April 1^st. 

The feast of fools and foolishness and all things fun . . . a day to remember to take time to laugh and enjoy the little things!

 It seems like the art of laughter is something that is lost these days. It’s good for the heart and the soul and all else in between, but something we do so seldom.

I am reminded of a prayer that hangs on my bathroom mirror: “Lord, help me to laugh again, but never let me forget I cried.” Why does it seem easier to remember the things that made us cry, rather than the things that made us laugh? Maybe it just takes more effort? I’ll have to give it a try and see if I can remember it better.

My prayer for you today is that you may find something to laugh at (or at least smile about) and then share that with another.

A personal closing today . . . RIP Dr. Roland . . . a man of healing and miracles that will be missed! Thanks for all the hearts that you touched (literally) and the lives that you saved! God-Speed!

3/25/11

Good-byes have been some of the most painful moments in my life . . . sometimes they come suddenly through death, other times they “just happen” as a result of life and all it’s twists and turns . . . either way, good-byes are one of my least favorite things!

This week, I’ve had to say good-bye one time too many!

The first good-bye was to someone who had “held me up” for a long time through a listening ear, a supportive presence, her “job”.  I can’t help but wonder if she grew tired, disenchanted, frustrated? Did I grow beyond needing what she could offer? Was it just our time to take separate paths? Either way, it was a good-bye that has left me half empty, looking for the open door, the promise of God that: “I will not leave you”.

The second good-bye was to Sr. Mary Paul . . . a gentle Sister who has reminded me often that “I pray for you everyday”. In my 25 years in community, that has been a lot of prayers! I never once saw her; even in passing that I didn’t know for certain that she was indeed praying for me everyday!

So many times, I counted on those prayers to get me through.

Today as she joins the communion of angels and saints, I pray for her and her release from weariness and pain, and I know and am confidant that she will still keep an eye out for me!

So, to both of you, thank you for your support and your prayers and good-bye, God be with you on your journey.

“Hail Mary Full of Grace, bless the journey, bless the place we come to and we leave.”

I'm baaack!

Another week has gone by and what a difference a week makes!!
For the first time in a long time the sun was out! I drove in a car that had the sun roof up and literally just turned my face to the sun and gave myself to it . . .(no I wasn't driving!)

I felt like for a few short hours there was nothing that could be bigger than I was and then the sun set . . . and I remembered: friends whose young child is critically ill, friends whose older child is sick, family who struggle with life choices, the people of Japan, the people of everywhere really . . .
and then I remembered the sun!

I remembered how people are basically good, how faithful my friends are, how faithful our God is to us, and I realized that the road may not always be easy but the sun will come up again, and we will have a chance to make the day better just by being a part of it!

Speaking of sun, this is a picture of the first sunrise of 2011:

Nun of This is back . . .

I have decided that in order to be a little more consistent with my blog and to help it establish itself, I will make Friday my blog day . . . if there are other days in between, then gravy! If not, I promise to be here on Friday!
This Friday finds me returning from vacation and settling into a new week and going back to work . . . it also finds me looking at the third anniversary of the death of a very dear friend . . . I understand this whole death thing, and grief, and yada yada, but I don't get why she dies and it's my life that is changed forever???
What kind of deal is that??
I took a picture this week that made me think a little bit about what all of this feels like three years later . . .

It has felt like so much death . . . so much letting go, so much hurt, and yet, when I looked a little more I saw that there is also life! In the midst of the bramble and weed, there is life! Ash Wednesday and the beginning of Lent have also been a good time to reflect on all of this . . . the symbol of the ash is a constant reminder to me that others have been here before, in this same place, in this same hurt, and others will be again. The burning of the ash gives light and warmth, but the ash itself? A reminder that someone has lit the fire and will continue to do so . . . and then there is the promise that :"we rise again from ashes"

A little more Nun of This!

"And I say to myself . . .what a wonderful world . . ."
And it is, it truly is, a wonderful world . . .
It is finger licking frosting wonderful!
And you, are a part of it!
And I am a part of it . . .
and often in the midst of it all, our paths cross.
And, tonight, all I really want to say is thank you for the part you play in it!
Thank you for allowing your dreams and my dreams to make a path that crosses . . .
Yes, it is a wonderful world!

Day 3 Nun of This

"Fill my heart with love, that my every teardrop may become a star."
Hazrat Inayat Khan

WOW! Every teardrop a star?? The night sky will be lit brighter than we've ever seen it before!!
I wonder if that means that somebody will be making a wish on one of my tears? Does that change the
content of the tear?
I recently read an article that spoke of the cleansing property of tears, and the fact that tears cried with emotion are much more healing than tears cried while peeling onions . . .
Imagine if you can for a moment the last few things that have made you cry. Now that you have those thoughts, turn them into blessings. Say thank you to the God of your understanding for those tears, turn those tears into gift.

I truly believe that those things and peoples that I have cried over, no matter how much they hurt, were some of the greatest blessings in my day, some of the things that have stretched me the farthest and made me grow the most! I actually took the time this week to thank the person that made me cry last week. Never in a million years did I ever think I would say thank you for the experience that left me thinking my heart would break, but I did. That thank you made me realize that without the experience, I wouldn't have had to sit and ask why I was crying. I wouldn't have had to fight for something that was really important to me, and I probably wouldn't have stopped long enough to even realize that I was growing in the process of it all.

If tonight you see a star, ask a blessing upon it. Ask a blessing upon the one who cried that tear, and a blessing upon the one who wiped it dry.

For you, I will be checking the sky tonight, and asking a blessing!

Blessings!

Day 2 of Nun of This

There comes a point or a moment in each of our lives when we know that we truly will be ok . . .
despite anything else that's going on or anything that can happen to us, we really will be ok.
Today, that is a truth that I have come to know perhaps for the first time in my almost 50 years . . .
I am stronger than anything that can happen to me and YOU are stronger than anything that can happen to you!
Believe with me that all will be well and know that I hold you in prayer.
I pray for your strength and my strength, your loved ones and mine, and I pray for all those who for whatever reason can't believe in their own strength!
Blessings!