LifeSpan

Blog 120 …

     "To everything, turn ... There is a season, turn …," so goes a once popular song.  It tells the truth about leave takings and on goings of material and natural living things. Always, something begins, and when its life, its novelty fades, it goes out and away with either a whimper or a bang.  It does not matter that the life itself takes an adventurous, complex, conflicted span.  It does not matter that it is long-lived or short-lived.  What truly matters is that life blossoms and breathes!

Roam

Blog 119 …

Take a step.  Stroll if you like.  Dare to hike up and down trails.  Stop and listen to the sounds of the arboretum’s wild life.  Walked far enough?  Get under a shade or sip fountain water and get refreshed; get your buddy critters to likewise quell thirst.  Rested now?  Get going, and pick up your pace. Tread down undiscovered spaces if you choose to.  Life in the open space invites you and your senses to wake up and be impressed !

Bridges

Blog 118 …

Tread on flat lands with confidence, but get riled when hills stump your way.  How do you cross over stealthy swamps, tricky marshes or murky ponds down in the wild lands?  Without well-designed bridges, it will be challenging to reach one’s desired spot.  Without well-structured passage links, catching a glimpse of rare birds and flowering plants in the bog will be farfetched.  Think about that, and then thank your lucky stars for bridges and channels constructed by creative hands!

OnGuard

Blog 117 …

Nothing beats chance-seeing a mother duck in guard of her young ones.  Look at them bask under the soft sun.  Imagine the sweet, yet firm quacks of advice she gives each one.  “Stay close together little ones.  Paddle and watch where you glide and swim.  I am right behind and watching!”

Heron

Blog 116 …

A lone heron nests away from its usual rough platforms of sticks commonly found in bushes or trees near water.  Perched on a limb by the swamp and marsh, it shakes off its downs after playfully wading in the shallow waters of Badin Lake.  It sits still and closely watches the water.  It must be time for hunting fish or frog that could feed a famished belly.  Soon, it will again stretch its neck and peruse the horizon.  It may choose to hold back its head against its body, flap its broad wings and let its legs trail loosely in majestic flight.  Watch closely and be awed!

BranchingOut

Blog 115 …

First begins a birth, a life, filled with potentialities.  Next, life appears to take natural paths, and then outbursts of growth.  Somewhere in between, life bumps into twists, and turns that complicates and narrows its possibilities for a straight and upward or widely-spreading spurt.  What in our circle draws us away from our determined, even hopes and dreams?  What is required to keep our will pruned, pliant, and obedient to our calling?

Repose

Blog 114 …

Finding space and repose intertwined in our surroundings is pure delight.  From the vast spread of soft, fresh greens afforded us, we could temporarily claim a spot to still our souls or we could occupy a welcoming bench and make it a perfect haven for our quiet reflection.  The breadth of our open and dedicated natural world gifts us with possibilities to explore  both lofty and transcendental thoughts;  it affords us to wallow into or to unpack our life aspirations.  Best, it stirs in us and it invites us to experience an overwhelming thankfulness for God’s magnificent creation!

Splendor

Blog 113 …

Behold the marvelous expanse.  It is there, here, and everywhere … verdantly vast, magnificently beautiful in repose.  Take a step … a stride … then stop to feel its permeating soft breezes brush and tickle all senses. The bog world, the natural world explodes in splendor!







Marked

Blog 112 ...

Graffiti canvas ... memory wall ... vengeance forum ... whatever was on your mind when you carved that message, that name, that thought on a tree trunk ... suggested extreme emotional expressions of the moment, but why perpetuate it on an innocent tree trunk? It was there - the unbearable scream.  It shed tears of pain as you mercilessly imposed that knife blade onto it, but you ignored it. You failed to see its scarred heart afterwards as it openly bore your marks of frustration and anger.  You couldn't have felt the timeless harm exposed wounds had done to its psyche.  Worse, passersby no longer are drawn to stop and rest under its shade; they don't anymore have the comfort to lean on its once sturdy covering. What would you do if it were your body skin violated? Would you not also carry the brunt of shame?





Reach ...

Blog 111 ...

Always, we are in search for something or someone. We even look up to the sky for something transcendental.  We as well try to reach out for something beyond our realm. We aspire to reach out for something we easily could not.  We even attempt to reach out to and for God.  The absolute wonder of it all is that we do not even have to.  God already has reached down to us, and constantly holds us in His hands. Advent reminds us of life’s great and abundant hope, joy, and peace in the love God bestows.  Live out God’s love, and celebrate it!  

Hearth

Blog 110 …

     Literally, the hearth is our HOME, our sweet home.  It is our household, our family life. The hearth, when lit up, is also the source of tremendous warmth.  No wonder we huddle around it.  We want to take in all its comforts especially when the cold air sets in.  The fireside light has a lot more  drawing effects, however, as it pulls us together.  It breathes tenderness, cordiality and affection much like the effect brought by a circle of two or three of us gathering, celebrating, praising, giving thanks, and remembering all whom we love.  The Hearth reminds us too of the Brightest Light, our Lord Provider of love and warmth, who constantly shines on our spiritual paths.  We must embrace, and sustain the gifts a hearth gives!

AutumnBerries

Blog 109 …

As As summer dries up and fades all the juicy, edible berries we could just pick and harvest from our backyard gardens, landscape-brightening and adorning holly berries come stealthily.  Clustered like grape bunches ripening at orchards and vineyards, holly berries  ring in autumn and announce not only season change, but also the festive holidays right around the bend - the Great Thanksgiving, Christmas, and the New Year.  How beautiful indeed is the landscape that God’s hands makes over and again!

Pumpkins

Blog 108 …

Puny and ginormous, flat fat and well rounded, pure orange-hued and white or green-spotted ones, pumpkins generously blossom and then line up our community gardens until we pick and harvest them.  We love pumpkin cakes, and enjoy as well pumpkin soufflés and soups that we make out of them.  We like them candied or freshly steamed crunchy in our mouths.  We pleasure our palate with their sweet, smooth or textured preparation.   With all the creative recipes we could make with pumpkins, and the satisfaction they give hungry stomachs, isn’t it a wonder why we deck our surroundings with them? 

Blessings

Blog 107 …

Clean water and bright light resources are readily accessible to us.  We have abundant food, sturdy shelter, and comfortable clothing.  Likewise, our day-to-day living is now made far too easy. Appliances big and small afford us unabashed conveniences and much comfort.  We even have the possibility to dictate our own entertainment with gaming and media devices at our hands’ reach. Our vehicles can take us anytime where we want to be.  We are undeniably not in want mode for anything money can buy.  Material things, however, mask our true life’s blessings of good health, and overflowing love from our family and neighbor-friends.  Let us lift them up and all the weary ones we know and don’t know as we truly count our blessings!

DigitalEase

Blog 106 …

Digital Age has brought many solutions to problems we encounter day to day.  In split of a second, we could communicate with someone on the other side of the globe; we could follow their activities even though we are physically and geographically distant from one another.  We could accomplish as many tasks with clicks of gadget buttons.  We could document our activities as easily.  We could process and save in a file our uncompleted written work, and then recover it for editing later.  We could, by all means, do so much more these days.  One of the many possibilities about digitization these days is what we could do in terms of creatively and amusingly organizing our digitally captured events … literally hundreds of photos we shot some place new or sentimental. We could crop them, warp them, multiply them, and make art with them simply because we have at our fingertips the means to play and experiment with them.  We could not hide the ease and exuberance of our lives with digitization!

 

Tsk …Tsk!

Blog 105 …

   You move into a new place.  You begin settling by identifying tasks likely to happen in the spaces you are afforded to inhabit.  You move big pieces of furniture first, and then you fill in the area with useful, appropriate and pleasant accessories because you want to make the space your own and also quickly feel at home.  You further desire that every habitable space brings living comfort, so you boldly work in the shortest possible time.  Soon, you take pride in getting every little thing in its place.  A few weeks after a rigging, back-breaking, time-consuming moving of things here and there, you learn that your efforts have gone in vain.  You hear about change of plans out of the blue, and for the umpteenth time.  You find out all items in a room that just got settled a week ago must be moved … again!”

Grrrrr!

Blog 104 …

     What affects, and then molds one’s personality?  Do genes dictate it?  Does environment influence it?  Do other creatures bear responsibility on how it comes out, or do emotions simply send messages to the brain on how it gets projected?  The eyes and mouth could reveal a happy, cantankerous, aggressive or cheerful disposition.  Body language could tell one’s impertinence, reticence, audacity or tenderness.  One’s voice, however, could be the most telling of all when figuring one’s internal climate.  Dare not.  Don’t loosely trust innocent-looking faces!

Beware

Blog 103 …

     Purchases moved by ads and sales could be either daunting or heartening.  If you are an experienced shopper and you know exactly what for and why you must buy an item, you are one of the few wise ones who reap the benefits of magnetic commerce.  However, when you are hypnotized by sale ads without need or purpose, and you give in, know that nothing about this game of sales is honest-to-goodness free.  You spend and dole out monies first before you gain anything.  Impulse buyers beware!

HelpFriends

Blog 102 …

Nothing big or small work gets done without helpers, young and old. Especially tremendous workload could not get completed without folks showing at appointed time and day.  When helpers come with vigor and cheer, and they lovingly donate time and effort with BIGGEST of smiles, the mix becomes priceless.  Little and big hands lifting packs of load, in the littlest of time, turn raw work into fun-filled play.  It is no wonder helpers turn out to be the HelpFriends ever!   

Indulge

 

Blog 101 …

Once you have managed to get beyond basics of life, it is never regrettable to indulge yourself.  After years of fruitful work, sensible stewardship, relentless service to others, and considerable material needs’ negotiations, you owe it to yourself to make life these days meaningfully comfortable.  You no longer must content yourself with any beds on which to lay and sleep or any chairs in which to slouch and lounge.  At the end of the day, you give the right to yourself to soak and relax in one of the best bath spas there is. You entitle yourself to the very best money could reasonably shower your tired body and advanced age.  Go ahead.  Treat yourself in the very best possible of ways!