Tag Archives: authors

Recycling Anger

Posted on by

It has been my practice over the years to take notes from interesting books and tuck them away for future reference after gleaning the wisdom of the moment. The other day it was something from “Your Call is Waiting”. Today it is a passage from The Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier. And it is simply this: “…I have a great respect for the kinds of people who are able to recycle their anger and put it to different uses.”

How timely given what’s going on in the world today. So as the saying goes, ‘take a page from that book’ (page 124). Imagine if we all recycled our anger into peace and reconciliation…we could then sing along with Louis Armstrong, “what a wonderful world”.

Thank you, Sidney, for another life lesson.

The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography (Oprah's Book Club)

When Love Hurts

Posted on by

“When Love Hurts” is the title of a book relating to abuse in a relationship. authored by Jill Corey and Karen McAndless-Davis. The third edition is published by Penguin Randomhouse and is available on Amazon.com. The authors were recently interviewed on CTV and are currently traveling to promote their book.

Karen is the daughter of two of our congregation’s long time and much respected members who had no idea what their daughter was going through during the early years of her marriage.  Her story is related on Amazon and is a source of inspiration to those of us who have suffered abuse either directly or witnessed it.

Love hurts in other ways as well. It is called when “I do turns to I don’t”. This happens when one or the other partner in a relationship withdraws their love and affection little by little over the lifetime of the union. What is left is a shell. The shell maintains the normal activities of day to day living…all the things that keep a household going…the “his and her” agendas, the family get-together’s, the social functions to be attended.

But something is missing…and that something is the little things; the hand-holding, the hugging, the gentle touch, the communication, the togetherness that was there in the beginning and has somehow faded into the dailiness of living life.

Thanks to Karen and Jill for putting the spotlight on abusive relationships with their book Amazon.com: When Love Hurts: A Woman’s Guide to Understanding

http://www.whenlovehurts.ca/authors/karen-and-bruce-story/          And thanks to the rest of us for recognizing the love that hurts in our own lives and rewriting our relationships to include the healing human touch.

Angel on the Infield.

Posted on by

Everyone loves baseball, right? I hope so because that’s my theme for Day Eighteen of this assignment…A Series of Anecdotes.

The first one is taken from a chapter in my book, My Precious Life, where an eight-year-old boy is being berated by an irate parent who doesn’t like the way he is playing his position at second base. Her constant yelling and criticizing causes the player to hang his head in dejection. When a neighbor of mine gets to the game a little late and asks me where my son is playing, I answer loud enough for the woman to hear, “Second base. My son is playing second base.” With that the woman’s comments were silenced. The kid on second gained some confidence and the heckler hopefully gained some common sense.

The second story is about my stint at coaching a girls’ softball team. We were a pretty small team, in stature, but not in heart, and had a pretty good standing in the community league. What we lacked in size, we made up for in really fast base running. When the championship games came along the first team we were to play  looked like they had been raised on the Jolly Green Giant’s diet. They were big girls…I mean big girls. Our girls were mortified until I told them an old saying I had heard when I was their age. “The bigger they are, the harder they fall.” It was about tree cutting and how the biggest tree cut fell the hardest. For some reason it had stayed in my psyche and the girls loved it. They ran those bases so fast that the bigger team couldn’t keep up with where they were. We won not only that game but the championship as well and the girls learned to not judge by appearances. Bigger is not necessarily better.

The third anecdote is about a young ball player I know. He loves baseball to the nth degree but has a difficult time being the player he dreams of being; mainly due to his less than perfect batting skills…much less than perfect. Seeing the torment his son went through every time he muffed a turn at bat, Dad contemplated extra batting coaching. But he didn’t go that route. Being somewhat of a ball player himself, he took the teenager to a diamond in the park to practice. The balls were going nowhere and both father and son were frustrated. A stranger wandered onto the infield and offered some helpful hints to improve the boy’s stance and swing. Before long the balls were sailing over Dad’s head and his son was wearing a grin only an SOS scouring pad could remove. Would you believe the stranger was a retired professional ball player who just “happened by”? I truly believe he was an angel on the infield!

And then there was Blue Jay’s Jose Bautista’s famous…or infamous bat flip after his three-run home run hit against Texas on October 14, 2015.

 

Getting Along With Others

Posted on by

“Mine your own material” was assignment sixteen from #everydayinspiration. Well, I spent quite a few hours doing some mining and came up with the following, due to so much unrest in today’s world. It’s material from a past post which I’ve edited for this one…words of wisdom from various sources for peaceful living.

If someone hurts you repeatedly, you are commanded by God to forgive them instantly, but you are not expected to trust them immediately, and you are not expected to continue allowing them to hurt you…The Purpose Driven Life – page 143.

Don’t have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments because you know they produce quarrels…be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful…2 Timothy 2:23, 24

Thoughtless words can leave lasting wounds. God did not put us on earth to hurt people’s feelings. (Source unknown)

I am resolved in all human contact to meet petulance with patience, questionings with kindness, hatred with love, eager always to do the kindly deed that brings the joy of service and that alone makes human life truly human…Ralph Waldo Trine, In Tune with the Infinite.

Love your enemies for they tell you your faults….Benjamin Franklin.

…Encourage each other daily….Hebrews 3:13.

Compassion is to share with another whatever it is that circumstances are bringing to bear on that other. It means to be with, to share, to overlap, no matter how difficult or painful it may be…Madeleine L’Engle, Author…A Wrinkle in Time among other books.

Do all the good you can, by all the means you can, in all the ways you can, in all the places you can, at all the times you can, to all the people you can, as long as you ever can…John Wesley.

Let everyone you meet be happier for having met you, for having spoken to you. This you can do by spreading joy….Edgar Cayce.

…Never hold grudges…Forgive the person who offends you…Col. 3:1

…Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others. Philippi9ans 2:3,4.

If possible, so far as it depends on you, be at peace with all people…Romans 12:18

How people treat you is their karma; how you react is yours. Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

When the choice is to be right or to be kind, always make the choice that brings peace. Dr. Wayne W. Dyer

Don’t walk in front of me, I may not follow…Don’t walk behind me, I may not lead…Just walk beside me and be my friend…Albert Camus, French Novelist 1913-1960

Our world right now is in much need of getting along with others, and we all need to do our part, however small it may be, however infinitesimal, be it ours to do by all the means we can as John Wesley so wisely said.

 

 

 

 

Thanks for the Cue

Posted on by

Day fifteen of the #everydayinspiration challenge suggested taking a cue from your reader for this blog. The reader I chose is arwen1968 who, in response to my June 30th blog, “To Write or Not to Wrie”  suggested many things to write about including books. I chose books by one author in particular…Frederick Beuchner…mainly because of one of his quotes: “You can kiss your family and friends good-bye and put miles between you, but at the same time you carry them with you in your heart, your mind, your stomach, because you do not just live in a world but a world lives in you.”

Another reason I chose this author was due to a Facebook comment that took exception to another of his quotes, surely due to misinterpretation.

I have posted about Frederick Beuchner once before, with good response, and a few questions about the man, so included in this blog is a bit from Wikipedia:

Carl Frederick Buechner (born July 11, 1926) is an American writer and theologian. He is an ordained Presbyterian minister and the author of more than thirty published books.[1] His work encompasses different genres, including fiction, autobiography, essays and sermons, and his career has spanned six decades. Buechner’s books have been translated into many languages for publication around the world. He is best known for his works A Long Day’s Dying (his first work, published in 1950); The Book of Bebb, a tetralogy based on the character Leo Bebb published in 1979;Godric, a first person narrative of the life of the medieval saint, and a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 1981; Brendan, a second novel narrating a saint’s life, published in 1987; Listening to Your Life: Daily Meditations with Frederick Buechner (1992); and his autobiographical works The Sacred Journey (1982), Now and Then (1983), Telling Secrets (1991), and The Eyes of the Heart: Memoirs of the Lost and Found (1999). He has been called “Major talent” and “…a very good writer indeed” by the New York Times, and “one of our most original storytellers” by USA Today.Annie Dillard (Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Pilgrim at Tinker Creek) says: “Frederick Buechner is one of our finest writers.” [2]

Buechner’s work has often been praised for its ability to inspire readers to see the grace in their daily lives. As stated in the London Free Press, “He is one of our great novelists because he is one of our finest religious writers.”[3] He has been a finalist for the National Book Award[4]Presented by the National Book Foundation and the Pulitzer Prize,[5] and has been awarded eight honorary degrees from such institutions asYale University[6] and the Virginia Theological Seminary.[7] In addition, Buechner has been the recipient of the O. Henry Award,[8] the Rosenthal Award, the Christianity and Literature Belles Lettres Prize, and has been recognized by the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters.[9]He is continually listed among the most read authors by Christian audiences.[citation needed

To you, arwen1968, I say, “Thanks for the cue.”

 

 

If We Were Having Coffee Right Now

Posted on by

 

If we were having coffee right now, I would ask you, “So, what’s new and interesting in your life?” Hopefully, you would then relate to me your hopes and dreams and sorrows. You would tell me about your son having cancer, your daughter finding a nice place to live with her boyfriend to whom she recently became engaged; your brand new baby girl being the new center of your universe; your hopes to be a catalyst in restoring harmony to fractured friendships.

If we were having coffee right now, I would share that my book, My Precious Life, has caught the eye of an Indigo/Chapters store and a future book signing is in the offing. I would tell you that a new and extremely expensive cholesterol lowering drug has been offered to me, and is completely covered by my drug plan, allowing me access to a potentially life-saving medication.

If we were having coffee right now, I would thank you for being in my life and tell you how much I appreciate you. I would thank you for being my friend, my family, my go-to in times of happiness and in times of distress. If we were having coffee right now, I wouldn’t be sitting here all alone blogging up a storm.

If we were having coffee right now, I would explain that WordPress began a twenty day blogging assignment offering an assortment of topics to write about. This is number eleven and is about a virtual coffee date. I wouldn’t want you thinking that my latest posts were my own idea. They stemmed from #everydayinspiration and have been really good discipline for me to pick up a theme and run with it. Some have been very well received and some not so much, but in the end I’ve noticed many new followers, and more comments than usual.

If we were having coffee right now, it would be time for me to bid you adieu and thank you for being here and sharing this virtual coffee date. Until next time…

 

 

 

Exploring Spirituality (Part 2)

Posted on by

As promised yesterday, here is the second part of Inna Segal’s internet article on spirituality.

. Connection

People who say that as you become more spiritual, life becomes more serious; have a lack of understanding of real spirituality. The more connected you become to the spirit within you, the lighter things get, as you develop an ability to laugh at yourself more and to recognize that this world is a playground for exploration.

You also realize that joy, happiness, fun and laughter are integral parts of your life and are necessary for your overall wellbeing.

2. Fun

I would often say that healing has to be fun for it to work. The more fun something is, the less resistance we have to experiencing it. When there is no resistance, life, wellbeing, joy, wonderful opportunities and abundance can flow effortlessly into our lives.

3. Freedom

The more spiritual you become, the more freedom you feel to be yourself and to allow others to be themselves. Your need to criticize others, dramatically decreases and compassionate understanding takes its place. You will also become softer with yourself and the people around you. You may even find yourself drawn to people you would usually have little interest in. Thus, you unlock the gates to the most fascinating, expansive, delicious connections with others and love, care and sweetness you could only dream of. Synchronicities become a regular phenomenon and life becomes a real adventure.

How fantastic would it be to wake up every day and know that anything is possible? You may meet a person who will change your life, receive an amazing job offer, discover an important piece of information, receive a positive surprise or have a deep spiritual experience.

4. Mystery

There is a well-known saying that ‘spirit works in mysterious ways.’ Wouldn’t you want to be part of the mystery, knowing that everyday holds an opportunity to transcend the ordinary and enter the realm of the extraordinary? The most beautiful thing is that you don’t have to work out how things will happen, just be open to amazing opportunities entering your life.

5. Different perspective

As you come into a spiritual communion with your Divine essence, you begin to attract people into your life, who will have a deeper connection and an understanding of who you are and what is important to you. Thus, you may expand your circle of friends, from people who are close to your age and your experience of life, to people from all walks of life who will offer different perspectives than what you know.

Integrating spirituality into your life is a unique process, which requires time, connection with yourself and deep and profound exploration.

A way that you know that you are moving forward in your life is that you feel that you are growing and expanding.

“I believe in God, but not as one thing, not as an old man in the sky. I believe that what people call God is something in all of us. I believe that what Jesus and Mohammed and Buddha and all the rest said was right. It’s just that the translations have gone wrong.” ~ John Lennon

As I said yesterday, I believe we can glean little nuggets of learning from other people, no matter what path they are on. It is one of my pleasures in life to explore spirituality.

 

Exploring Spirituality

Posted on by

There is an abundance of things to write about but they don’t always come to mind when a writer needs them. So we go searching for something to write about. Or, like me, sit in a chair and say, “Okay, Muse, let’s write something.” God, Spirit and Jesus also get this request from me on many occasions. Yesterday I went searching, and found the following.

It is about spirituality in our everyday lives, which came about by researching this topic. Following is an article I found. It is on the Internet and was written by Inna Segal in December, 2013. Some may think I am straying from my Christian principles here but I believe everyone has some nugget of worth to teach and as long as we remain open-minded and true to our beliefs, each nugget could enhance our spiritual lives in some way. The article is called “The Benefit of Integrating Spirituality into Your Daily Life”.

“In order to experience everyday spirituality, we need to remember that we are spiritual beings spending some time in a human body.” ~ Barbara de Angelis

Exploring your spiritual, deeper, more mysterious side can be one of the most exhilarating experiences of your life. Spirituality can give you clarity, vision, and guidance where you had confusion, disappointment and lack of purpose. It can awaken your senses and arouse your intuition.

Spiritual truths can answer many important questions and give you the ability to see things beyond the surface. Everything begins to take on a deeper significance and your choices no longer stem from ignorance of the universal spiritual laws.

Rather than blaming everyone and everything for what you do not have you begin to examine your thought patterns, emotions, behaviors and overall ways of relating to the world. You become aware that as you shift your perspective, your experience of the world can transform speedily and drastically.

I think this is a good start and tomorrow I will post the rest of her article. I think you’ll like it…or not.

My own spirituality does, and always has come from the “still small voice” of God, through prayer, scripture and worship…and I never know from whence that voice will come.

 

A Dream is Just a Dream

Posted on by

One of my grandsons told me about a recent dream he had about me, but before I tell you what it was I have to explain that I have always had a penchant for angels and freely talk about how much I love and believe in them. Also, one of my favorite quotes is With God All Things are Possible (Matthew 19:26) and most people know this about me. So, here is what my twenty-five year old grandson told me about his dream.

“Nana, I had a dream that you died and I was crying, but then I noticed that I had a tattoo on my shoulder. It was angel wings with the words All Things are Possible.”

I don’t recall him saying so, but I think the tattoo made him feel a little less sad that I had died. I asked him if he was going to go and get the tattoo. “No, not yet,” he replied.

It made me happy that he shared that dream with me, and we followed up with a lengthy conversation about many other things.

It could be said that a dream is just a dream unless it is a nightmare, but I have had many meaningful dreams throughout my life and have written about them freely in my book, MY PRECIOUS LIFE.

Does anyone have any thoughts on dreams? I’d love to hear them.

 

 

See It When You Believe It

Posted on by

After watching the movie, Field of Dreams, with Kevin Costner and James Earl Jones the other night, I was reminded of a quote, You will see it when you believe it. I think that might be the title of a book written by Dr. Wayne Dyer.

Too often we use the opposite of that quote which is I’ll believe it when I see it.

This was the third time for me watching this movie simply because of the good vibes it produces from beginning to end, from the whispering voice Kevin hears and follows, to the wonderful baseball heroes of the past, to the selflessness of Burt Lancaster’s character, Dr. Archibald “Moonlight” Graham at the end of the movie.

Has it happened for you…something you believed in becoming a reality?

It happened for me with my book, “My Precious Life”. I had often talked about writing a book but lacked the confidence to follow through, until I heard that quote, You will see it when you believe it. And then I began believing I would write a book. A year later I held the book in my hand.

If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.” Matthew 21:22