Category: Yield

Posted on in Aging, Challenge, Collection of Quotes, Faith, Just do it, Listen, Look, Praise, Prayer, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Surrender, Trust, Yield

Fear of Change

A quote from the series “The Hammond Family Farm,” “He knew that teenagers thought everything that happened today meant that was how things would be forever. Boone knew far better than that.”

That is so like our thinking. Even in my 70s I often think like a teenager, grasping things as if they will be this way forever. Good and bad things. I forget things change, whether I like it or not.

Then there is this:

In 2018 I journaled the following. “Change is inevitable. Come to expect it.” If only I had that tattooed on my hand, I could see it daily and perhaps remember that when I am strolling in my comfort zone, that too is subject to change. Perhaps the seasons changing so dramatically are our reminder from God that nothing remains the same except God.”

Life is full of mystery. The mystery is our invitation to let go and to embrace uncertainty with the fullness of our being. This is how hope becomes our bearing. It’s how it becomes our compass in uncertain times. Joe Primo

“Hope becomes our bearing and our compass”

“Joe Primo is the CEO of Grateful Living. He is a passionate speaker and community-builder whose accomplishments made him a leading voice on resilience and adversity. Gratefulness for life, he believes, is foundational to discovering meaning and the only response that is big enough and appropriate for the plot twists, delights, surprises, and devastation we encounter along the way. ” https://grateful.org/joe-primo/

I have come to regard Joe with high praise. He was a Hospice Chaplain for many years. That gives a person a unique insight on the best ways to LIVE. The bold text above summarizes his embrace regarding the importance of gratefulness. Please read it one more time slowly.

The purple quote above says let go and embrace uncertainty with the fullness of our being. I am not there yet! Indeed, I have not arrived. Yes, Lord, I need hope for my compass.

“Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul.“ Emily Dickinson

Right after I noted this Dickinson quote for the blog it showed up in a TV show. Just like God to send me a reminder. “Let go and to embrace uncertainty with the fullness of our being.”

Are you willing to try it this week? And the week after that? And the week after that? I am praying that the next time you see a feather you will remember Emily and Joe, see the hope that perches in your soul, embrace uncertainty with the fullness of your being.

Peace is an invitation in daily life to breathe deep, right here, in the uncertainty. MORGAN HARPER NICHOLS

Peace. Hope. Uncertainty. They are our companions. “We Can Complain Because Rose Bushes Have Thorns, or Rejoice Because Thorn Bushes Have Roses.” No one is certain who created this sentiment, but many encourage us to be grateful for life and embrace the changes that come our way, uncertain though that way may be.

Bob Dylan is quoted as having said, “There is nothing so stable as change.”

Posted on in Aging, Amazing Creations, Faith, Focus, Look, Nature, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Thanks, Worship, Yield

Seasons Changing Heat Remains Here

As seasons change I am noticing the change in sunlight and find myself anticipating the daybreak. Then I read this quote –

We must learn to reawaken and keep ourselves awake, not by mechanical aids, but by an infinite expectation of the dawn.

HENRY DAVID THOREAU

Some mornings I actually awake before dawn! Turning the clocks back help me eventually get up earlier. “Reawaken with an infinite expectation of the dawn.” Our neighbor Chuck is dying from the leukemia he has fought for the last 12 months. The doctors say there is nothing more they can do for him. He is not responding to treatment. From listening to his heart’s desire to go be with Jesus, I imagine he only has an infinite expectation of waking in the Light of Christ, not the dawn of the sun, but the Son.

Those of us less aware of our dying are called by Thoreau to reawaken and KEEP ourselves awake by an infinite expectation of the dawn. How are you at this admonition?

When was the last time you looked towards the east while it was still dark on the earth and had an expectation of the dawn? A new start! A new day! Another attempt to enjoy life. Life in the here and now? Perhaps you can arise early tomorrow and be like the watchman in the Psalms?

I wait for the Lord
    more than watchmen wait for the morning,
    more than watchmen wait for the morning. Psalm 130:6 NIV

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Challenge, Faith, Nature, Obedience, Prayer, Spiritual discipline, Surrender, Yield

Who Could Have Imagined?

Such devastation from floods, fire, drought, scorching heat?

“Scientific evidence for warming of the climate system is unequivocal. The number of record high temperature events in the United States has been increasing, while the number of record low temperature events has been decreasing, since 1950. The U.S. has also witnessed increasing numbers of intense rainfall events.” https://science.nasa.gov/climate-change/evidence/

Floods from a portion of glacier breaking off, sending water and mud to wipe out people and towns? Total devastation and enormous loss of life. Earlier no one in my generation would have thought this was even possible as a result of climate change. Yet, here we are.

Water from tremendous thunderstorms inundating portions of America. Cars, homes, towns underwater. Wind and storms continue with hurricane season arriving earlier each year.

Prayer certainly helps as people face the loss of everything they own. Some even suffer the loss of loved ones.

As I watch a goldfinch hang upside down on a “volunteer” sunflower in our flower bed, I am reminded that we are given the responsibility to be keepers of the earth. For the most part we have done a lousy job through our greed and overall disregard as to the effects our consumerism has on the planet. Lord God Almighty, forgive us and help us mend our ways I pray.

Look at shells on sidewalk. Then focus above the shells to see the bright yellow bird! (I could not capture the image of the bird upside down.)

This report in the L A Times says: In the Rocky Mountains, years of extreme heat and drought have baked the landscape, drying up streams that feed the Colorado River and desiccating pastures where cattle graze.

The unrelenting dryness has brought hardship upon cattle ranchers, who say their livelihoods increasingly are under threat.

As the U.S. Supreme Court considers a case in which major oil companies are being sued for the effects of global warming, a group of Colorado ranchers is voicing support for the the idea that the fossil fuel industry should be held to account.

The ranchers depend on snowmelt that feeds the Colorado River and its tributaries to nourish grasses and hay pastures for their herds. But this year the Rockies had the least snow on record, and they’ve watched springs dry up and creeks dwindle.

The lack of water has ravaged grasslands and left ranchers unable to grow enough hay, forcing them to buy feed for their cows at high prices.

It’s been so dry that Valdez no longer can get water in his irrigation system for his animals to drink. He has turned to buying water and hauling it with a tanker truck to fill troughs for the cows.

Floods, drought, storms,record high temperatures, wars and rumors of wars … Lord, deliver us and forgive us we pray. Help us to recognize our part in this massive destruction. Show us each how to amend our ways and live with an awareness of our responsibility for the calamity.

Book of Common Prayer Page 827, Prayer 41. For the Conservation of Natural Resources

Almighty God, in giving us dominion over things on earth, you made us fellow workers in your creation: Give us wisdom and reverence so to use the resources of nature, that no one may suffer from our abuse of them, and that generations yet to come may continue to praise you for your bounty; though Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

Posted on in Aging, Book quotes, Challenge, Faith, Joy, Just do it, Music, Praise, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Surrender, Trust, Worship, Yield

Rumi

Seems like wherever I turn these days folks are seeking direction and fulfillment for their everyday lives. I keep returning again and again to Rumi, the poet, theologian, Islamic scholar, and Sufi Mystic. I am not looking to replace my Christian faith, but this guy understood the depths of mysticism and genuine faith.

Merriam-Webster defines mysticism as a religious practice based on the belief that knowledge of spiritual truth can be gained by praying or thinking deeply. I know Jesus would agreed.

Be like a tree and let the dead leaves drop. There are quite a few dead leaves dropping around here and summer is not even complete. How about the things we fill our lives with that do not fulfill us? Can we drop some of those and be more like the tree described in the Psalms?

Happy are those
    who do not follow the advice of the wicked
or take the path that sinners tread
    or sit in the seat of scoffers,
2 but their delight is in the law of the Lord,
    and on his law they meditate day and night.
3 They are like trees
    planted by streams of water,
which yield their fruit in its season,
    and their leaves do not wither.
In all that they do, they prosper. Psalm 1:1-13 NRSVUE

Whatever lifts the corners of your mouth, trust that.  There is a local billboard that states “If you see someone without a smile, give them one of yours.” It is powerful advice. Our worship service has children participate especially in collecting the offering. There is also a special children’s sermon that is delightful. I am always refreshed by the children. And they know how to smile!

Before I had the recent foot surgery if I saw someone in a wheelchair I made an effort to get on their eye level and greet them with a smile. Since I have so recently driven electric wheelchair shopping carts in so many different stores I am even more inclined to do that. It is an entirely different world down there. Most people just hurry past and ignore those who are seated. Try giving those folks a smile of yours! If you have never driven one of those carts, the next time you see them lined up for charging you should try one, just to gain a new perspective! Of course, if there is only one or two please leave it for those of us who cannot walked the area of American mega-stores! There are some people who would see me reaching for an item and ask if they could help me with it. There is still kindness all around us!

Hard, but oh so true. Constantly flowing, never clinging, always embracing the new. Wowsers. Here are just a couple of short songs to keep you in the ways of a river today.

And an even better one is Ever Flowing!

Posted on in Challenge, Faith, Focus, Just do it, Obedience, Prayer, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Trust, Yield

Present

This morning my meditation sites seemed to all converge. Don’t you just love when that happens? God uses all the sources around us to point to the Divine will for us.

Challenge to me is can I stay right here in the present moments as they unfold this day? Not worry about if I can attend the book discussion group this evening. Having no fret about completing my writing so I can teach a new pattern to someone tomorrow morning. No concern about something I said or did yesterday. Just right here. Right now. This present moment, enjoy this gift.

Then the Scripture meditation on another app:

12 Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal, but I press on to lay hold of that for which Christ has laid hold of me. 13 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider that I have laid hold of it, but one thing I have laid hold of: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, 14 I press on toward the goal, toward the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus. 15 Let those of us, then, who are mature think this way, and if you think differently about anything, this, too, God will reveal to you. 16 Only let us hold fast to what we have attained. Philippians 3:13-16 NRSVUE

Paul urges us to turn loose of the past, anything we have already laid hold of we should keep, but not dwell there in that past accomplishment. Press on toward “the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus.” Right here I want to embrace You Lord and Your will for me.

It has been said that if you do not know what God is asking you to do right now then obey the last thing that you heard. In other words, if I do not have new marching orders, do the last thing I heard. How do you accomplish that? Are you obedient to what you have been told or are you always seeking for something else, some new thing you might like better?

Trying to find artwork to illustrate this blog entry I found runners and then more runners (that does not apply to me as I barely walk right now) then even worse, a guy walking a tightrope over the Grand Canyon (I fear heights). For me to ‘press on toward’ means do not stop where you are for more than this moment. On toward the goal.

Along with Paul I do not consider this a done deal. It requires my discipline and obedience daily, at times hourly. “Let those of us, then, who are mature think this way.” Ouch that could hurt on days when I am stuck in some other kind of thinking! The good Lord does not leave us to ourselves. Paul goes on to write “and if you think differently about anything, this, too, God will reveal to you.”

Holy Spirit come please, correct my wrong thinking and help me to follow hard after the thoughts of the Lord God Almighty. Deliver me from brain habits and flesh habits and world habits. Help me recognize and cling to Christ-like habits. Make me wholly Yours. Amen.

Posted on in Faith, Joy, Listen, Music, Obedience, Praise, Prayer, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Yield

There Was Jesus

Last spring our contemporary worship band made a point of learning this song. We sang it this week as our offertory hymn, noting the death of Dolly Parton. The song was written by Zach Williams. In an interview he stated that he just kept hearing Dolly Parton singing it with him. He eventually contacted her. After hearing the song, reading the lyrics she said yes she would be glad to record it with him.

According to Williams, Parton was looking for more faith-based projects when his team reached out regarding the song. 

“We all knew it was a big ask and we were shooting for the moon to try to get her on the song,” Williams explained. “We originally heard that 90% of the stuff that comes her way, she turns down just because she has so many people asking to do songs with her.”

Williams recounted Parton telling him, the day she received the song, that she didn’t even make it through the first chorus, before she knew it was a special song and a “God-send.” 

“She said ‘I wake up and I pray every day that God just gives me the opportunity that I need for that day…I felt like that was the one that He wanted me to do,’,” Williams noted Parton said, when in the process of creating the track. –from https://americansongwriter.com/there-was-jesus-dolly-parton-zach-williams-song-interview/

Posted on in Aging, Book quotes, Faith, Focus, Humor, Joy, Look, Yield

I Like This One!

To be astonished is one of the surest ways of not growing old too quickly. SIDONIE-GABRIELLE COLETTE

Around our neighborhood we are each looking for this elixir, ways of not growing old too quickly. Oh Lord, help us find soul-filling healthy astonishment this week! There has been a lot of death around here for the past year. One gal wondered if we should walk around burning sage and praying?

When was the last time you were astonished?

Bob and I decided not to go to the beach in September. It is just too soon after my foot surgery. Instead we will likely go to the Amish country in northern Ohio and visit our favorite cheese shop, Pearl Valley. Yes, I ran out of the very large order we placed some months ago. Besides, for reasons unbeknownst to us they do not ship sliced cheese? Good excuse for a short get away.

I heard the monarchs are making a comeback. That made my heart skip a beat!

The Butterfly Connection reports “According to a recent report from the World Wildlife Fund, the eastern monarch butterfly population has increased by 64% during the 2025–2026 winter season.

“That’s not just a small bump—it’s a meaningful surge that has scientists, conservationists, and butterfly lovers celebrating.” https://thebutterflyconnection.com/a-hopeful-turn-monarch-butterflies-are-making-a-comeback/

Remember the severe thunderstorms and tornadoes that caused many to lose power in many parts of the country including ours? Now that Bob is serving on the HOA board again, he made a call to the folks in charge of our retention pond and the fountain that keeps the water moving. The timer was out of whack. She said that fountains all over town are messed up due to the power outages. That never crossed my mind before! I imagine they are running from subdivision to subdivision resetting timers!

Not our actual pond, but you get the idea!

I saw Ed walking down the sidewalk. He is a neighbor who is suddenly father of two lovely children. When we first moved in he and his wife were trying to train their large black Doodle dog, Maverick, to walk calmly on a leash. They were having a time of it, but finally prevailed.

Maverick is VERY well behaved now. Then they had their first child and Maverick had to learn how to walk alongside the baby stroller with Keegan. Then they were gifted with sweet Ember girl. Maverick then had to navigate alongside a stroller for two!

Ed just walked past pushing the newest stroller which allows Keegan to stand on the back while Ember rides in the seat. He was moving at a fast clip. And there was Maverick sedately keeping pace with the family parade. Those sorts of this bring me awe. This young family has blessed us many times over. When I had to miss Ember’s first birthday party because of the foot surgery they came to see us afterwards. Ember used to cry when she saw me, but even with my foot elevated and iced she just smiled and cooed. Keegan was well behaved as he marveled at being inside our home.

I am in awe at how blessed our lives are. I do not fully understand it. I do adhere to the tile plaque in our hallway declaring people are more important than things.

What brings you awe? Try to come up with one thing, then go for two!

You have stirred in us the desire to praise you, for you have made us for yourself and our heart is restless until it comes to rest in you.
Grant me, O Lord, to know and understand whether first to pray to you or to praise you; whether first to know you or call upon you. Augustine’s Confessions https://augustinesconfessions.com/chapter1.html

Which do you do first first? Pray or praise God? Call upon God or know God?

Posted on in Amazing Creations, Book quotes, Faith, Focus, Illness and Health, Music, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Surrender, Trust, Yield

Struggle Continues

I came across this poem set to music after reading Amy Carmichael’s chapter entitled Rose from Brier in her collected writings in the book by the same title. (Pages 51-53) I found it enchanting. The photography, also, especially the raindrops on the pavement! She heard this poem as “a little song that sang within me” as she longed to be at a welcoming service in the House of Prayer, but could not leave her bed.

Amy Carmichael Rose From Brier

She describes the sweetbrier of England in contrast to the roses of India. “I saw a little, low, very prickly bush in an old-fashioned English garden; it was covered with inconspicuous pink roses. But the wonder of the bush was its all-pervading fragrance, for it was a sweetbrier. And I saw one who has long been in the land where no thorns grow, cutting a spray from the bush, stripping the thorns off and giving it to me. May these for whom a rose from my brier may be caused to blow, those who do indeed walk the dear familiar ways of home, and road, and street, as unregarded as a breath of air, but there in love and longing, always there, find no pricking thorn on the stem of this rose from my brier.

“I think that when He whom our soul loveth comes so near to us, and so gently helps our human weakness, then what Madame Guyon wrote more than three hundred years ago becomes a present truth. We are borne over the oppression that would hold us down, we mount up on wings, we find a secret sweetness in our brier. But it is not of us. It’s Love that lifts us up. It is Love that is the sweetness.

“Is the one who reads this in a great weariness, or the exhaustion that follows a sore hurt, or in the terrible grasp of pain? He who loves as no one else can love understands to the uttermost, is not far away. He wants us to say, He can give it to us to say, “My Lord, my Love, I am content with Thee.”

Beautiful pink and yellow flower of dog-rose, sweet brier

In America we often call the same plant a Dog Rose. My neighbor has them in her backyard. I will have to experiment next spring to find out if the foliage is also fragrant as the internet reports!

I find the fragrance of Amy’s writings a gift to my soul.

Posted on in Book quotes, Faith, Joy, Obedience, Spiritual discipline, Spiritual growth, Trust, Yield

Joan Chittister

Joan sends a weekly e-newsletter. This one really spoke to me. She wrote about the Rule of St. Benedict.

In her recent newsletter she pointed out:

“The Rule gives us three criteria by which to assess our likelihood of ever being truly happy. Not simply satisfied, that is, but genuinely contented by life. Happy.

“First, if you have not attached your sense of self to having the best of everything, you won’t be crushed when you see someone with things that cost more than yours. You’ll be happy to have what you truly need.

“Second, if you don’t need to be the center of attention, you will be happy just to be part of a group of good people who do good things together. The thirst for attention is a toxic brew. If it comes—in athletics, in government, in public activities—you will be scrutinized. And if it doesn’t, you’ll be depressed.

“Third, if you don’t expect a constant deluge of praise, privilege, and preeminence, then not experiencing those things will not disturb you.

“The Rule is straightforward: If you do not depend on exemption, advantage, and personal prerogatives to measure your happiness, your success, your life will become its own reward. A walk by the lake at night will dilute all the pressures of the day. An appointment for supper with friends will be enough to get you up happy in the morning. Then whatever the turn of the social system around you, your love of life unadorned and unaffected will sustain you. from Radical Spirit: Twelve Ways to Live a Free and Authentic Life by Joan Chittister

If you have not read anything written by her, you might want to try. She is the author of 26 books.

Love of life unadorned and unaffected … quite a concept in contemporary America. I am giving it a try!

Posted on in Faith, Listen, Look, Music, Prayer, Rest, Trust, Yield

The Power of Maybe

Can you. Stop for a moment. View your situation through the lens of maybe? Maybe this is for the good. Perhaps this is going some place you had not imagined. Maybe you do not have all the facts. Could be you only understand in part?

Stop. Pause. Breathe.

Maybe is a powerful word. May – I am able. I am free to do.

Maybe shows uncertainty and also possibility.

Too often our minds decide a situation and close upon one conclusion like a steel trap.

There are many places we make major decisions in life and also the myriad decisions we make every day. Places where we can and ought to insert the word maybe.

It may be that I have misinterpreted something. This sort of thought dethrones the ego who wants to be God and by doing so invites the wisdom of the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of our heart to new insights, possibilities we might not have thought about.

Maybe this will give you food for thought. May Be.