Author Archives: Patricia Ann

In Order to Be Different

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In order to be in a different place in life, whether physically, mentally, emotionally, or whatever, here are three helpful hints to expedite the passage:

First … Have yearning, longing, and intense burning desire. With all your heart you must want to be different from what you are.

Second…Cultivate physical immobility, total relaxation…like being in a stupor or a form of meditation. This causes the accumulation of mental force and increases your power of concentration; as in “Be still and know that I am God.” (Psalm 46:10)

Third…Imagine you possess a quality of something you desire which has not been yours, and surrender completely to the feeling. The passage from your present state of consciousness to your wish fulfilled is continuous.

Reach out, trust your touch and enter fully into the spirit of what you are doing or how you would like to be. 

I have just copied this from one of my notebooks but, unfortunately, have no idea who wrote it or when it was written

In any case, it obviously impressed me enough to keep it for future reference. It was the first sentence that grabbed my attention…”Have yearning, longing, and intense burning desire…with all your heart you must want to be different from what you are.”

A Word For The Weary

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Sometimes our daily duties can tire us to the point of not wanting to do another thing. When this happens I find it best to do just that…not do another thing…take time out to be quiet and still and just breathe. Is our world going to come crashing down on us if we don’t do what we think needs to be done right this minute or hour or day?

Weariness can sometimes rob us of our good intentions, in that our tasks become a pain instead of a pleasure which diminishes our effectiveness. It is sometimes best to do less with pleasure than more with resentment.

Jesus was a very busy man who did more for humanity than anyone ever could, yet he knew when to “take himself apart and rest awhile” before he became depleted. Here are some of his words of wisdom to those of us who have become weary in doing good:

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Galatians 6:9 NIV (Taking a break is not giving up.)

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest…Matthew 11:28 NIV

I will refresh the weary and satisfy the faint…Jeremiah 31:25 NIV

Then, because so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest.” Mark 6:31 NIV

Those who look to him are radiant…Psalm 34:5 NIV (Radiance replaces the look of weariness.)

And finally:

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Listen to Each Other

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It came to my attention today that a Scarborough MP recently died of cancer. Arnold Chan was fifty years of age and a well respected and loved politician who was first and foremost a humanitarian who cared deeply for his constituents and fellow Members of Parliament. He was said to be positive, optimistic and full of energy.

After hearing a replay of one of his speeches, this particular sentence stood out for me…”That is the challenge that is going on around the world right now,” he said. “No one is listening. Everyone is just talking at once. We have to listen to each other.”

“We have to listen to each other.” How profound is that? And how timely? And how to the point…whether in politics, families, friendships, relationships, marriages…”We have to listen to each other.”

These words remind me of a line from the famous poem, “Desiderata”: And listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant, for they too have their story.

Some people leave this world a better place by the things they have said and done. Arnold Chan was one of those people just by uttering that single sentence…”We have to listen to each other.”

Under the Trees

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“For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” Matthew 18:20 NIV

This Sunday we at St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Scarborough will be gathering in His name under the trees replicating a service in 1818, kicking off our 200th anniversary celebrations. This is just a hint of what’s to come. Happy Sunday.

You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands. Isaiah 55:12

I’m Sorry, So Sorry

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Recently I was asked where my blog material comes from and it comes from everywhere; an overheard or general conversation, certain books and authors, TV and radio programs…life itself.

Today it’s from a radio program I listened to on CBC yesterday, about apologies and how effective they can be in healing people and the world.

One segment was about a drunk driver killing two young ladies in a car crash in 2002. The mother of one of them wanted only to see the twenty-two-old young man face to face and hear a sincere apology from him. And she did. It was replayed on radio and I had tears in my eyes and in my heart. These two people, the mother and the killer of her daughter became friends in the end. How? Because forgiveness was asked for and given.

It’s not only a drunk driver who can affect someone’s life. There are many ways of doing that and perhaps with some soul searching, we may see where we have been just as guilty as this young man and say, “I’m sorry, so sorry.”

This song of Brenda Lee’s talks about being too blind to see and not seeing the wrong that’s been done. It’s meant to be a romantic apology but it was played on the radio program and was very effective…it too, brought forth a few tears because of, like the young man, the genuineness of her voice. You can hear both apologies right here on this page.

http://www.cbc.ca/radio/outintheopen  Then click on “A drunk driver apologizes…”

Aristotle on Labour Day

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We Canadians are finishing up the last of a September long weekend, known as Labour Day. Some of us are enjoying cottage life, others day trips, and still others just lazing around enjoying not labouring at anything in particular.

Me? I’ve given myself a labour of love today. I love looking up quotes by famous people and today it is Aristotle, the Greek philosopher. Let me share a few:

Pleasure in the job puts perfection in the work.

Excellence is an art won by training and habituation. We do not act rightly because we have virtue or excellence, but we rather have those because we have acted rightly. We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.

The aim of the wise is not to secure pleasure, but to avoid pain.

Anybody can become angry – that is easy, but to be angry with the right person and to the right degree and at the right time and for the right purpose, and in the right way – that is not within everybody’s power and is not easy.

Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.

And finally:

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Kum Ba Yah

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Kum Ba Yah, my Lord, Come by here…

Wherever you find yourself this Sunday, why not offer God this invitation; whether crying, laughing, singing, praying, Kum Ba Yah, my Lord, come by here. Happy Sunday.