What often makes this trip so alluring and appealing
as on the river of life we drift…
is how every now and then
Fate loves to hand us…
May we be blessed to take a moment
to remind ourselves
as each new day begins…
not to race from moment to moment
without taking a moment every now and then
to embrace the moment we are in.
As I’ve grown a little older…when I stop to look around
I see life moves as fast as it always has…but it’s me who has slowed down.
As I climb the ladder of life…each year reaching a new rung…
I’m slowed by knees and eyes and ears
that don’t work as well as they did when I was young.
“You can’t run on me anymore!”
That’s what my knees would say if my knees could talk.
So instead of running from place to place…I’ve been forced to walk.
And while I’m walking
because my eyes don’t see as clearly as they used to see
I’m forced to walk a little slower and sometimes stop…
to see what I want to see.
Because my hearing over the years has started to fade away
I have to look more people in the eye and listen more carefully
to what they have to say.
But…since I have to walk more slowly,
and look and listen more carefully to the world around me…
I find I have the time to enjoy a little more
the people and the beauty that surrounds me.
Which makes me wonder about all the beauty I might have missed…
all the wonder
all the fun…
back when I had eyes and ears that worked much better…
atop knees on which I’d run.
When we love someone…with our whole body, soul and heart
We make a vow to love them, for better or for worse…until death do us part.
But what if we are meant to love everyone…no matter how different or diverse?
What if with every person we touch we have the opportunity…the choice…
to make their life a little better…or a little worse?
There are some things we cannot choose.. in life…that are written in the stars…
For instance…I didn’t choose to be born the person I am…
any more than you chose to be who you are.
I did not choose to be born…or the moment my life would begin…
I didn’t choose how tall I’d be, what foods I’d like…the color of my eyes or skin.
I didn’t choose to be straight anymore than others chose to be L, G, B or T.
I was not blessed, as the Native American’s believed, with two spirits inside of me.
But if you believe in a God…don’t you have to marvel at his or her creativity…
knowing…if I was born a different way…I would still be me.
And if you were born a different way…a different gender…
if your eyes were brown instead of blue
you would still be who you are…you would still be you.
And here is where choice enters the equation…
if you believe the same God who created you…also created me
then you can choose to accept me, to love me, to hate me
or to simply let me be.
Every day as into this life on Earth we are immersed
we have a chance…a choice when we touch another person’s life
to make that life a little better…or a little worse.
Today I pray we all choose to make every life we touch a little better…
to enhance, enliven and strengthen every heart…
no matter how different or diverse we are from one another…
until…death do us part.
When my life turns upside down and the stars no longer align…
I know this may sound crazy but…I search the world for signs.
I look to people, to nature, to animals…to the sky, the sea, the land…
to help me cope with a confusing world I no longer understand.
At Christmas time Dunedin businesses decorate our lamp posts
with garland, ornaments and lights…
They’re meant to bring peace and joy into our days…
and brighten up our nights.
On Main Street…in front of a church…
where many have left a hope,
a dream,
a prayer…
stands a lamp post decorated with an angel…
who looks like she’s hovering in the air..
I stopped in front of this angel…
well before the break of day…
and two owls who’d been perched upon the post…
quickly flew away.
And I thought to myself…an angel and two owls…
were these two symbols sent to help me cope?
to remind me I would be wise…not to abandon hope.?
Yes, it may sound crazy…but I took them as a sign…
and immediately I felt better…and my stars began to realign…
Who would have thought on a day I was felling low…
a day my heart and spirit needed feedin’
I’d find my strength and hope and courage…
from an angel and two owls on a lamp post in Dunedin.
There are 4 steps in the fulfillment of our dreams…
4 steps…of which even Walt Disney was aware…
Step 1 … you think
Step 2 … you believe
Step 3 … you dream
and Step 4 …is when you dare
They had big dreams the day they wed…
The kind of dreams you make when you’re young…you know!
They planned all the things they wanted to do…
all the places they wanted to go.
As they made their list of dreams…such a wide and diverse array…
He would smile…hold her hand and say…
“We’ll do them all…one day”.
But there were jobs and children a house…a car…
something was always getting in the way…
In their quiet times he would smile, hold her hand and say
“We’ll get to our dreams…one day”.
She would bring one up occasionally…
asking him if today’s the day…
He would smile, hold her hand…
“Not today…but one day.” he would say.
Now…as she looks at his empty chair…
she remembers how he use to say…
while smiling, and holding her hand…
“We’ll get to our dreams…one day”.
Although she has been happy…
and she knows he felt the same…
a twinge of sadness fills her heart
knowing…one day…never came.
For me…when times are rough…I think back to Fairy Tales….
How evil wins its share of battles…but in the end…how good prevails.
Whenever I fight evil…sometimes I lose…sometimes I win…
and oftentimes I’m in need of mending….
but I truly believe for every Once Upon a Time
there should be a happy ending.
I also know life in not always a Fairy Tale…
filled with joy and love…and laughter…
I know there is pain and suffering and heartache in our world
and that everyone does not life Happily Ever After.
But…having been influenced by Fairy Tales all my life…
my mission is a simple one:
To enter into the fairy tale of everyone I meet…
so when their story’s done…
I may not have been able to come to their rescue
riding a white horse…like a knight…
but their lives will end a little happier…
because of the pages I helped write.
The wedding was completed…
in the cabin only Damien, Trista, Deborah and I remained.
when we heard the unmistakable sound of a bird
crashing into our window pane.
We ran out on the deck and were happily amazed…
to find a little warbler standing there…
She seemed unhurt, unscathed…
but she was definitely dazed.
We knew it was best to let her be…
so we told her she was welcomed to stay…
to take all the time she needed…
to get herself ready to fly away.
We were hoping all she needed was a little time to get herself together
to take a little rest
and, sure enough, the third time we checked on her
she had flown back to her nest.
Once we knew that warbler was safe…that she had only been stunned….
my mind immediately found their way…to the words of Emily Dickinson:
If I can stop one heart from breaking
I shall not live in vain.
If I can ease one life the aching
Or cool one pain
Or help one fainting robin
Unto his nest again
I shall not live in vain.
Of course she was talking about a male robin not a female warbler
but it really doesn’t matter the gender or the name….
or, for that matter, if she was talking about animals or humans…
Emily’s message is the same.