This is a picture of the Atlantic Ocean from my favorite perch (literally) in Maine. Sorry, not telling where it is. It is the one place I can go that no one know where it is. Plus, my cellphone doesn't work there, so I am officially unreachable when I am there.
It is where I go, at least during non-tourist season, to get away, think,write and re-group. I miss it very much at the moment. I hope to get up there for a few hours soon. In the meantime, I have to rely on pictures.
I've been looking at the photos a lot lately. Things are stressful for me, but I can deal. I may not like it, but it is what it is. What is worse is the number of people either I know or people close to people close to me (did that make sense? If so, you might want to be a little afraid, you're starting to understand my train of thought) have received some kind of really bad news. Layoffs, major health issues, etc. It seems to be everywhere.
Because of stuff in my own life, I've been searching for bits and pieces to give me some support getting through it. I've given up praying to be at peace with it all. I mean really, me peaceful? Trying for that has only left me more frustrated. Instead, I'm asking for courage and endurance. Seems to fit my personality better. Damn, almost lured of track by sneaky tangents. Back into the desk drawer with all of you!
Anyways, I was thinking of how I put out prayer requests for those I know who are in need. But maybe we all need a little more right now, maybe a little smidge of grace (please note the lower case "g", I don't want to find smidges of my friend Grace anywhere), or inspiration or whatever you want to call it. Just a collection of things to help all of us get through either our own stuff or to pass along to someone we love. I figure I will start it as an experiment here and see what happens.
So here is my thought to all of you, if you have bits of prayer, pictures, snippets of poetry you would like to share, please do. Even song cues... ( I KNOW I am going to regret that one considering how many of my near and dear thrive on sudden bursts of song...sigh) You can either add them into the comments, email me through the link below or to one of my other email addresses if you have that. I will turn them into blog bits, etc. to share with everyone. Add any prayer requests as well. I'll add them to my list...which is getting tackled daily lately.
I actually started kind of with the title of this post. It is from the first line of a prayer from Saint Teresa of Avila. The first part, which I pray on a regular basis, goes like this:
"Let nothing disturb you, let nothing frighten you..."
3 comments:
/*raises a glass*/ Comfort to the afflicted, affliction to the comfortable.
Prayer requests for Esther. I know there are more but my brain is not quite going yet.
Link to my daily morning prayer: http://www.worldprayers.org/frameit.cgi?/archive/prayers/invocations/deep_peace_i_breathe_into.html
Smidges of me? Between the outdoor pursuits, the power tools, and the rough hobbies, there have been plenty of bits of me detached over the years...
Many people know the Serenity Prayer, but few seem to know that it was written by Reinhold Niebuhr, one of the most eminent theologians of the twentieth century, and it's almost never quoted in full:
God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.
Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
Forever in the next.
Amen.
--Reinhold Niebuhr
We have been reading the morning and evening prayers from this book for a while now, and I'm a big fan.
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