Journal of Sacred Work

Days 329-330 Drawing Near

"How can we find hope amid uncertainty, conflict, or loss? When we feel we have lost hope, we may find inspiration in the words and deeds of others. In poems, hope takes many forms: an open road, an unturned page, a map to another world, an ark, an infant, a long-lost glove that returns to its owner. Using metaphors for hope seems appropriate, as the concept of hope is difficult to describe. It is deeper than simple optimism, and more mysterious, delicate, and elusive. It is a feeling we must develop and cultivate, but like faith, it is also a state with which we are graced. Hope can foster determination and grit—the ability to bounce back and to remain determined despite failures and setbacks—when we make daily efforts to change and improve what we can control. Poems speak to the importance of hope and resilience."-The Poetry Foundation

Drawing Near:A Blessing to Begin Advent by Jan Richardson

It is difficult to see it from here,     
I know,
but trust me when I say
this blessing is inscribed
on the horizon.
Is written on
that far point
you can hardly see.
Is etched into a landscape
whose contours you cannot know
from here.
All you know
is that it calls you,
draws you,
pulls you toward
what you have perceived
only in pieces,
in fragments that came to you
in dreaming or in prayer.
I cannot account for how,
as you draw near,
the blessing embedded in the horizon
begins to blossom
upon the soles of your feet,
shimmers in your two hands.
It is one of the mysteries
of the road,
how the blessing
you have traveled toward,
waited for
suddenly appears
as if it had been with you
all this time,
as if it simply
needed to know
how far you were willing
to walk to find the lines
that were traced upon you
before the day that you were born. 

Author ~Jan Richardson
Photo image by ~liz
Shared by Liz Sorensen Wessel

Days 324-328 - Realms of Reflection

   Narcissus-like a maple rouged by autumn admires his reflection. An egret becomes an angel rising. Yet, his launch distorts his mirror.   

   Reflections, whether in water or in another's eyes suggest the original & cannot duplicate it. It is the similarities that fascinate & the variations that challenge. 

  How do we know we love another? Is it because the eyes of mutual love electrify & beautify our best selves?

   No music compares to love's melodious echoes. No other dance thrills with the passion of love's pas de deux. 

   If we are made in God's image than it is God we experience when we gaze into the mirror of our lover's heart.

   But, we are human, not gods. The looking glass that reported beauty will also reveal cracks. We are more egret rising than anchored tree. 

   This is a gift. What if the one you love was perfect? Since you are not how could love survive? 

   Most never find love because they seek a god not a human. 

   Love thrives when it embraces the whole person; when it celebrates the ineffable & all-too-rare joy of sharing life with the one we name our beloved.   

-Rev. Erie Chapman

Photograph: "Realms of Reflection" by Erie

Days 322-323 Thanksgiving & Gratitude

Note: This reflection on Thanksgiving is offered by Terry Chapman

"Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse." -Henry Van Dyke

Sitting with those we love, full of Thanksgiving Day turkey and trimmings, it’s pretty easy to be thankful. But, if we stop there we miss out on a much deeper meaning. Thanksgiving conveys gratitude for a state of blessedness you wish for another human being.  World wide the meaning is quite clear:  Reach out to one another along your way; offer help and assistance whether as a professional caregiver or as a family member or volunteer. Give affection and caring freely and always try to see yourselves in others.

This is not hard to do when the other is attractive and somewhat like ourselves. The test of true gratitude for others comes when that other person is unattractive, dirty, or evil in nature.  Then we must commit our inner self to our human connection and pitch in regardless of their gender, social class, form of dress, form of religion or none, or their sexual preferences.  None of this matters to God who is all in one and complete in its essence of love and purity of nature!

So far in my life of 78 years I’ve found that every person I’ve met has at least one stellar quality or gift from God that is unique and irreplaceable. For one it might be the ability to organize family gatherings; for another they can bake food that we lust for and for another it could be the gift of presence such that when we are with this person, we feel better about life and about ourselves!

These gifts should be celebrated by living fully and in helping other human beings whenever we meet them and without regard to how we feel at that time.  In our gratitude, these earthly blessings magnify a state of grace despite all the repeated challenges and pitfalls and natural disasters on our planet.  Today is certainly the first day of the rest of our life on Earth and I am extremely grateful for my existence and for yours.  Happy Thanksgiving! 

Terry Chapman

317-321 - Best Holiday Advice?

   Does "advice" ever really help? If so, here comes some of the best I ever heard about holidays & how to deal with them.

   Thanksgiving. What does your inner voice instruct? "Be thankful. By glad. Be grateful whether you  feel it or not. Everybody BETTER have fun! It's a holiday!"

   Midway through any break how many times have you heard: "Enjoy. This is a vacation!"

   Afterwards, others will ask, "How was your Thanksgiving?" You will say, "Fine" whether it was or not.

   But, most holidays bring as much disappointment as celebration. The reason? Expectations soar so high they are hard to match.

   Thus the advice. Want to have a successful holiday? Lower expectations.

   By definition, vacations depart from hard work. According to the experts changing routines increases irritability for some. The chance something will go wrong rises by 15 to 20%. Instead of understanding this we get mad. Then comes recrimination & the inevitable guilt trip: "How could you do that? This is Thanksgiving!" 

   Cut expectations & increase the chance of success. Lower the pressure & raise the likelihood of a joyful holiday. Afterwards you will truly be thankful.  

-Erie Chapman

Days 315-316 Restoring Faith

As we enter into this season of gratitude, amidst loss, grief and endless tragedies, we experience the Light in acts of compassion and human kindness. The following story was shared by cousin Kim de Beaumont of an incredible experience she had just last night.  


"There are saints among us. At around 9:40 this evening I got off a Metro-North train in Pelham only to find that there were no taxis and that the sidewalks and roads were covered in an extremely treacherous icy slush.

I was afraid even to take one step because of my inadequate smooth-soled boots. Others were waiting with me. I called the Pelham Manor police for help and was given the brush.

A large red SUV started to pull out of the station lot and I could see the driver hesitate. He stopped, rolled down his window, and asked us all if we needed a ride. Five of us (all men but me) scrunched ourselves into the four available seats. Over the next forty minutes or so, he got each and every one of us home.

I was the last, because at first there were terrible traffic jams in the (hilly) streets surrounding my apartment house. When things seemed impossible, he had even suggested I come back to share a cup of coffee with him and his family while waiting things out. Fortunately, he got me home before that was necessary.

 I said to him as he delivered me safely to the garage entrance of my building, “Bless you.” I will never forget your kindness, and am most grateful of all for the way that you have restored my faith." ~ Kim de Beaumont

On a cold hard night our hearts are thawed and our spirits lifted by the generosity of human kindness. Some may ask, where is God in all the struggles and the suffering? I am reminded,  right here in our midst, for the Light shines through our broken and misshapen places.

Reflect on Tracy Cochran's words this week and receive the blessings as you bless others with a simple gesture of acceptance  within our human frailties and light-filled being.

Liz Sorensen Wessel
Watercolor by ~liz

Days 310-314 - Glimpses of Heaven

   I shared the story when my middle grandson was 5.  "Is God blue?" he asked. God lives above. God must be sky-colored.

  Children imagine heaven as above the clouds. Floating there are God, Jesus, angels & all who came before. I remember hoping for glimpses on my first plane ride.  

   As adults, we still look up for inspiration. After near-death experiences people routinely report drifting above. Some report seeing us as they enter the light. Some experience hellish visions &, like Uncle Scrooge, quickly reform. 

   The older I grow the clearer it becomes that the great "myths" are true: God is real, angels float about us now, those who have passed on (or up) are forever whispering to the living. 

   The sooner we accept this the sooner some fears of death fade.

   If my occasional glimpses of heaven are true there is no reason to fear dying. In fact, free of worldly suffering it will be good to see you through the afterlife lens.

   Since I will depart before you & am never without a camera I will send pictures. Look for them in the clouds. 

-Erie Chapman

photograph:  "Angel Resting in Clouds" by Erie

Days 308-309 Energies of Love

In Loving Remembrance of Muriel H. Lawler

The day will come when, after harnessing space, winds, the tide and gravitation, we shall harness for God the energies of love. And, on that day, for the second time in the history of the world, [humanity] will have discovered fire. —Teilhard de Chardin

Richard Rohr offers this wisdom, “God created this evolving universe because God is Love and each of us is God’s gift to the world. Our life purpose is to make a difference in transforming that world. . . .”

The essence of a person’s life experience crystallizes at the end of their life. A person who made trans-formative difference in our world was my Aunt Muriel who lived until age 93.

Her daughter, Ann shared the following remembrance, “Muriel was born in London and grew up in a country home near Watford, England. A teenager in World War II, Muriel helped in the war effort by delivering secret messages to nearby village officials on her bicycle.  She met her late husband, James E. Lawler, Jr. when he was stationed in London with American Forces.  Before long she found herself sailing across the ocean as a war bride. The couple settled in New York City, and raised five children.”

I was surprised to learn of my Aunt’s incredible courage and the hope she carried to restore light in such a dark and frightening time. Just to contemplate how many countless people did their part in small and big ways, in any way that they could, to change the tide of the war and changed history for the betterment of mankind is awe inspiring. We too are called and can find the courage through the inspiration and actions of our parents and ancestors.

The Sorensen’s and the Lawler family both lived on the same block when we (cousins) were growing up and needless to say we shared many coming of age experiences and memories that endure the test of time.

I drew this flower this over the week-end as I reflected on my Aunt Muriel’s life. Her's was a life well lived and a gifting to this world. 

I remember you with a tender fondness and I feel great sadness and yet acceptance; for you, Muriel have succeeded in "harnessing for God the energies of love.”

Liz Sorensen Wessel

Days 306-307 Our Presence

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.

Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.

We ask ourselves, 'Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?'

Actually, who are you not to be?

You are a child of God.

Your playing small does not serve the world.

There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.

We are all meant to shine, as children do.

We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.

It's not just in some of us; it's in everyone.

And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.”

~Marianne Williamson

 

This wisdom shared has been whispering to me continually for the past week, so I wanted to share it with you as well.  

There are times when I wish to shrink for the world. Yet, I know we all have a purpose and with the gift of life also comes responsibility. Now is not the time to shrink from the world.

 I reflect upon this, prayerfully...

First Mandala Drawing, (age 15, added a poster effect) ~liz

Shared by Liz Sorensen Wessel