If you are reading this, then you can see a blog on the right hand side of the page belonging to a literary agent. In it he sends the reader to an opinion concerning a novel about Muhammad. Because of the fear of retribution from the Islamic community, the book was pulled and will not be published. I wonder if this story was about Jesus or Bhudda or Joseph Smith or some other religious figure, the book would have had the same outcome? Of course not because those followers don't hold society hostage with threats of violence.
Everything in our world seems to be turned upside-down right now and I don't know how to change it. I'm reeling from what's going in the lives of my immediate family and friends, and in the world we live in. Is this still the right time to pray God's will be done? Should we be more specific? I've been in churches where we fought the devil all the time. I know that's not the answer because he's already been defeated by Jesus on the cross. I don't want to hide from the problems, but I don't want to be worrying all the time either.
So, here's what I'm going to do. I'm going to wake up every morning and thank God for another day, for our lives, for the wonderful family and friends we have. I'm going to keep writing, keep watching American Idol (and whatever else we like to watch), keep reading fiction and non-fiction, keep going to church and small group, keep knitting for hospice patients and keep trying to show God's love to everyone.(I fail at this a lot, but that doesn't mean I should stop trying.) In short, I'm going to keep in mind that life on earth isn't the end for any of us. There's something way better down the line, and until then, I'll take one day at a time, cover each one of those days with prayer and just go on living.
Showing posts with label celebrate life. Show all posts
Showing posts with label celebrate life. Show all posts
Friday, August 8, 2008
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Spoiled?: Maybe, but thankful to be.
We went to Taos Tuesday and came back Wednesday. Before we left we heard from the #3 son that he was having hand surgery. He'd gotten a thistle in his finger. It got infected and the poison was moving toward his palm. A person can lose his hand, his arm and his life if the infection isn't stopped. It's done and he's doing just fine.
Back to Taos. We and our friends, the Buck's, had read Blood and Thunder. It's the story of Kit Carson, the southwest expansion and New Mexico history. It's excellent reading, keeps your interest all the time. Kit lived in Taos when he wasn't riding back and forth across the continent on his mule. While we were in Taos we visited his home and the home of Governor Bent. Bent was killed by Indians who thought he was responsible for the deaths of some braves. They shot arrows into his face and scalped him alive.
We visited Taos Pueblo, too.
Taos Pueblo is set in the foothills of the largest peaks in NM. Among the smaller, one story adobes is a multi-storied adobe building that has been continuously inhabited for over 1000 years. On the half million acres of Pueblo land stands a burned out adobe church where the Indians went for shelter from Mexicans thinking they would be safe. The Mexicans burned it to the ground.
Yesterday we visited the Martinez hacienda outside of Taos. This was the largest home we'd seen. Severino Martin (later changed to Martinez) brought his family to the northern boundry of the Spanish empire in 1804 and opened a trading post on what was the final terminus for the Camino Real. The Royal Road went from Mexico City to New Mexico. He enlarged it several times. It was built around two courtyards. Many rooms could only be entered from the inside walkway around the courtyard.
Why am I writing about all this? My brother wrote a blog yesterday about everything he's thankful for, and seeing these places made me thankful.
Josefa Carson, Kit's third wife, bore seven children. He already had one daughter by his first wife. Josefa lived in Taos and most of that time it was without her husband. Kit traveled from one side of the continent to another and wasn't at home as much as he wished (from what we read.) I'm thankful I only had two children and had a husband around all that time. Just a note about Josefa and Kit: She died giving birth their last child in 1868 and a month later, to the day, Kit died.
Seeing the homes, the adobes that had to be re-adobed twice a year to keep them from falling down, made me thankful I live in a home that doesn't require that much upkeep.
None of these places had bathrooms, and boy, do I love having good bathrooms! Information about Martinez said the people never bathed and most people had lice. I know that in England the people didn't bathe either and wore long sleeves and high collars to hide the sores on their bodies from not washing.
Maybe we're spoiled, but I like it that way. I'm thankful for air conditioning and heat in my home, for showers and bathrooms and the ability to get clean. I'm thankful for doctors and surgeons who know what to do about raging infections. I'm thankful we don't have to wear clothes (most of the time) to hide sores on our bodies. I'm thankful we don't have lice and if we did, we could get rid of them. I'm thankful for microwaves and electric ovens and cook tops, for washing machines and dryers, for electric lights and telephones (even when it's someone asking for money), grocery stores and computers. I'm thankful we are able to travel comfortably in a vehicle on paved highways or fly across the ocean. I like living in the age of television and computers and electricity and busi-ness all around me. Because of all these conveniences I can talk to my family every day--even when they live hundreds of miles from me.
I wouldn't call this being spoiled. I call this a good life, and I thank God for every minute of it.
Back to Taos. We and our friends, the Buck's, had read Blood and Thunder. It's the story of Kit Carson, the southwest expansion and New Mexico history. It's excellent reading, keeps your interest all the time. Kit lived in Taos when he wasn't riding back and forth across the continent on his mule. While we were in Taos we visited his home and the home of Governor Bent. Bent was killed by Indians who thought he was responsible for the deaths of some braves. They shot arrows into his face and scalped him alive.
We visited Taos Pueblo, too.
Taos Pueblo is set in the foothills of the largest peaks in NM. Among the smaller, one story adobes is a multi-storied adobe building that has been continuously inhabited for over 1000 years. On the half million acres of Pueblo land stands a burned out adobe church where the Indians went for shelter from Mexicans thinking they would be safe. The Mexicans burned it to the ground.
Yesterday we visited the Martinez hacienda outside of Taos. This was the largest home we'd seen. Severino Martin (later changed to Martinez) brought his family to the northern boundry of the Spanish empire in 1804 and opened a trading post on what was the final terminus for the Camino Real. The Royal Road went from Mexico City to New Mexico. He enlarged it several times. It was built around two courtyards. Many rooms could only be entered from the inside walkway around the courtyard.
Why am I writing about all this? My brother wrote a blog yesterday about everything he's thankful for, and seeing these places made me thankful.
Josefa Carson, Kit's third wife, bore seven children. He already had one daughter by his first wife. Josefa lived in Taos and most of that time it was without her husband. Kit traveled from one side of the continent to another and wasn't at home as much as he wished (from what we read.) I'm thankful I only had two children and had a husband around all that time. Just a note about Josefa and Kit: She died giving birth their last child in 1868 and a month later, to the day, Kit died.
Seeing the homes, the adobes that had to be re-adobed twice a year to keep them from falling down, made me thankful I live in a home that doesn't require that much upkeep.
None of these places had bathrooms, and boy, do I love having good bathrooms! Information about Martinez said the people never bathed and most people had lice. I know that in England the people didn't bathe either and wore long sleeves and high collars to hide the sores on their bodies from not washing.
Maybe we're spoiled, but I like it that way. I'm thankful for air conditioning and heat in my home, for showers and bathrooms and the ability to get clean. I'm thankful for doctors and surgeons who know what to do about raging infections. I'm thankful we don't have to wear clothes (most of the time) to hide sores on our bodies. I'm thankful we don't have lice and if we did, we could get rid of them. I'm thankful for microwaves and electric ovens and cook tops, for washing machines and dryers, for electric lights and telephones (even when it's someone asking for money), grocery stores and computers. I'm thankful we are able to travel comfortably in a vehicle on paved highways or fly across the ocean. I like living in the age of television and computers and electricity and busi-ness all around me. Because of all these conveniences I can talk to my family every day--even when they live hundreds of miles from me.
I wouldn't call this being spoiled. I call this a good life, and I thank God for every minute of it.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Little is Big
The only dishwasher we had when I was growing up was--me.
I don't know if electric dishwashers had even been invented back then. If they had, I didn't know anyone who had one. I have one now, but there are still some things we wash by hand. This morning, as I was washing up a few items, my thoughts went back to those years when I stood over the sink, dishcloth in hand (We use a sponge now. Had sponges been invented?) and washed every plate, glass, pot, pan and piece of silverware. I saw myself doing the job with no love in my heart toward it. I hated washing the dishes.
Then other pictures came into my mind. I could see our kitchen, could smell it--the wonderful aroma of fresh, from-scratch bread and cookies baking. I could see my little brother, a busy, cute curly-headed kid always in the middle of the floor pushing a toy car or truck around and making engine noises that were quite realistic; Mother, a stay-at-home mom who sewed better than any department store seamstress, always the life of every party; Daddy, a hardworking, great guy with a wry sense of humor. A home filled with warmth and love.
Not as my parents were at the end of their lives.
Bittersweet memories.
Having to wash the dishes was a big thing to me back then. As I look back on it today, it was really a little thing in the whole scheme of life. My family was together. We were healthy and young and had a life ahead of us that would bring joys we never could have imagined.
Robert Brault said, "Enjoy the little things for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things." He got that right.
I don't know if electric dishwashers had even been invented back then. If they had, I didn't know anyone who had one. I have one now, but there are still some things we wash by hand. This morning, as I was washing up a few items, my thoughts went back to those years when I stood over the sink, dishcloth in hand (We use a sponge now. Had sponges been invented?) and washed every plate, glass, pot, pan and piece of silverware. I saw myself doing the job with no love in my heart toward it. I hated washing the dishes.
Then other pictures came into my mind. I could see our kitchen, could smell it--the wonderful aroma of fresh, from-scratch bread and cookies baking. I could see my little brother, a busy, cute curly-headed kid always in the middle of the floor pushing a toy car or truck around and making engine noises that were quite realistic; Mother, a stay-at-home mom who sewed better than any department store seamstress, always the life of every party; Daddy, a hardworking, great guy with a wry sense of humor. A home filled with warmth and love.
Not as my parents were at the end of their lives.
Bittersweet memories.
Having to wash the dishes was a big thing to me back then. As I look back on it today, it was really a little thing in the whole scheme of life. My family was together. We were healthy and young and had a life ahead of us that would bring joys we never could have imagined.
Robert Brault said, "Enjoy the little things for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things." He got that right.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Nothing But Net
I went out to get the newspaper this morning and wanted to stay out there. Summer mornings in our neighborhood in Albuquerque are glorious--clear, cool, still. Inside the house, still sleeping, was a husband I love dearly and who I never dreamed would come into my life five years ago; a son and daughter-in-law who we don't get to see as much as we'd like, and a sweet little two-year-old granddaughter. She loves life, giggles like nobody's business at the smallest things, and rarely complains. We'll go to another son's home today and see more grandchildren as we celebrate two birthdays. A little over five years ago I didn't know any of these people, but they have embraced me into their families and given a greater fullness to a life I thought was completely full before.
Life isn't always a "bowl of cherries" but there's always something to be grateful for. I'm going through a rough time right now (alot of which is because I have trouble keeping my mind still and being able to be completely consicious of the present moment), but this morning all I felt, and all I wanted to feel, was gratitude.
Looking back has its good parts and its bad. If I look back with regrets, guilt or shame, it's not good. But when I change my focus and see where I was and where I am now--"nothing but net" (as they say in the basketball world.)
I have to give the credit to God. I'm made alot of dumb, foolish decisions in my life, and He's delivered me out of them all. What's going on at this time isn't a decision I made, but it's a decision I can make now. I know that "this, too, shall pass" and when it passes, I will see God's deliverance again.
So what's my job today? Focus on being grateful, on what is good about my life (which is alot!), only remember how things in the past worked out better than I ever deserved and keep trusting God.
With Him in our lives, no matter what we face, every day will be better than the day before.
Life isn't always a "bowl of cherries" but there's always something to be grateful for. I'm going through a rough time right now (alot of which is because I have trouble keeping my mind still and being able to be completely consicious of the present moment), but this morning all I felt, and all I wanted to feel, was gratitude.
Looking back has its good parts and its bad. If I look back with regrets, guilt or shame, it's not good. But when I change my focus and see where I was and where I am now--"nothing but net" (as they say in the basketball world.)
I have to give the credit to God. I'm made alot of dumb, foolish decisions in my life, and He's delivered me out of them all. What's going on at this time isn't a decision I made, but it's a decision I can make now. I know that "this, too, shall pass" and when it passes, I will see God's deliverance again.
So what's my job today? Focus on being grateful, on what is good about my life (which is alot!), only remember how things in the past worked out better than I ever deserved and keep trusting God.
With Him in our lives, no matter what we face, every day will be better than the day before.
Thursday, June 19, 2008
One More Day
Every day is a chance to make life new once more. The past can be forgotten, and forgiven, the future unknown but filled with promise, and today a time to celebrate.
Celebrate?
Why? you may ask.
Because we are well, safe and loved.
In a world of mounting sickness and death (from disease, crime and war)--if on this one day we face none of these things, it's time to be thankful and look for ways to help those who aren't well, safe or loved today.
Celebrate?
Why? you may ask.
Because we are well, safe and loved.
In a world of mounting sickness and death (from disease, crime and war)--if on this one day we face none of these things, it's time to be thankful and look for ways to help those who aren't well, safe or loved today.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)