The book launch for My Precious Life is happening in two days.
Someone asked me, “What do you do at a book launch?”
I said, “I don’t know, I’ve never done one before!”
To all who are in the vicinity of St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 115 St. Andrews Road, Scarborough, on Saturday, September 6, do come and help launch My Precious Life from 1 p.m to 3 p.m.
To all who are not, please do send your prayers and click “like” to lend your support.
I’m counting the days!
Today and every day, I have three needs…
The wisdom of Solomon
The faith of Mary
and the patience of Job.
God, grant me the patience to develop the faith to recognize the wisdom. Amen
With all my heart and soul I am praying for a miracle. God knows what that miracle is, and I am now reaching out to all those who also believe in miracles to join me in this heartfelt prayer. Let us call it the GODSEND MIRACLE. It is not for me. I am merely the messenger.
Life gets busy and we don’t always fit in everything that we set out to do in a day. For some of us, a daily time of devotional is very important, and if we don’t find the time to make it happen, somehow our day seems incomplete.
Yesterday, over lunch with a very interesting friend, this plight came to the fore. She mentioned that her daily activities (and she has many) seemed very compartmentalized, including her devotional time, and she wasn’t comfortable having God in a compartment. She would prefer to have everything flow nicely together, with God in the midst of it.
That conversation made me think of Brother Lawrence and his book, The Practice of the Presence of God. This Carmelite Brother had such a profound personal relationship with God that there was nowhere he went, or nothing that he did, but God was with him like a second skin.
So I’m thinking we can do that. We can carry our devotional time with us throughout the day by simply acknowledging that God is in everything we do. We need only become aware, and simply let him know that we are aware.
We have time when we’re driving to thank him for being with us. We have time when we’re visiting and praying for others to tell him we love him. We have the opportunity in our brief periods of relaxation to feel his abiding presence, whether we are reading or watching television, or just plain vegging out.
So let’s not fret if a morning devotional doesn’t happen in its entirety. Let’s face it…God doesn’t. He would rather have us nice and relaxed so that he doesn’t have to pry his way into our day…or our lives.
Don Merritt’s post this morning, about starting the day with prayer, brought back a memory of a prayer I wrote in 1996 while wondering what God was up to in my life after a home accident I had suffered. I was in pain, miserable, bound in casts and slings and felt totally hopeless and helpless. Here, then is the prayer I prayed out of desperation. It changed my whole outlook and made what I thought of as unbearable to bearable.
SET ME FREE
Oh, Spirit, set me free
to be what I am meant to be;
let loose the bonds of misery.
Oh, Garden of Gethsemane,
the place of pain–yet hope, despair,
was mingled in that garden air
reminding me I am set free
to be what I am meant to be.
©1996
What is your prayer this morning?
These words showed up twice in my devotions this morning after I said my usual “What do I write about today, Lord?” prayer.
Some borrowed words will make up part of today’s blog: words from the Bible and other writings. It was John Randolph Price who said “live your life with peace, poise and power” in his book Practical Spirituality. This sounds pretty simple but in reality, is pretty hard to practice when life gives you a smack about the head and ears. But, that is exactly where these words fit in. Pray for peace, practice poise, and feel the Power; God’s power!
St. Peter says, “Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering, as though something strange were happening to you.” (1 Peter 4:12)
My current trial does feel quite strange, something I never saw coming nor dreamed would ever afflict me. So, poise is called for, and is forthcoming.
I can do everything through him who gives me strength. (Philippians 4:13) Yes!
All this is to say that no matter what surprises life has in store for us, there is an answer.
And so, I come to the end of one hundred blogs in one hundred days. Hurray! To those who have enjoyed and looked forward to them, I say, thank you very much! For those who have not, I apologize. We cannot be all things to all people. I realize that, but it doesn’t stop me from hoping, as this poem I wrote in 1984 implies.
LET ME BE A BLESSING
Let me be an inspiration
to the would-be uninspired,
let me soothe and comfort
when a mind becomes too tired.
Let me have the insight
to know when there’s a need,
let me be a blessing, Lord,
and do a loving deed.
Let me lend a helping hand
without the need to ask,
let me ease the burden
of another person’s task.
Let me bring some happiness
and let there be a time
for me to be a blessing, Lord,
to those whose lives touch mine.
©1984
And now I go forth to live my life, to the best of my ability, in peace, poise and power.
Until we meet again…♥
A dear friend told me yesterday that her oncologist and other doctors have told her “there’s nothing more we can do for you.” And so sent her home to die. She is a beautiful, vibrant woman between middle age and the “golden years”, and in my opinion, too young to have that prognosis.
And so I began to think about this thing called death: how it comes to every single one of us. No one can escape life without experiencing it, and no one can do anything about it. It is our final act of living. What comes afterwards depends totally on what we believe. I choose to believe that although it is our final act on earth, it is not our final act. The curtain may come down, but is drawn up again–for the encore, if you will. (John 3:16) And to me that is super exciting and worth a round of applause.
What we can do something about is the way we live our lives before the final curtain.
Is there some good we can do? Let’s do it.
Is there some habit to break? Let’s break it.
Is there some wrong we have done? Let’s right it.
Is there animosity to be dealt with? Let’s deal with it.
Is jealousy hurting relationships? Let’s trade it for trust.
Is selfishness a problem? Let’s give until it hurts.
Is a dark mood plaguing our happiness? Let’s try to work through it.
Is someone being hurt by our behaviour? Let’s change our behaviour.
Is our life reflecting true love? Let’s make sure it does.
In all life we should try to remember what is commonly known as “the golden rule”: So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you…Matthew 7:12. (KJV ) It is so important to remember this.
There are those of us who will do some soul searching, and those who won’t. How will you pave your road to death, and your path to Heaven?
To get back to my friend, she is in fact, dying with dignity, yet still searching for life through alternative ways to kill the cancer that is killing her.
She has discovered the truth of true friendship through the generosity of those who care so much about her, that they are doing everything to help her really live her life to the end.
She is one of the bravest women I know: while facing her own mortality, she is thinking of others, and laying the groundwork for their wellbeing after she is gone.
I’m hoping she will tell her own story on my blog in a few days, if she’s up to it, but in the meantime, may I ask for world-wide prayers for this dear soul who is dying to live?
Today I am going to post a full chapter from my now published book, My Precious Life. It can be found at Amazon.com, Amazon.Ca, Westbow Press, and many other online book stores. As well, copies will be available through me for residents of Ontario, and some other provinces. And now, Seventy Times Seven:
A Lesson in Forgiveness
The anger I carried inside was making me sick. It felt like a grapefruit-size growth taking up precious space in my body, threatening to annihilate me, and it was directed at my husband. We had recently separated, and it was not amicable. Bill’s verbal abusiveness and alcohol dependence had taken its toll on our twenty-one year marriage.
One day, my sister came to visit. She knew about the separation, but did not know the details. I had shared these with no one. Eyeing me over the rim of her coffee cup, Mary bluntly said, “Patsy, you look very unhappy.” Astute observation, I thought. Suddenly, I was spilling over with words of rage, anger, hate and hurt; all the emotions that made up that grapefruit inside me.
“I hate him so much it’s making me sick,” I told her.
“Have you prayed about it?” Mary asked.
“No,” I admitted, “I haven’t.”
It was food for thought, and I chewed on it for several days before finally crying out to God, “Please help me to stop hating him!” But the feeling was still there. I prayed to be released from the agony of negative emotions my life had become. You need to go to church. It was a pop-up thought out of the blue. I remembered the quaint little church one of our daughters had been married in. It reminded me of a small country church from my childhood.
One Sunday morning found me sitting in a sun-bathed pew, listening to a sermon on a part of The Lord’s Prayer; a prayer I had memorized since my high-school days.
Give us this day our daily bread, was this week’s message. The pastor had been giving a series of sermons on this popular prayer, and I wished I had heard the previous messages. It was comforting being in the hushed sanctuary, hearing the sermon, and listening to hymns and prayers, but when I left, my grapefruit was still with me. The following Sunday, the sermon was on forgiveness.
“Holding hatred and anger towards others can make us sick,” Rev. MacNeill said. “We have to learn to forgive.”
He quoted a scripture in which Jesus told his disciple, Peter, he must forgive, not only seven times, but seventy times seven. I left the church with those words reeling around in my head. My new prayer was, God, please help me to forgive, seventy times seven. It didn’t happen overnight, but gradually the hate began to dissolve, and the grapefruit with it.
I continued going to church, and found solace there week after week. The love I had allowed to be smothered began to resurface, and life became liveable again. One day, Bill phoned to rant and rave about something real, or imagined, as was his custom. I stayed silent until the tirade was over.
“Pat, are you there?” he yelled.
“I am,” I said, “and I love you.”
Where did those words come from? His incredulous, “What?” prompted my next words.
“I love you, Bill, but not in a romantic way. I love you seventy times seven.”
I had found that forgiveness and love went hand in hand.
Thereafter, communication was more reasonable, and in the end we became friends, and remained so until his dying day many years later.
“Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus answered, “I tell you, not seven times, but seventy times seven.” (Matthew 18:21,22)
In 1989 the Canadian economy experienced the beginning of a downturn, and the booming business I had been used to for four years in my pretty little gift shop was suddenly not booming anymore. In fact it got to the point where I was behind on my rent. While trying to get past this hurdle without reverting back to the old worry habit, I turned the radio on to this line of Bobby McFerrin’s 1988 hit, Don’t Worry, Be Happy…The landlord says your rent is late…he may have to litigate…but don’t worry, be happy.
It made me laugh, and freed my mind to thinking through my dilemma, which got suitably sorted out in the end.
And then there’s this from Alpha’s Challenging Lifestyle by Nicky Gumbel:
It’s an excerpt from the chapter, How to Stop Worrying and Start Living.
There are seven reasons why we should not worry:
First…To worry is to miss the point in life
Second…Worry is illogical…it is a slander on God’s character
Third…Worry is a complete waste of time; it is futile, unproductive and pointless. So many things we worry about never happen.
Fourth…Worry is incompatible with faith
Fifth…Worry is un-Christian
Sixth…Worry is unnecessary
Seventh…Worry is incompatible with common sense. (This is my favorite)
And then there is this from All Things Are Possible Through Prayer by Charles L. Allen
Worry? Why worry? What can worry do?
It never keeps a trouble from overtaking you.
It gives you indigestion and sleepless hours at night
And fills with gloom the days, however fair and bright.
It puts a frown upon the face and sharpness to the tone.
We’re unfit to live with others and unfit to live alone.
Worry? Why worry? What can worry do?
It never keeps a trouble from overtaking you.
Pray? Why pray? What can praying do?
Praying really changes things, arranges life anew.
It’s good for your digestion, gives peaceful sleep at night
And fills the grayest, gloomiest day with rays of glowing light.
It puts a smile upon your face, the love note in your tone,
Makes you fit to live with others and fit to live alone.
Pray? Why pray? What can praying do?
It brings God down from heaven, to live and work with you.
Finally, this from an unknown poet:
In life there are only two things to worry about,
whether you are well, or whether you are sick.
If you are well, you have nothing to worry about,
but if you are sick, there are only two things to worry about;
whether you will get better or whether you will die.
If you get better, you have nothing to worry about,
but if you die, there are only two things to worry about;
whether you will go to heaven or to hell.
If you go to heaven, you have nothing to worry about,
and if you go to hell, you will be so busy shaking hands with your friends,
you won’t have time to worry!
That’s the end of the worry topic. Now for tomorrow’s post. Hmmm, let me think!
Surrendering to a grave illness is not the same thing as surrendering to God. I had the wonderful opportunity to push my trust in Him to the limit in 2005, when I was diagnosed with lung cancer.
Chapter Thirty-Nine – I’m Still Here
“I have the results of your chest x-ray,” my doctor said, when I answered the phone that 24th of May, 2005. “There’s something growing in your lungs.”
My heart plummeted like a skydiver without a parachute. It was 5:10 pm and I had just had the x-ray at two o’clock that same afternoon.
“Your doctor will have the results in a week,” the technician had said as I left the lab.
“I’ve set up an appointment with a specialist for Friday, May 27th,” the doctor continued now. “You need a CT scan, and he can order it quicker than I can.”
My body tingled as I replaced the receiver. Things like specialist appointments and CT scans take longer than that in the real world.
In a daze, I walked back to the kitchen, where the supper I was enjoying sat half eaten on the table. With shaking hands, I cleaned my plate into the garbage. The only hunger I felt now was for peace of mind, which could only come from God.
“Oh, God, please relieve me of this dread, and let your peace flood my soul,” I prayed.
….may you live to see your children’s children. (Psalm 128:6)
Tomorrow – I’m a Believer – A Lesson in Knowing
My Precious Life 