Happiness is the best feeling in the world because it encompasses all things positive…love, hugs, good news, healing, well-being, blessings, etc. Put on your smiley face and have a Happy Saturday.
Tag Archives: love
Multicolored Weekend
Are you fortunate enough to have a happy happening in your life this weekend? For me it is going to be a multicolored weekend of fun and family, feasting and celebrations. When I saw the picture of this tree it made me think of how blessed I am to have such a colorful life. Happy Saturday!
The Matter of Dying
Well, the world, and Canada in particular, has lost another one of its stellar people. At the age of fifty-three, Gord Downie, frontman for the Tragically Hip music group, succumbed to the brain cancer that had been a part of his life for the past two years. But before Gord left he made sure to leave a lovely legacy of love with us. His music, poetry, writings, quotes, and general “live for love” attitude will long remain in the minds of those who knew him or of him in his lifetime.
Here is a short clip from a Tragically Hip statement on Gord’s death:
Gord knew this day was coming – his response was to spend this precious time as he always had – making music, making memories and expressing deep gratitude to his family and friends for a life well lived, often sealing it with a kiss… on the lips.
Gord said he had lived many lives. As a musician, he lived “the life” for over 30 years, lucky to do most of it with his high school buddies. At home, he worked just as tirelessly at being a good father, son, brother, husband and friend. No one worked harder on every part of their life than Gord. No one.
There are those of us who have lived a lengthy life and are ready to ready to make that next step.
And then, like Gord Downie, there are those of us whose lives are brought to a close long before we think our time is up.
It’s a matter of how well we live our lives that counts, how much good we do, how much love we share while we are here that counts because in the end every single one of us will experience the matter of dying. Gord did it so well.
RIP Gord Downie.
Blessed are those who mourn for they will be comforted. Matthew 5:4 NIV
Stand By Me
On Thursday I attended another end-of-life celebration. A dear friend in her 95th year had been declining for a few years after breaking a hip which never completely healed. This robbed her of her active life and eventually landed her into a long-term-care facility where each year she longed to be closer to her Maker.
Not long ago as I entered her room for a visit she called out, “Oh, Pat. I’m still here and I don’t know what to do.” “Well, Carol,” I replied, “there is a long line of people waiting at the gates of Heaven and you will just have to be patient and wait your turn.”
Carol had been very active in our church and community for over sixty years and as one of our elders, cared deeply for those in her care. She, too, had been a comforting visitor to many people and had seen many of her friends climb that stairway to heaven.
I had the opportunity and pleasure of meeting her two sons and daughter on many occasions while visiting Carol. Their love for their mother was very evident in the way they each attended to her needs at various times. There was affection, gentle chiding, wholesome conversation and endless hours of just being with her. They were always standing by her side.
Yesterday I heard that wonderful song, “Stand by Me” and it brought tears to my eyes as Carol and her devoted family came into my mind.
Don’t we all need somebody to Stand by Me? Enjoy this rendition from many parts of our world and have a Happy Saturday.
Kum Ba Yah
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.
Fruit of Love
Dr. Wayne Dyer has been one of my favorite authors for many years. Here is a tiny excerpt from his book, Real Magic, where he quotes Mother Theresa from her book, For the Love of God.
“The fruit of love is service, which is compassion in action. Religion has nothing to do with compassion, it is our love for God that is the main thing because we have all been created for the sole purpose to love and be loved.” (Bold italics, mine.)
To love and be loved…how many of us know this, and better still, practice it? It’s something the world needs now.
How blessed are those who experience the fruit of love.
A Sunday Kind of Love
“What more can I say? I love you, not only on Sundays but every day,” God. Happy Sunday.
As I have loved you, so you must love one another. John 13:34
Own Your Power
There is power and then there is power. The most powerful people are those who use their power for the good of all, not for their own self aggrandizement.
Most of us don’t feel that we have any power over anything until something catches our attention to prove otherwise. In my case it was the Bible’s many scriptures introducing me to my power. Please read on.
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; Acts 1:8 NIV
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Corinthians 12:9 NIV
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us..Ephesians 3:20 NIV
For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. 2 Timothy 1:7 NKJV
The wise prevail through great power, and those who have knowledge muster their strength. Proverbs 24:5 NIV
…being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance …Colossians 1:11
And then there is my poem:
“All Things Are Possible”.
All things are possible
To those who believe
To those who have faith
As a small mustard seed
All goals can be reached
All dreams can come true
When you call on the Power
Inherent in you
All life can be lived
To the fullest extent
All wishes fulfilled
As you know that He meant
All things are possible
To those who believe
To those who have faith
As a small mustard seed.
©1984
And so, the moral of today’s post is to own your power.
How Much is Too Much?
My attention has been drawn back to the year 2007 when I was in a hospital emergency room experiencing heart attack symptoms. While there I met an eighty-four old grandmother who confided in me that it didn’t matter if she lived or died at this point in her life. As she poured out her sorrows to me my heart broke even more.
This wonderful woman had lost two adult children…one to cancer and the other in a car accident. If that wasn’t bad enough one of her grandchildren, at eighteen months, had died of meningitis.
I believe we met at that particular time because I needed her strength and courage to lean on. I had had lung cancer surgery two years prior to this heart episode, and my husband, now in the final stages of Alzheimer’s disease, was dying.
How much is too much? Only God knows.
God Took Her Soul
She was stunningly beautiful with a healthy body, luxurious hair, a quick smile, and gentle, friendly manner. She worked where I did in 2005 and was always a pleasure to be around.
Then, in 2008, cancer struck. As it so often does, it played havoc with her life. A bony body, hairless head, and quietude were the new norm. It was almost as hard on those of us who worked with her as it was on her family to see this dramatic change in such a short time.
And then she died…at the tender age of fifty years. This vibrant, vivacious young woman was no longer with us. Her bright smile and happy face were now only a memory…a haunting, lovely memory.
My only consolation was that though cancer took her beautiful hair and body, God took her soul.
My Precious Life 