Thought Provoking Flowers

I am just getting to blog now at 9 PM and I really don’t know what to say...

It’s been a long day in some ways, emotionally heavy I’d say. Along with the blessing of delivering flowers for Mother’s Day and getting to experience, surprise, joy, and appreciation of the moms, I came up against some tough life situations.

Our first delivery was for three residents of a rehab and assisted living facility. Great – children sending flowers that will light up their mothers’ lives in what can be a dreary, cold environment. Turns out one of the moms was an independent living resident, and yesterday she left for hospice. Living independently one day, in hospice the next. That hit me like a ton of bricks. The receptionist was able to track which hospice this woman had been admitted to and we were able to deliver the flowers, an accomplishment I was most glad of considering this woman’s circumstances.

Some of our other deliveries took us through the poorer neighborhoods of the area. We delivered a large vase of beautiful roses to a woman not much older than myself. As she was disabled with arthritis, it took her a little longer to come to the front door, allowing me more time to breathe in the not-so-pleasant smell. In slowly handing her the heavy vase, I noticed there was no air conditioning (it was 96 degrees outside) and got a peek at her living space – a torn up sofa bed came into view. I was uplifted to see she had a pooch.

Thinking of how much her child must have spent on the Mother’s Day bouquet, I couldn’t help but think that the money could have been put to much greater use to improve this woman’s daily life. But who am I to say? Perhaps such a special gift was a far greater delight to this mom’s heart and soul than getting help cleaning her home, receiving better health care, or upgrading her furniture. Perhaps I was looking too much at the physical and not enough at the spiritual side...

Fresh flowers are wonderfully uplifting. They can temporarily take our mind off the troubles of the day and focus on the beauty around us. May 4th’s blog was about today’s upcoming adventure to earn some money in a different way and was entitled “A Bouquet of Blessings”. Who knew it would also give me such a glimpse of others’ life situations and provide much food for thought...

I’ve much to think about my own current life situation too. If I view mine and others without putting Spirit in the formula, I am sunk. God came through in the children who were thinking of their moms and they conveyed that through their gift of flowers. And, God was in each and every flower delivered. God was present in the joy expressed and in the heart of each mom. God was with each person whether they were aware of It or not, whatever their circumstances. There’s a message here for me.

May I remember that God is always with me wherever I go, whatever I am going through, and wherever I am headed. I choose to remember this is so and am uplifted and at peace immediately.

A Richer Day

Today was a full and balanced day.

I started waking up with morning ‘kawfee’ (even if it's only decaf!) with my beloved and we talked mostly about things spiritual. Then I spent a few minutes reading and contemplating several passages from The Sermon on the Mount by Emmet Fox. The angels were surely with us as Rog and I had an adventurous time moving a sofa bed to a storage space, just the two of us. For what might have been an otherwise tiresome chore, I listened to peaceful selections from For God Alone by Mark Kelso while I packed some glassware for our upcoming move north, and thus felt the time doubly well used. And, this day also included some additional tweaking on the first of two new websites of mine: The Computer Spirit.

Yes, it was a varied day and Spirit was so obviously with me in books, in music, in conversation, on the Web, etc. – all around me and in me. Spirit is always with me and today I noticed perhaps more than usual, which made the day a richer one. I am always grateful for the increased awareness - Thank You.

Practicing What Is Preached

Today was indeed an historical day for the United States of America in many ways and an historical inauguration.

In the 8 years that have passed since the last main presidential inauguration, my spiritual experience and knowledge have progressed and been enlarged, so I was particularly curious as to how religion and prayer would play a role in this political event.

I enjoyed the prayers, feeling they were mostly inclusive of all peoples, and full of admirable qualities that we all can strive toward. Now, I hope the sentiments expressed are put into action, including by the man who gave the Inaugural Invocation, Pastor Rick Warren.

Below is the Inaugural Invocation in its entirety taken from a Christian political blog site:

Let us pray.

Almighty God, our Father, everything we see and everything we can’t see exists because of you alone. It all comes from you. It all belongs to you. It all exists for your glory.

History is your story. The Scripture tells us, “Hear O Israel, the Lord is our God. The Lord is One.” And you are the compassionate and merciful one. And you are loving to everyone you have made.

Now, today, we rejoice not only in America’s peaceful transfer of power for the 44th time. We celebrate a hingepoint of history with the inauguration of our first African American president of the United States. We are so grateful to live in this land, a land of unequaled possibility, where the son of an African immigrant can rise to the highest level of our leadership. And we know today that Dr. King and a great cloud of witnesses are shouting in heaven.

Give to our new President, Barack Obama, the wisdom to lead us with humility, the courage to lead us with integrity, the compassion to lead us with generosity. Bless and protect him, his family, Vice President Biden, the cabinet, and every one of our freely elected leaders.

Help us, O God, to remember that we are Americans, united not by race, or religion, or blood, but to our commitment to freedom and justice for all. When we focus on ourselves, when we fight each other, when we forget you, forgive us. When we presume that our greatness and our prosperity is ours alone, forgive us. When we fail to treat our fellow human beings and all the earth with the respect that they deserve, forgive us. And as we face these difficult days ahead, may we have a new birth of clarity in our aims, responsibility in our actions, humility in our approaches, and civility in our attitudes, even when we differ.

Help us to share, to serve and to seek the common good of all. May all people of goodwill today join together to work for a more just, a more healthy and a more prosperous nation and a peaceful planet. And may we never forget that one day all nations and all people will stand accountable before you. We now commit our new president and his wife, Michelle and his daughters, Malia and Sasha, into your loving care.

I humbly ask this in the name of the one who changed my life, Yeshua, Isa, Jesus [Spanish pronunciation], Jesus, who taught us to pray:

“Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen."