What if today we practice being fully present, if even for just a few minutes?
Perhaps just step outside your door.
or pause on the way to the car.
Stop and look around you.
Take in the beauty.
take in the chaos.
Take in the order.
Ponder the abundance.
Learn the flowers
Listen to the leaves
Feel the sun's kiss
or the rains gentle baptism
Wonder about the earth's embrace
Smile back and walk on.
Notice gratitude
Breathe the light
Sing a new tune
have a great day everyone!
love, jules
(6/24/2014)
Showing posts with label silence. Show all posts
Showing posts with label silence. Show all posts
Tuesday, June 24, 2014
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Time Keeps on Slippin'
Time keeps on slippin',
slippin', slippin'
Into the future
Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin'
Into the future
I want to fly like an eagle
To the sea
Fly like an eagle
Let my spirit carry me
I want to fly like an eagle
Till I'm free
Oh, Lord, through the revolution
Feed the babies
Who don't have enough to eat
Shoe the children
With no shoes on their feet
House the people
Livin' in the street
Oh, oh, there's a solution ~ Steve Miller, "Fly Like an Eagle"
Into the future
Time keeps on slippin', slippin', slippin'
Into the future
I want to fly like an eagle
To the sea
Fly like an eagle
Let my spirit carry me
I want to fly like an eagle
Till I'm free
Oh, Lord, through the revolution
Feed the babies
Who don't have enough to eat
Shoe the children
With no shoes on their feet
House the people
Livin' in the street
Oh, oh, there's a solution ~ Steve Miller, "Fly Like an Eagle"
It all sounds so simple but then there's that time slippin' thing. I get out of bed by seven every morning. And before i know it, it's nine! Lucky for me, I usually don't have to be to work until ten. But whoa! Slow down there time! I need you to move slow with me.
"Where you put your time, you put your life. Where you put your life, you put your love." ~ Clayton Barbeau, Family Therapist.
I watched a video series on parenting with Clayton as the speaker when I was in my late twenties. I was a stay-at-home mom then with at least two, if not three of my four boys already in tow. I don't remember the rest of what he said but this one phrase has stuck with me for my whole life. It's caused me over the years to re-evaluate several times. Where am I putting my time?
Once, in my early thirties, I took a whole day to assess my television watching. Shortly after that I started changing my habits. It took a few years but I did eventually figure out how to let go of this time-sucking practice. My eventual solution came in an unexpected way. Our youngest son was a budding piano player. We had an old piano inherited from my parents in the living room. The TV was nearby in what had been the dining room before we added on. We thought this would be a great TV room. But it clashed with the piano and it was so easy to just walk in and sit down and start watching. Then one day as I drove down the street, a neighbor's couch with a "FREE" sign gave me a novel idea. So we picked up the old frumpy couch and put it in the corner of our frumpy, damp basement. We hauled the TV down there and told everyone that if they wanted to watch, that was where they could go. Upstairs, on the main floor, we moved the piano to where the TV room had been and made a music room. How we spent our time changed dramatically. My son played more and more. We watched TV less and less and eventually threw both the couch and the TV away. We don't miss it.
Today, as time slips by, I am asking myself again, now in my fifties. Where do I put my time? Where am I putting my life? Where is my love directed? These aren't easy questions and I"m not sure I want to know all the answers but I feel drawn to ask.
And then there's "feed the babies" and "shoe the children" and "house the people" and love the lonely and give voice to the silent and celebrate the joy!
And I want to fly like an eagle!
~jules
Tuesday, July 30, 2013
About Noise and Silence and finding the Holy in It...Entry #4
July 30, 2013
Silence is not always Golden.
Scene 1
The bell rings. Immediately eighty children, ages six to eighteen scramble to the dining hall to find their chairs; a few elbow jabs and friendly shoves along the way. For a moment, chaos arrives in all its glory. Then another bell rings. Silence. A community prayer is said for the meal and then eighty chairs all scrape at once as each child settles into the meal; chaos once again rising as all eighty voices speak at once. If you want the bread, you have to yell, "please pass the bread." You might have to yell it several times; it is so loud.
Would silence have been better? No. This was a precious time in my life at boarding school. It was chaotic and noisy and it was connection, togetherness. I remember it fondly, with smiles on my face, as family time.
Scene 2
1987. Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Twins have just one the World Series for the first time. I know because I've seen it on television and because I can hear the screaming and hollering from my back yard, four miles away! They called the Metrodome, Thunder Dome after that season. I was able to go to one of the division series games. It may be that I lost some of my hearing that day or some of my voice. I've probably not yelled so loud before or since. I don't even play baseball or softball myself. I'm not even that big of a fan but it was so delicious, such wonderful communion to join my voice with everyone else's. Imagine, 70,000 people all cheering for the same thing, all happy for the same thing! Would silence have been better? No. I imagine this is what it must feel like to join in the angel chorus. What a glorious noise!
Scene 3
The little boy is crying. It is hard to make out what he is saying but it has something to do with "wanting one." He is very upset. His hurried, stressed and tired mother is also very upset. Her face turns red as she grabs his left arm and lifts him up to drag him along down the sky way corridor. The three of us (my husband, my mother-in-law and me) watch in horror as we continue strolling in the opposite direction. Just after we pass them, we begin to talk about them with judgment. Suddenly, my mother-in-law turns around and walks back. With determined steps she catches up to the mother and child. Right there in the middle of the sky way, she takes that mother to task with a wake-up call. "What do you think you're doing?" She let her know in no uncertain terms that this is NOT the proper way to handle a crying child. I can't believe her daring! My Norwegian Lutheran Missionary upbringing taught me that getting involved could cause more trouble, that we should always keep silent. But would silence have been better? No. Sometimes justice requires a voice.
Scene 4
I haven't heard from her in weeks. We used to talk a lot and now suddenly nothing. A few phone calls and email attempts have not been answered so I give up. Immediately I begin some very egocentric wondering. "I wonder if it was something I did or said? What did I do wrong this time?" These miserable and chaotic rumblings lead me to stop calling and writing. I give up and leave the dead silence until one day I find out my friend has just recently found out she has cancer. She's been busy going for appointments and getting ready for the treatment. With the hearing of one word,"cancer," her world has become a lonely and silent place. Silence isn't always what we think it is.
There is a time for "Be still and know that I am God"
AND there is a time for "Make a Joyful noise"
AND there is a time for "Do Justice, Love kindness"
AND there is a time for "speak boldly"
Not ALL noise is bad and not ALL silence is good. Silence isn't always what we think it is.
there is a time to listen, to be still and silent
And there is a time to speak, scream, sing, challenge, wonder, ask...
Silence is not always Golden.
Scene 1
The bell rings. Immediately eighty children, ages six to eighteen scramble to the dining hall to find their chairs; a few elbow jabs and friendly shoves along the way. For a moment, chaos arrives in all its glory. Then another bell rings. Silence. A community prayer is said for the meal and then eighty chairs all scrape at once as each child settles into the meal; chaos once again rising as all eighty voices speak at once. If you want the bread, you have to yell, "please pass the bread." You might have to yell it several times; it is so loud.
Would silence have been better? No. This was a precious time in my life at boarding school. It was chaotic and noisy and it was connection, togetherness. I remember it fondly, with smiles on my face, as family time.
Scene 2
1987. Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Twins have just one the World Series for the first time. I know because I've seen it on television and because I can hear the screaming and hollering from my back yard, four miles away! They called the Metrodome, Thunder Dome after that season. I was able to go to one of the division series games. It may be that I lost some of my hearing that day or some of my voice. I've probably not yelled so loud before or since. I don't even play baseball or softball myself. I'm not even that big of a fan but it was so delicious, such wonderful communion to join my voice with everyone else's. Imagine, 70,000 people all cheering for the same thing, all happy for the same thing! Would silence have been better? No. I imagine this is what it must feel like to join in the angel chorus. What a glorious noise!
Scene 3
The little boy is crying. It is hard to make out what he is saying but it has something to do with "wanting one." He is very upset. His hurried, stressed and tired mother is also very upset. Her face turns red as she grabs his left arm and lifts him up to drag him along down the sky way corridor. The three of us (my husband, my mother-in-law and me) watch in horror as we continue strolling in the opposite direction. Just after we pass them, we begin to talk about them with judgment. Suddenly, my mother-in-law turns around and walks back. With determined steps she catches up to the mother and child. Right there in the middle of the sky way, she takes that mother to task with a wake-up call. "What do you think you're doing?" She let her know in no uncertain terms that this is NOT the proper way to handle a crying child. I can't believe her daring! My Norwegian Lutheran Missionary upbringing taught me that getting involved could cause more trouble, that we should always keep silent. But would silence have been better? No. Sometimes justice requires a voice.
Scene 4
I haven't heard from her in weeks. We used to talk a lot and now suddenly nothing. A few phone calls and email attempts have not been answered so I give up. Immediately I begin some very egocentric wondering. "I wonder if it was something I did or said? What did I do wrong this time?" These miserable and chaotic rumblings lead me to stop calling and writing. I give up and leave the dead silence until one day I find out my friend has just recently found out she has cancer. She's been busy going for appointments and getting ready for the treatment. With the hearing of one word,"cancer," her world has become a lonely and silent place. Silence isn't always what we think it is.
There is a time for "Be still and know that I am God"
AND there is a time for "Make a Joyful noise"
AND there is a time for "Do Justice, Love kindness"
AND there is a time for "speak boldly"
Not ALL noise is bad and not ALL silence is good. Silence isn't always what we think it is.
there is a time to listen, to be still and silent
And there is a time to speak, scream, sing, challenge, wonder, ask...
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
About Noise and Silence and Finding the Holy in it...Entry #3
July 24, 2013
6 a.m.
I often wake at this early hour, long before the alarm. I love mornings; especially early mornings when the day is yet fresh and undisturbed. I am lucky and honored to sleep in a room on the second floor with windows looking out on the trees. In some windows, if I could reach through, I could touch a tree; it is that close. Lately, when i wake up at this early hour, I've been noticing how still the trees are in the quiet and silent dawn. Sometimes I even hold my breath challenging them to move before I do. This silence shared with the trees delights me to the core of my being. Perhaps this is what has drawn me to wake at this early hour all these years; the shared silence.
In the early dawn I can for a moment melt into unity with all creation as we sit still together listening and just being. It is a spine tingling joy but I dare not shout it out until the first leaf moves. It is awe-inspiring sacredness. I can't help but entertain thoughts of love and grace and God. I feel so connected, so awake, so aware.
Stillness
silence
quiet
creates a sacredness,
a space for breath,
a moment for awareness
a place for smiling
gratitude
life
Good morning world!
happy to be here,
jules
6 a.m.
I often wake at this early hour, long before the alarm. I love mornings; especially early mornings when the day is yet fresh and undisturbed. I am lucky and honored to sleep in a room on the second floor with windows looking out on the trees. In some windows, if I could reach through, I could touch a tree; it is that close. Lately, when i wake up at this early hour, I've been noticing how still the trees are in the quiet and silent dawn. Sometimes I even hold my breath challenging them to move before I do. This silence shared with the trees delights me to the core of my being. Perhaps this is what has drawn me to wake at this early hour all these years; the shared silence.
In the early dawn I can for a moment melt into unity with all creation as we sit still together listening and just being. It is a spine tingling joy but I dare not shout it out until the first leaf moves. It is awe-inspiring sacredness. I can't help but entertain thoughts of love and grace and God. I feel so connected, so awake, so aware.
Stillness
silence
quiet
creates a sacredness,
a space for breath,
a moment for awareness
a place for smiling
gratitude
life
Good morning world!
happy to be here,
jules
Tuesday, July 23, 2013
About Noise & Silence and Finding the Holy in it, Entry #2
On a clear August day back in 2001, i was sitting in my kayak in the middle of one of this city's many lakes...listening. I stopped paddling and just listened. It was about eight o'clock in the morning. I just sat there and listened to what I thought would be silence. Later I reflected on that moment. Here is what I wrote:
Noise vs. Silence
Noise vs. Silence
The noise of the world is deafening
Me and the kayak sitting
here
On the perfectly still, peaceful lake,
While
speedboats, fishing boats roar,
Lawn mowers are grinding,
Teenagers’
music is blaring, loudly,
The bass taking over the sound of
our heartbeats,
Cars
just beyond the beach are racing past,
Televisions, phones, radios,
It
is hard to escape the noise of the world,
My ears ringing constantly,
So
loud, I can’t think,
Can’t stop, can’t listen,
Listen
to the heartbeat,
Listen to the breathing,
Hear
the wind,
And know what the Spirit is Saying.
Silence vs. Truth
The silence of the World is
heart-wrenching,
Everyone
speaks but,
No one says anything,
Exaggerations,
sarcasm, anger, teasing,
Idioms, Slang, small talk, big talk,
Beating
around the bush,
Skirting the issues,
But
secrets are kept,
Lies are told,
And
silence is golden,
A silence so pervasive that,
Our
heart is closed now,
Unable to hear the heartbeat,
Listen
to the breathing,
Feel the pulse of the world,
And
know what the soul is saying.
Silence & Truth
Are we listening?
Can
we hear?
Are we speaking?
What
does the Spirit say?What do you notice about noise and silence?
jules
Monday, July 22, 2013
About Noise & Silence....and finding the Holy in it. Entry #1
A parable by Theophane the Monk in his book Tales of a Magic Monastery:
"Would you teach me silence?" I asked.
"Ah!"
He seemed to be pleased. "Is it the Great Silence you want?"
"yes, the Great Silence."
"Well, where do you think it is to be found?" he asked.
"Deep within me, I suppose. If only I could go deep within, I'm sure I'd escape the noise at last. But it's hard. Will you help me?" I knew he would. I could feel his concern and his spirit was so silent.
"Well i've been there," he said. "I spent years going in. I did taste the silence there. But one day Jesus came--maybe it was my imagination--and said to me simply, 'Come, Follow me.' I went out, and I've never gone back."
I was stunned, "but the silence...."
"I've found the Great Silence, and I've come to see that the noise was inside."
I hope you enjoy this parable form Theophane. I read it and immediately decided to do a series here on noise and silence. Perhaps i should ended it with this. I think I'll just see where each entry takes me. Tune in for more about noise and silence.
blessings on your noise,
jules
"Would you teach me silence?" I asked.
"Ah!"
He seemed to be pleased. "Is it the Great Silence you want?"
"yes, the Great Silence."
"Well, where do you think it is to be found?" he asked.
"Deep within me, I suppose. If only I could go deep within, I'm sure I'd escape the noise at last. But it's hard. Will you help me?" I knew he would. I could feel his concern and his spirit was so silent.
"Well i've been there," he said. "I spent years going in. I did taste the silence there. But one day Jesus came--maybe it was my imagination--and said to me simply, 'Come, Follow me.' I went out, and I've never gone back."
I was stunned, "but the silence...."
"I've found the Great Silence, and I've come to see that the noise was inside."
I hope you enjoy this parable form Theophane. I read it and immediately decided to do a series here on noise and silence. Perhaps i should ended it with this. I think I'll just see where each entry takes me. Tune in for more about noise and silence.
blessings on your noise,
jules
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