good for the soul

fall frolicks

Fall happens to be my favorite season  (when I’m not claiming spring is my favorite season). I love the promise of cooler weather, but really, I love the contrasts that coexist so beautifully at this time of year.

Fall gets a bad rap for heralding in winter and all the symbolism of death often associated with that. Phooey, I say. Winter has its charms, too. But this is about Fall, okay?

There’s something about the sun’s warmth on my skin when the air is cool that makes me feel like the whole world is a freshly made bed and I’m surrounded by cool linen and a warm down comforter.

Well, that was a bit much in the imagery department. It’s more like this: is there anything more delicious than a big fleecy college hoodie and shorts? Yeah, that’s more my comfy style.

But back to the sun. I am acutely aware of the sun in the fall. I think it has something to do with the gray, rainy weather that is typical of this part of the country in the fall. It’s rarely ever cold enough for an early snow (or any snow, for that matter) but the rain comes, and it brings a heavy pall with it.

Everything gets dingy and washed out, and the sky doesn’t so much turn gray as it loses any kind of definition. It’s just a big whiteout.

When the sun comes out I take notice. Like today. It was so bright it almost hurt.

The sun was kind of low in the sky and it made everything seem like it was filmed in Technicolor. The blue, cloudless sky was so blue. The green leaves were so green. And the sun?

It was magnificent.

 

 

daisies! and more daisies!

This week’s Catholic Weekend delved into the silliness of not having a recent post here to plug, and my only defense was…um. I had no defense. But Steve hasn’t updated either, so I challenged him to see who would post first.

I WIN!

So, I went out to lunch with John, saw a little football, ate some tasty burgers, and took a drive out to the granite-covered fields at the horse park. There was a mountain bike event going on, but I managed to grab a few shots of the Stone Mountain daisies that grow along granite outcroppings.

They really are the friendliest flowers 🙂

We’ve got a bunch of granite in our backyard, too, and I walked all the way to the back of the property with the dog, and lo and behold! I have my own daisies in my yard!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

I was going to ridicule this…

Evidently it is the National Day of Encouragement.

Yes.

I’m not so invested in this to seek more than the Wikipedia article.

Well, maybe a little bit. I mean, the idea is a good one. It looks like it was meant for young people. I don’t disagree. Certainly, our youth need encouragement. I don’t think anyone is going to disagree with that.

But here’s the thing: we all need encouragement — I’m gonna say — especially adults.

Think about it. We spend all day making decisions, choices, evaluating and re-evaluating those choices…and sometimes we’re acting in total isolation.

It would be nice to get a pat on the back, a “job-well-done”, a little acknowledgement for our efforts.

Don’t read a whine-fest into this…I’m not talking about anything particular in my life; I’m just realizing that there are many opportunities in my day to offer encouragement to someone who ordinarily doesn’t receive it. I’ve been extraordinarily blessed with people close to me, family and friends, who continuously offer this kind of encouragement and support. I’ve also benefitted from some wonderful professionals who’ve taken the time to mentor me and guide me in my career.

I could make a conscious effort to do the same. We all could, and it really doesn’t take some government proclamation to do it.

So go be nice to somebody. Tell them they’re doing a good job. Thank them for their hard work. Offer some of your expertise, without an agenda.

Spread a little love.

 

Our Lady of Charity, Pray for Us

Hey! There’s a lovely article about Our Lady of Charity by my friend, Pat Gohn, from Among Women Podcast. We’re working on making her an honorary Cuban, but first she’ll have to show me her dance moves.

Still, she’s well on her way with her love of our virgencita. See what she has to say:

She is a woman with maybe a million titles—some majestic, some courtly, some theological, some regional, and some lovingly familial.

From Our Lady of Fatima, to Our Lady of Guadalupe, to Our Lady of Czestochowa, to Our Lady of Akita, to Our Lady of Perpetual Help, to Our Lady of Grace, to Our Lady Star of the Sea, to Mother of Mercy, to Seat of Wisdom, to Gate of Heaven, to Cause of our Joy . . .

Depending on where in the world you live or visit, you probably know one that engenders devotion too. Every version of her name blesses both her and the people who prayerfully call upon her unceasing maternal intercession and protection. No worries, the Blessed Virgin Mary answers to them all!

Today, the Roman Catholic Church honors Mary—who mothers us all—on her birthday, the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary.

Meanwhile, important anniversary celebrations in Florida, Cuba, and perhaps elsewhere, honor her today as the Patroness of Cuba, Our Lady of Charity. Her full title in Spanish is La Virgen de la Caridad del Cobre.

I have long held a devotion to Mary. Thanks to my friendship with a few Cuban-American families, I have recently adopted this title, Our Lady of Charity, into my prayer…read the rest here.

It’s a beautiful piece that recognizes not just a nation’s devotion, but the universality of Mary’s appeal. She is our mother, and draws us close to her heart, where she reveals to us her son, Jesus Christ.

Oh, and get this! Somebody around here just might have done a little translation of it 🙂 You can read that here.

Love or Money?

That question threw me a little at lunch.

Maybe it had something to do with the fact that technically, we were out discussing business, and had, in fact, been discussing some rather technical things.

Or maybe it threw me because my relationship with my companion is in that early period where a friendship is starting to blossom but it’s not getting too personal, and perhaps this is too intimate a question.

I don’t think so….I think what threw me is that I answered love immediately, without thinking about it or even trying to formulate an explanation. It’s plain and simple. Love wins every time.

My friend was surprised. I think she was expecting me to dance around the question a bit, but my response was so immediate and uttered with such conviction that we both just sat looking at each other until she asked for clarification.

I didn’t think it needed clarification, but she seemed intent on wanting to have the conversation, and posed a follow up question about the need for money to take care of loved ones. Ah, well, yes, that’s a necessity, but not really the same as the first question, now is it?

I discovered that her question had less to do with priorities in a hypothetical discussion and more to do with figuring out how to balance our physical needs (and, yes, our desires) to make things good for those we love…whatever that good is, whether it is a nutritious meal or clothes or some spontaneous or frivolous expense to bring a moment of joy.

We don’t need a lot of money for that, but it sure helps.

Our conversation didn’t change my response. And frankly, I never got the sense that she thought money was more important. In fact, it broadened my understanding of it because of something else she said in the course of our conversation. She recognized that there wasn’t going to be a nice neat answer to her question, but that she found a great sense of relief in knowing that I didn’t have any answers either.

Ha. Wait a minute….

If you know me, you know I have plenty of questions and generally, few answers, so I can’t say I was offended, but she was onto something. Something I think I know quite naturally because of my faith and upbringing and that she was appreciating in the moment: namely, that we are social creatures and we need each other, not just for the obvious tribal needs such as protection or hunting or whatever some dead anthropologists said, but because we belong in community.

She took comfort in knowing she wasn’t alone in her fears. None of us should feel that way, but I know we sometimes do, at least I do. I was wracking my brain for some appropriately well-known scripture commonly quoted in the Bible Belt, but I kept coming back to Church teachings on community and our interdependence as members of the human family. If I’d had the Catechism of the Catholic Church in my car I would have pulled it out to quote directly from it (um…yes, I’m sure there’s an app for that). Still, I’m fairly certain I got the gist of it okay. She seemed content.

And I’m certain the message was meant as much for me, as it was for her.

 

just…thinking

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is gracious, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.

 

~Philippians 4:8