the author of EVERYTHING I EVER WANTED TO KNOW I LEARNED IN KINDERGARTEN tells it. Dr. Papaderos is a Greek philosopher and teacher who gave a lecture that Robert Fulghum attended. Robert asks,
"Dr. Papaderos, what is the meaning of life?"
Fulghum relates: "The usual laughter followed, and people stirred to go.
Papaderos held up his hand and stilled the room and looked at me for a long time, asking with his eyes if I was serious and seeing from my eyes that I was.
'I will answer your question.'
Taking his wallet out of his hip pocket, he fished into a leather billfold and brought out a very small round mirror, about the size of a quarter.
And what he said went like this:
'When I was a small child, during the war, we were very poor and we lived in a remote village. One day, on the road, I found the broken pieces of a mirror. A German motorcycle had been wrecked in that place.
'I tried to find all the pieces and put them together, but it was not possible, so I kept only the largest piece. This one. And by scratching it on a stone I made it round. I began to play with it as a toy and became fascinated by the fact that I could reflect light into dark places where the sun would never shine -- in deep holes and crevices and dark closets. It became a game for me to get light into the most inaccessible places I could find.
'I kept the little mirror, and as I went about my growing up, I would take it out in idle moments and continue the challenge of the game. As I became a man, I grew to understand that this was not just a child's game but a metaphor for what I might do with my life. I came to understand that I am not the light or the source of light. But light -- truth, understanding, knowledge -- is there, and it will only shine in many dark places if I reflect it.
'I am a fragment of a mirror whose whole design and shape I do not know. Nevertheless, with what I have I can reflect light into the dark places of this world -- into the black places in the hearts of men -- and change some things in some people. Perhaps others may see and do likewise. This is what I am about. This is the meaning of my life.'
And then he took his small mirror and, holding it carefully, caught the bright rays of daylight streaming through the window and reflected them onto my face and onto my hands folded on the desk."
In Becoming.....we might want to realize our higher purpose in life. Maybe we too will want to shine the light into other people's lives.
Well, I just started a new group on facebook called "The Greatest of These Is Love" so that is one of my processes and projects to help me in "Becoming". I decided to just add to this post this week instead of making a new one because Rozan did such a good job of naming this week's topic "Becoming". In the book BECOMING A BETTER PERSON, I'm reading chapter nine which is called "Making Your Words Work for You". Joel Osteen says "We were created to excel." He goes on to say that God equipped us with everything we need to live an abundant life. We do not need to go through life with poor self-esteem. One of the things that can help us improve our self-esteem is with our words because they have creative power. Isaiah proclaims that "we will eat the fruit of our words." Our words produce what we are saying so it's important that we say things like "I am blessed. I am prosperous. I am healthy. I am creative. I am wise." Personally, one of my favorite things to say to myself is "I am love." James 3:10 says, "With our tongue, we can either bless our life or we can curse our life." Louise L. Hay says, "The thoughts you choose to think and believe right now are creating your future. These thoughts from your experiences tomorrow, next week, and next year." So do our words. Create wonderful things this week with your words. Joel suggests saying, "I am fun to be around. I am strong." I'm excited about the things we will create this week with our positive words, aren't you?
This man knows about 'becoming' I think:
YOUR BANK ACCOUNT
This is AWESOME....something we should all remember.
A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud man, who is fully dressed
each morning by eight o'clock, with his hair fashionably combed and shaved
perfectly, even though he is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today.
His wife of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary.
After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he
smiled sweetly when told his room was ready.
As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, I provided a visual
description of his tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been
hung on his window.
'I love it,' he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having
just been presented with a new puppy.
'Mr. Jones, you haven't seen the room; just wait.'
'That doesn't have anything to do with it,' he replied.
'Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my
room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged .. it's how I
arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. 'It's a decision I make
every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed
recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer
work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do.
Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I'll focus on the new day
and all the happy memories I've stored away. Just for this time in my life.
Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw from what you've put in.
So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank
account of memories!
Thank you for your part in filling my Memory bank. I am still
depositing.'
Remember the five simple rules to be happy:
1. Free your heart from hatred.
2. Free your mind from worries.
3. Live simply.
4. Give more.
5. Expect less.
Love it, Rozan!!! Absolutely love it!!
WORDS. Remember when as a kid someone would say: Oh, don't worry about WHAT they said... sticks and stones break bones, but words will never harm you??? OH, man, whoever coined that missed the mark by a thousand miles! Words create chasms in the SOUL that are felt years later... YEARS! Words that were spoken into the life of someone close to me still haunt us. I have to WATCH what I say because some phrase or word can start a war! I think we must be very careful how we speak into others lives, esp our children, because their long memory arms go WAY back. I have friends who say: "OH, THAT will be what MY family runs into, that is always the way it is!" Well, a pox on that, we have to immediately take hold of those words, and bend them backwards and out of the picture, I think. I want to think more positively, and state aloud that I will not accept that statement over my family/friends, and refute it boldly. So what if you have had some issues, if you don't physically or visibly have that little black rain cloud following you, perk up, look for the sunshine, and glide to it, not to the rain! AMEN???
James 3:10 says, "With our tongue, we can either bless our life or we can curse our life."
Thank you, Patty, for restating that here!
Amen, Rozan! I so agree that words can start wars. We create positive or negative things with our words. Other people may say things that hurt, but we believe our own words more than anyone else's words. Not only that, but we produce what we call forth. Romans 4:17 says that we are to "call the things that are not as if they already are." So it's important that we remember to say that we are more than conquerors, and that we can speak blessings into our own ears and into the ears of others. We are children of the Most High God. And you are so right, Rozan, we need to speak blessings into our children's ears. Thank you for writing such a thoughtful post.
Post a Comment