A good seed planted in darkness can burst forth to produce a tree large enough to host entire communities in its colorful branches.
Things that start small can become big.
So what seeds of kindness will you plant today? Tomorrow? For the rest of this month? I want to know.
Are you making soup for a neighbor?
Giving more than usual to a charity of your choice? Which one? Why?
Mending a relationship because you know you’re not guaranteed tomorrow?
In November, we focus on gratitude. And gratitude is good. Very good.
But it isn’t enough to be thankful – to sit around enjoying the fullness, ruminating on all that’s pleasing or teaching us. We are called to share what we have and know.
If we have love – we share love.
If we have hope – we share hope.
If we have means – we share our treasure.
If we have time – we give hours or moments – with intentionality.
If we have hands, or feet, or ears, or eyes…..If we’re alive, friends! (so that’s all of us) we offer ourselves. Whole and present when nudged to do so.
When you hear the whisper in your heart….Help her. Go to him. Say this in peace….Do it. And make a mental note.
This is God’s work in the world.
And then, please share your stories with me. I’m saving them for an end-of-the-month blog post, where I’ll offer a few tips about the ways we’ve all found to share love throughout the Christmas season and beyond.
Your kind acts will inspire others. And wouldn’t more love and kindness be a nice gift for the world?
(If you aren’t familiar with it, feel free to read the story above by clicking the purple words and then come back.)
I was astounded by the girls’ actions, and I’ve never forgotten watching them spread light in a dark world.
I was in awe of their enthusiasm. I was enamored with their openness.
They reminded me of a simple lesson: Don’t ignore a generous impulse.
Even if you are not a Jesus-believer, you probably know this verse, a favorite of mine:
“I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also should love one another.” (John 13:34)
Notice, there are no caveats in that command. (i.e. Only love those who love you, who live with you, who look like you, who are convenient to love, etc.)
If you’re really going to do it right, love demands a lot.
Walking in faith, you learn from experience that loving well isn’t something you do by yourself.
Knowing True Love is being in relationship. With Someone. The One.
He – the Spirit – makes it possible for us to really love others, because we alone do it so very, very poorly.
We think that Valentine’s Day is all about romantic love. And for most people, it is. But I would argue that it can be so, so much more. Because the world needs LOVE — in all its biggest and most brilliant, and smallest and very humblest forms.
I was thinking along these lines when I gave a short presentation to a group of 20 women a year ago. I told them the story of my daughter and her friend, and I explained the following:
“Don’t ignore a generous impulse. We all know that our world is beautiful, but broken. Lately, when we read the news, it may seem particularly dark and ugly. But the light isn’t far off. It lives within each of us. And we see it when we give it away….While many people told the girls how much they had appreciated the Valentines, the real gift the girls received was the joy they’d given themselves.”
Following the promptings of the Spirit will in all likelihood move us beyond our comfort zones. But how is God ever supposed to share ALL THE LOVE He has to GIVE if WE don’t step out and SHARE IT with OUR very own hands?
After speaking, I gave out 20 very basic valentines that I’d put together myself, and I invited the group to think about the people in their lives. Friends. Colleagues. Neighbors. Acquaintances.
I asked:
“Do you know a woman who was just diagnosed with a devastating illness? Do you know someone going through a divorce? Have a coworker who has a troubled child? Have an elderly neighbor who lives alone? Is there someone in your circle who is bearing a heavy, heavy burden? Is there someone you can just tell feels hopeless? Is there someone who seems fearful? Is there anyone you haven’t thanked for a kindness you’ve been shown?
Valentine’s Day is about love, and we can make it about so much more than romance and friendship between elementary school classmates. Let’s use it as an opportunity to reach out and say, “I see you, I value you, and I care about you.”
We wrote those Valentines to the people we felt might need a bit of True Love, and gave them away.
Maybe tomorrow, you could buy or make a simple note, and then extend your heart and the Spirit to someone in your circle who might appreciate a little something sweet.
Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts. (Hebrews 4:7)
My grandparents, Allen and Hazel, who celebrated their 75th wedding anniversary January 18, 2017. He passed into eternity on January 28, and she followed on March 2.
It seemed like a dream as I pressed the receiver to my ear and heard my dad’s voice.
“Grandma is no longer with us. She’s with Grandpa now.”
She passed late Thursday night. Her decline had been swift. Just 11 days earlier I was in Seattle for my grandfather’s memorial service and she had seemed frail but steady.
But when you lost your spouse of 75 years just weeks ago, and you’ve held out for one final trip down memory lane in the company of family and friends, perhaps you just decide once and for all that enough is enough.
At a certain point, the body won’t hold a soul that wants to go where a body simply can’t.
She was one half of the most beautiful couple I have ever known.
I said on their 70th wedding anniversary that it was my right to put them on a pedestal, and I still believe that it is. Their relationship exuded a quality I seldom see – a quality they would never have thought described them, but then, most people who have this deny it out of sheer humility.
That quality is holiness.
Too often, holiness is associated with religiosity, and this, my grandparents were emphatically, not.
Holiness is something so much more sublime. Divine. An intention of the heart.
As I wrote on their 75th wedding anniversary, which we celebrated together in January:
It has been said that the purpose of marriage is not to make us happy, but instead, to make us HOLY.
I’ve been considering this statement for the last several years. And even if a person does not submit to the idea that our universe – and all that lies within it – is here for a divine purpose, namely, so that we can learn how to live like the Creator – a force of Love with a capital “L” that gives so freely He even wants to live through each one of us….Yes, even if someone does not agree with this heartfelt belief of mine, there is value in considering holiness as a purpose for marriage. And here’s why.
The process of becoming holy is the refinement of a person. It is a gradual sloughing off of all that is flawed in order to move toward perfection in goodness and righteousness – like placing rocks in a crucible and burning away impurities to reveal hidden gold or silver.
When I think about the ideal marriage, this is exactly what happens for the 2 individuals involved.
When it works well, marriage does several things to us and for us. It brings us joy. It brings us love. It brings us companionship for life’s adventures.
Most importantly though, it helps us to understand the long-term benefits of practicing a myriad of virtues such as acceptance, compassion, consideration, flexibility, generosity, humility, kindness, and forgiveness….
A good spouse encourages us, and calls us back toward the best version of ourselves. Over the long haul, there is benefit to both people in choosing:
patience over edginess,
service over self-centeredness,
understanding over egoism,
honesty over deceit,
and unity over division.
Was the path my grandparents took an easy one? Almost certainly not. I’m sure they faced tests and struggles that the rest of our family never knew about. But they passed through those fires and came out stronger and purer because of them.
My grandparents taught me by example what the path of holiness looks like. In their quiet way, they kept faith in God and lived as servants to one another. This, more than any other, is their enduring legacy to me.
Yes, they have left me beautiful memories, family I love deeply, and a few precious mementos, but it’s the love and honor they gave each other that I value the most.
Perhaps that’s why I can’t think of one without the other, and why Grandma couldn’t stay with us any longer than she did.
“Come live with me, and be my love, And we will some new pleasures prove Of golden sands, and crystal brooks, With silken lines, and silver hooks.” ― John Donne
DC Metro (fisheye) by ChrisDag https://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisdag/
The 10 a.m. Metro train had just pulled out of New Carrollton station and my friend Marcia* and I – stay-at-home moms – were standing in the aisle, holding on tight to our kids – 7 total between the two of us. On this temperate July day in 2010, we had decided to take them into DC to the Hirshhorn Museum. My husband was already at work in the district, and hers was in Eastern Europe on business.
Initially, I didn’t give it much thought when Marcia’s phone rang. But I could soon tell from the lilt and excitement in her voice that her husband was calling, and I remembered it had been several days since they had been able to talk. I was amazed by what happened next.
Handing the phone to her kids, she said, “Daddy’s calling! And he can’t talk long, but tell him thank you for working so hard and for making it possible for us to enjoy this special day.”
In turn, each one of her four kids greeted their dad with enthusiasm, thanks, and a happy, brief recounting of what was going on in their lives.
The entire conversation lasted about 5 minutes. And as we slid into the underground tunnel, I was gobsmacked by the deep conviction I felt.
When was the last time I had thanked my husband for his hard work and for making our lives at home so comfortable?
There is an acceptable and shameful practice in our society today of badmouthing men. It’s often subtle. You know how it goes. “My husband just doesn’t know how to _________,” or “Men just don’t get it” – whatever the ‘it’ of that moment is. These conversations are always tinged with an air of female superiority, and you don’t have to know much about the nature of God to know He wouldn’t approve.
God created man in his image, in the divine image he created him; male and female he created them.
– Genesis 1:27
I’m as guilty as any woman of this. I’ve made sexist comments about men that I wholeheartedly regret. Especially now that I have two sons who are among the greatest treasures of my life, and I rely on my husband night and day to help me understand the way these boys think!
But the larger issue here is that the insidiousness of ingratitude threatens to tear apart the foundation of marriages. This works both ways of course, but a woman’s affirmations to and thanksgiving for her husband can go a long way toward bridging a gap that might be gradually growing between them.
And saying, “thank you,” when we don’t feel like it, or when we also want to be acknowledged for our contributions is hard, yes. But divine help is offered to us.
In her book, The Power of a Praying Wife, Stormie Omartian says, “You have to know that whatever has crept into your relationship so silently and stealthily as to not even be perceived as a threat until it is clearly present–such as making idols of your career, your dreams, your kids, or your selfish desires–can be removed. You have to trust that God is big enough to accomplish all this and more.” (p. 19-20)
So what are my idols? Comfort? Free time? Fear and worry? A desire for recognition or accomplishment? Books, TV, Facebook, etc. – entertainment of any sort?
An idol is anything that I prioritize ahead of honoring God. And I know from experience that if I’m not putting my relationship with God first, then my marriage – which is a blessing from God – will suffer.
I see most clearly when I regain the right perspective: God is the Maker, Sustainer, and Giver of all good things. And when I listen to Him and give Him thanks, my heart is transformed from stone to flesh, and I can be the loving wife I want to be.
So we’re two days in to 2016 and maybe you’re feeling like the words, “Happy New Year” are more of a threat than a good wish.
Maybe your heart is heavy because all you can see from where you sit is that this year is already bringing in challenges, or heartaches, that you just don’t want to face. You’re not that excited about a new start, because you’re in the middle of something you never wanted to experience, and January just doesn’t feel ‘fresh.’
Some time ago, I wrote “How to Sleep Well,” about my first experience of surrender. And in that holy moment, when I was utterly exhausted and thought I couldn’t go on any more, I was given a new perspective. A clearer mind.
The problems weren’t solved. The struggle didn’t end right away. I wasn’t healed in an instant. But by dropping to my knees and asking for help in trusting whatever it was that controlled the universe, I found that the churning inside stopped. Not permanently – oh I would still take back my desire to control a thousand times over after that – but for a moment, I let go.
If you are holding on tightly, clenching your fists in anticipation of the thing you fear, today might be the day for you to open your hands and ask Love to come in, and give you peace.
This surrender will not guarantee that the road will be smooth, but you’ll gain the same assurance that I did – that indeed, I am not alone. And never was. And the same power that brought me relief that first time I asked for it, is available to me every single day of this new year.
I heard this song today. It’s one of my favorites from last year, and it’s what prompted me to write. Just close your eyes and listen. And may you be graced beyond measure in 2016.
I don’t know why I feel compelled to post this. I don’t have much to say. Just…
I see beautiful faces everywhere, every single day. Each one is absolutely unique.
Photo Credit: Ken Wu, www.unsplash.com.
And every day, I am dazzled by some natural phenomena – weather, animals, plants. Most still carry on in mysterious patterns, independent of human control.
My own heart has a pattern – a rhythm set before I gained consciousness, a rhythm not started by me.
I find these things awe-inspiring, and humbling, and my soul wants to celebrate the Only One who deserves the high praise that should be accorded the most Glorious Being who could create these things and set them in motion.
That’s how I feel every time I hear this song – my current favorite. My heart and soul leap with praise to God. Maybe you’ll feel the same way.
Today is World Kindness Day. I wrote another blog post about it yesterday, but the real question is this: How will we mark this day?
Valentine’s Day is upon us. The celebration of the heart.
