My Quiet Place

I am retired now but I was blessed to teach elementary music.  When we did movement of any kind in the classroom the children needed a way to define their own space or else there were bumps and collisions.  We defined that space as a bubble and they were to make sure no one invaded.  The responsibility was put on each of them to protect that space.

Don't we have the same problem in life?  We have our own personal space and we create a climate that we enjoy there.  Yet we let other things invade and interrupt our peace.  It might be angry thoughts or it could be just trying to do too much in a given time period.  There is so much that can just take over and disrupt our lives.  So I think it nice to think about a protective bubble around us and to not let anything invade that takes away our peace.

Night Sky

I long to see the night sky.  I feel that we who live in cities are being cheated.  It is out there.  Every single night it is out there.  It is just blocked by city lights.  I sometimes want to just jump in the car and drive to the middle of nowhere and spend an entire night lying on the ground looking up at stars and planets and galaxies.  How about if we just all agreed to turn our lights off?

Longing

I think a lot about all of the things there are to do in this world and all the places I might want to visit.  It is an incredible place with a vast array of natural wonders.  I wish there was enough time and money to see it all.  But there is another whole part of our world that exists among all this beauty and it is not such a pretty picture.  In the midst of it all, there is war, destruction and violence in all its forms.  So if I could have just one wish, I would give up all the travel and the sightseeing, all the days on beaches, and the mountain hikes.  I would give up anything if I could have my wish of peace on earth.  So this is my poem for peace.

Building

Do you ever have the urge to do something to counter all the bad in the world?  Do you just get so sick of the destruction that takes place, that you have a need to go out and do something positive in hopes that you can off set the balance of good and bad?  I feel like that often.  My heart aches when I hear all the bad news that is reported on the television.  My husband and I like to send a little extra money to the LDS humanitarian fund whenever there is some terrible disaster in the world because we know the church will be immediately there trying to help.  But sometimes I feel the need to do something tangible.  I just have to give back to the world something good for all of the bad that happens. And somewhere inside of me the world seems better balanced for having done that. 

You can donate to LDS Humanitarian aid by going to http://www.lds.org/humanitarianservices/0,19749,6208,00.html

Transition

If you have ever gone through a bid change in your life you might relate to this poem.  Of course, for people change does not occur as quickly as it does for a butterfly.  Lynn and I brought a Monarch caterpillar home once so that we could watch the metamorphosis.  The darn thing spun it's cocoon one day when we were at church and we missed the show.  And then it came out of its cocoon in the middle of the night!  We were disappointed to say the least.  My own metamorphosis has been a lifelong process.  But now that I am older I look back and it seems that the time flew by as quickly as it did for our little Monarch.

I am now 72 years old.  Like so many others I know, I would not go backwards in time at all.  The present is so good.  All the energy and vitality that is ours when we are younger is nothing in comparison to the learning and wisdom that comes along the way.  I am a better person today than I was years ago.  Life has taught me compassion, empathy, humility, forgiveness.  I no longer worry myself over the material and the temporary things of the world.  I am more concerned with my spiritual growth and the well being of my family and friends.  I like being who I am today.

Grief

Perhaps you, too, have had the experience of thinking that you were finally healed of some great trauma in your life, only to have raw feelings emerge, triggered by something someone said or did, or by nothing at all.  Grief is like that.  

Healing is a long process of learning to live in spite of life's tragedies.   The healing of grief is not like the healing of a wound where the wound can heal and is gone forever.  The event that triggers grief is never gone.  There remains within us an experience that deepens our soul and allows us to fully understand the sorrow that is a part of life.  For good reason, those feelings remain, so that we can be more compassionate human beings.  And so they can rise to the surface when needed such as when another is suffering and needs to know that we indeed do understand.  But sometimes they just rise to the surface . . .

Will Spring Come?

I wrote this at a time when I was feeling like a change was coming.  I was still believing that my little world was going to have to change before I would be happy.  I could feel that change coming just like we "feel" spring is coming long before it actually arrives.  I just hadn't learned yet that happiness is connected to my inner spiritual life.  It was my inner life that needed to change - not the circumstances around me.

In the book Little Women, there is a scene where the daughter Jo is questioning her mother. She thinks her mother should be much more emotional about her husband being off in the war.  Her mother replies: "If I don't seem to need help, it is because I have a better friend, even than Father, to comfort and sustain me.  My child, the troubles and temptations of your life are beginning and maybe many, but you can overcome and outlive them all if you learn to feel the strength and tenderness of your Heavenly Father as you do that of your earthly one.  The more you love and trust Him, the nearer you will feel to Him, and the less you will depend on human power and wisdom.  His love and care never tire or change, can never be taken from you, but may become the source of lifelong peace, happiness, and strength."

On Pushing Clouds Away

Have you ever felt like there was a gloom over your life?  You know you want to shine and you know it will take a lot of work to push the gloom away.  There are times when we just have to do it.  

I have learned that the gloom represents a lack of the Spirit in my life.  I know what I need to do to get rid of it.  For me, it is my daily spiritual routine of reading scriptures, praying, journaling what is really going on in my life and how my scripture reading this day can help me, and lastly, some moments of pondering and/or meditation.  There is a difference in my life when I do these things and when I don't do them.  How could I not want that peace? How can I get so busy that I neglect them?

Beside the Lake

I wrote this at a time when I just couldn't see the end of problems.  But I was beginning to catch glimpses that there was a way to find inner peace.  Pat Holland's writings helped me a lot.  Also Anne Morrow Lindberg’s “Gift from the Sea ”.  I was realizing that there is much in life that I would never be able to control but that there is one element in life that is completely within my power - and that is my spiritual life.  Reading scriptures, praying, fasting, meditating, contemplating, and journaling all became very important.  Getting up early in the morning so that I would not miss this time each day was the key for me.  I needed a time that would not be infringed upon by others.  And I wanted it, oh so much!  

Grieving Alone

This poem was written in response to a fast and testimony meeting where a friend shared her story of loving friends who helped her through a period of grief.  It triggered some deep emotions in me as I sat and realized that no such help came to me when grief knocked on my door.  For her it was the death of a child.  For me it was the death of my marriage - divorce.

Either people don't recognize that divorce is a period of intense grief and pain or they don't know what to say because we still have so much negatives attached to divorce.  And so there is often silence where a hug and kind words are needed.

As with all experiences in life, we must learn from them.  I can only hope that whenever I might hear of another going through the same thing I experienced, that I will be available to give that needed support.

On Comparing

I have learned that one sure way to be unhappy is to compare what you have to those who have more.  It works every time.  Everything you have and love can at once seem inadequate.  In contrast, one sure way to be happy is to thank the Lord every day for that which you have.  The expression of gratitude expands our capacity to feel joy.  

Harold Kushner, in his book The Lord Is My Shepherd:  Healing Wisdom of the 23^rd Psalm, writes: "In the traditional Jewish liturgy the first three minutes of the morning service remind the worshipper to be grateful that he is alive, that his body works, that he had food to eat and clothes to wear, that he has things to do today that will demonstrate his humanity, and that he has friends to share the day with.

Our ability to receive God’s blessings with thanksgiving will never outstrip God’s ability to bless us.  For those who have cultivated the habit of gratitude, no matter how large a bowl we set out to receive God’s blessings, it will always overflow."

In an article entitled A Predictable Process for Joy by H. Wallace Goddard , Brother Goddard shares  "a remarkably predictable process for flooding our souls with refreshing joy. Are you interested in joy? Consider the scriptural invitation:

. . . nevertheless, be of good cheer, for I will lead you along. The kingdom is yours and the blessings thereof are yours, and the riches of eternity are yours. And he who receiveth all things with thankfulness shall be made glorious; and the things of this earth shall be added unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more. (D&C 78:18-19, emphasis added)

There is hardly anything that will refresh our souls more than the “attitude of gratitude.” When we receive all things with gratitude, we are made glorious—and not just in some distant future, but right now.

Do you want a stiff jolt of joy? Sit down and record those things for which you are grateful."

Connections

Modern life has isolated us from others in many ways.  I think of the school where I taught.  I drove twenty-two miles to get there.  Others drove even further.  We came from all different directions so never saw each other outside of our building.  We were a community within a community.  I knew them all better than I knew my neighbors.  The neighbors were up and off to work like me, driving to other places for work.  It is just the way life is.

The good news is that we have our church family.  They are always there and we love and help each other in so many ways, it is really a wonder.  But it is our neighbors that we don't know.  And so we have committed this year to get to know them.  We go out each week to meet someone new and find we are surrounded by wonderful people!  We hope we can become friends and build a spirit of community together here on our street. For after all, what is more important than building.

Another important aspect of connections is that we all have difficult experiences in life.  Those experiences often turn around and bless us because there will be others who will need our comfort and support as they go through their own trials.  The connections made during difficult times often lead to the very best of friendships.  They are to be treasured!

Our Neighborhood in Milford, Michigan

I chose the photos in this project because of our efforts

to connect to our neighbors.  So far we

created a neighborhood directory and hosted

a gathering in our backyard.  Next goal is a snowman

in front of every house!