Tag Archives: people

Accepting a Challenge

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Today, (I’m writing this on Sunday evening), I was challenged to take our choir’s anthem, “What Does the Lord Require?” and blog about it. The song comes from a scripture: Micah 6:8: “What does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?”

So, here’s the challenge. How about if we ask what we require of each other.

Would we not require justice as defined in the Mirriam-Webster dictionary: the quality of being just, impartial, or fair.

Would we require kindness? Wikipedia says this about kindness: Kindness is a behavior marked by ethical characteristics, a pleasant disposition, and concern for others.

And if we don’t believe in walking humbly with our God, would we not at least want to walk humbly with each other? I experienced walking humbly in Whistler just over a week ago when due to deep snow and icy conditions, my steps were guided by my daughter and daughter-in-law, one on either side of me.

Walking humbly with each other takes on the characteristics of protecting from hurts, offering comfort, being supportive, forgetting self while uplifting others…these are just some of the ways we can walk humbly with others.

Today I was required to accept a challenge and it makes me happy to know that there are many ways to look at words, whether they are in a song, sermon, scripture or sentence, and humbly learn a lesson from them. Are you up to the challenge of doing justice, loving kindness and humbly walking with your God or your fellow people? I believe that most people do so on a daily basis…and those who don’t?

 

Peace Be With You

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After spending a wonderful week with loving family in beautiful Whistler, B.C. I am ready to take up my blog again.

No matter who I have talked to about 2017, the wish is the same…world peace. But you know, that is only possible if we all work at peace within our own little corners of the world. It’s like the song says…let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me. Peace be with you as you become instrumental in contributing to everyone’s dearest wish…world peace.

 

Beautiful People

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The world is full of beautiful people. Last Wednesday evening I had the opportunity to spend time with some of the most beautiful people I know. They are the epitome of caring, kindness, goodness, generosity, selflessness. Not a week goes by that these people are not expressing one or more of these attributes to someone, somewhere, at some time.

On that Wednesday evening, a friend and I were the recipients of this couple’s generosity. We were treated to dinner out and a concert featuring Handel’s “Messiah” which has been performed by many musical companies around the world. The only thing I really knew about the “Messiah” was the “Hallelujah” chorus, one of my favourite pieces of music.

In 1741 George Frideric Handel took something like fifty-two scriptures from the Holy Bible and put them to music, resulting in one of the most renowned musical compositions ever written. The work is breathtaking. Hallelujah!

Wednesday evening was bitterly cold and slippery but the warmth and concern of our benefactors made this a non-issue. I have never felt so warm and safe in such cold weather, despite the fact that I wore non-tread boots and no hat.

As I said, the world is full of beautiful people, and I am thankful to know these friends who inhabit my little corner of the world.

After experiencing the “Messiah” I have to include its composer George Frideric Handel in that group.

Life would be less beautiful without the composers of beautiful music and those who bless others with beautiful deeds. Thank you, God, for beautiful people.

 

 

 

The Eyes Have It

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I met a gentleman recently who has just begun his ninth decade. He was tall and fairly straight with only a slight stoop in the shoulder area. It was obvious that his hearing was dependent on aids and it was evident that he was making an effort to zone in on the conversations around him. We were at a social gathering where most of us knew each other and he knew no one except the host…or had maybe met a couple of us briefly at a previous function.

He made sure he talked to each person at this gathering, men and women alike. When it came to my turn, he showed me a slip of paper with each person’s name and who was with whom. Beside my name was “poetess” (he had obviously been briefed) and we were off and running on the topic of poetry and poets and his interest in studying logic and related topics. He was a delightfully interesting person and left an impression me.

Ninety years old…and yet looking into his eyes there was a fountain of interest and knowledge and life…a sparkle that belied his chronological age.

One can tell a lot about a person’s sincerity by their eyes. It is said that the eyes are the windows of the soul and perhaps that is why they hold a certain fascination for me. I love seeing people have “eye to eye” conversations, though with some people there is so much going on behind the eyes that it is sometimes difficult to feel engaged.

But of the delightful gentleman in question, I can definitely and unequivocally say, “the eyes have it.”

 

 

 

 

A Person of Interest

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Here’s part of a piece that was tucked away in one of my spiritual notebooks. It was written in the Toronto Star, April 16, 2000 by Reverend Deborah Vaughan. It was an Easter article that year.

“Every time we let something go, something new and wonderful can fill our empty, waiting hands. Life is full of little deaths, denials, griefs. Every beginning marks the end of what has gone before. This is the cycle of life. No beginnings without ends. No ends without new beginnings following after. “Rejoice, all is not lost. Something better, something you cannot imagine is coming to you.” (Angels at the Tomb)

I found this little blurb about Rev. Vaughan on the Internet:

Deborah is now the Presiding Bishop of the Community Catholic Church of Canada (Old Catholic). Deb is a graduate of Trinity College and has a degree in Journalism from Ryerson. An Anglican priest for almost 20 years, she has enjoyed ministry in diverse congregational settings.

I’m so happy to have found out about this lady and her writing…she really is a person of interest.

The Clock is Ticking

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Our pastor gave an interesting (as always) sermon on Sunday titled, “The Clock”. He opened with, “The clock is ticking. Can you hear it?” He was talking about the clock Jesus heard, ticking away the last week of his life on earth…the divine clock…heaven’s clock, and how little time he had left to prepare those who loved him for what was to come.

Today we learned that our former mayor, Rob Ford, succumbed to the cancer that, in a sense, started his clock ticking eighteen months ago. Did Rob hear his clock ticking? I believe he did. A few months ago he made this statement: “If I pass before my time, I just ask people to please try to help out Dougie and Stephanie and Renata in any way you can,” he added, referencing the names of his wife and two children.

Likewise, when Jesus, from the cross, saw the anguish of his mother, he in effect told one of his disciples to look after her. This then from John:19: 25But standing by the cross of Jesus were His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26When Jesus then saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing nearby, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold, your son!” 27Then He said to the disciple, “Behold, your mother!” From that hour the disciple took her into his own household.

Here is a tiny passage from Sunday’s sermon:

Recently I received an e-mail. One of those that’s been forwarded a number of times. It was written by an elderly man approaching the end of his life. He said that he had “no questions, no doubts, no fear.”But then he went on: “A few [of you] let me know early in our friendship that religion would not be part of our conversation and I tried to respect this. To some, religions are a group of rules [which] if practised may make us good enough to earn eternal life. If that is the criteria, I would not qualify. My assurance is not based on religion but rather a gift with no strings attached, as described in Ephesians [“For by grace you have been saved, through faith, and this is not your own doing. It is the gift of God.”] The benefits of a gift are not realized until accepted. I accepted this gift years ago, so death is not something to fear.”

While the clock is still ticking let us remember to make each day and each minute count…live, love and be happy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

God’s Social Club

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Sometimes I wonder where my next blog will come from because they are mostly spontaneous rather than planned.

I spoke to someone yesterday who referred to church as a social club. It caused me to ponder the statement, which is how I came up with today’s title.

In a way this person was correct. To begin with, each man, woman and child is warmly welcomed as they enter the building. Next they find a comfortable (or not so) place to sit and pass pleasantries with the person next to them in the pew.

After the final formality of the worship service is completed in orderly fashion, the pastor is praised (or not) as we, the congregation, file out to gather for tea, coffee, goodies and socializing in the meeting hall.

As people catch up on each other’s lives since the previous week, stories are exchanged, jokes are shared, hugs are plentiful (a boon to those who live alone) and parting words are usually a cheerful “See you next Sunday, if not before.”

I’m very happy to belong to God’s social club where we come together for praise and worship, tea and coffee, and a chance to pass the raisin bread.

 

 

 

Remembering

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Today is a day for remembering. We remember those who fought for our freedom, who died for our freedom, and who are still alive today to enjoy that freedom.

A friend and I are meeting for lunch today to remember as well, two very special people in our lives…our lifelong best friends, both of whom are in a different world of freedom…heaven.

We will also remember other loved ones who have left our lives through the mystery of death, gone but not forgotten.

Remembering is a soulful act in that it touches our souls the way our love for all these people touched our hearts.

Be blessed as you remember today…

And from the greatest teacher who ever lived, “Do this in remembrance of me.”

 

The Guest of Honor

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You are invited to a dinner party along with several other distinguished guests. The guest list includes the who’s who of scientists, theologians, poets, physicians, musicians, the likes of who are listed below. These are some of my favorite people.

Helen Keller     (1880-1968)     deaf, blind, activist, author, lecturer

Albert Einstein      (1879-1955)     theoretical physicist

Florence Nightingale      (1820-1910)     founder of modern nursing

Frederick Banting     (1891-1941)     co-discoverer of insulin

Mother Theresa     (1910-1997)     saint and champion of the poorest of the poor

Norman Vincent Peale     (1898-1993)     minister and author of The Power of Positive Thinking

Celine Dion     (1968-present)     Canadian singer/songwriter

George Frideric Handel     (1685-1759)     Baroque composer of Messiah

Harriet Beecher Stowe     (1811-1896)     author of best selling novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin

John McCrae     (1872-1918)     Canadian author of the famous poem, In Flanders Fields

Mary Magdalene     (dates unknown)      Biblical figure who traveled with Jesus and his followers

The guest of honor is Jesus.

Will you be attending?

 

 

An Introduction of Sorts

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This post is basically for new readers, but of course it’s open to everyone. I’m participating in something on WordPress called Blogging 101 and am to introduce myself and why and what I’m blogging. This is the first assignment.

So here goes. I began blogging on April 5, 2014 to introduce a book I would be publishing in June of that year. After posting a snippet from each of forty chapters of the book, I decided to continue to keep on blogging to see where it would take me.

I love to write, hope to inspire, pray to reach as many people as possible and have met many new people from all over the world.

My blog is called My Precious Life and so is my book, so now I am thinking of renaming the blog so as not to confuse the two.

A new name is on the tip of my pen but has not yet made contact with the page…perhaps soon, and that will be another introduction of sorts.

I’ll keep you posted; pardon the pun.