Day 3,437

Growth:

Father Dodge had a wonderful sermon that I really didn’t want to hear today, usually the sign of one which I really needed to hear. Where there is discomfort there is usually room for growth.

In his sermon he reminded us that we are to love everyone, to want everyone to enter into heaven, for everyone to feel love. This is currently very difficult for me as I strongly disagree with several issues we are having as a society at large. It would (and has been) so much easier to be angry, to return hate with hate, and to be about as far from love as we should be.

As he spoke I couldn’t help but realize that this pushing back with anger and frustration is what is fueling the downward spiral we seem to be in. We should be remembering to love each other throughout, to pray for others, to help them understand that even if we disagree they are still humans, we should treat them all as we would be treated.

For sure – I am nowhere near ready to for this complete shift, I know what I should do and will work towards closing the gap between who I am and who I am called to be. As I reflect on the day I will be remembering to give a little extra prayer for those who need it, those who are acting from a place of hate, greed, ego, for them to find their way back to love for all humans and all life. I will say an extra prayer for all those who are directly impacted by the hateful and bitter action for them to have the courage to continue, the strength to keep fighting, and the ability to find a way to return love for hate. I will say a prayer for myself, to help me stay level minded, to help me know when and how it is appropriate to fight back, but in a way from the heart, with love. All in all, I’m praying for us to all remember to love each other and to treat each other well – especially when we don’t agree.

This evening I acted out in peaceful ways, a donation to an organization that could really use the extra help right now, sending messages to our congress on my thoughts on specific actions. Please consider doing the same. An organization which we’ve supported in the past that could use your help is the National Parks Conservation Association.

Appreciation:

I’ve been known to have some crazy idea, some might even say bad ideas form time to time. Nothing crazy or nefarious, rather ideas which many normal people would likely think a little out there. Case in point hiking a 50k last summer in the middle of a heat wave. Some have been so crazy they never happened, others I’ve seen through and maybe even questioned after the fact.

After Gavin finished reading The Long Walk by Stephen King this week he had an incredible idea – possibly a crazy one. We are going to do a 24 hour nonstop hike this summer just because we can. We’re going to start approximately 65-70 miles from home and follow the trail all the way back. Nothing short of ridiculous, no question, but it should be an incredible adventure, one we’ll remember for the long haul for sure!

Here’s to the crazy ideas, may they continue to invade our brain and lead us to many incredible shared moments together!

Presence:

Appreciate each moment, we don’t know how many more we have. In church today we received some deeply sad news of a parishioner who passed away from a very fast acting cancer. While we did’t know her well, we knew she and her husband well enough to enjoy a smile and a joke from time to time. Her death was a shock and that moment really hit hard. Her husband is the one I blogged about years ago as “the guy at church who reminds me of Dad.” My heart goes out to him and their family. Enjoy the moments we have, we are not promised tomorrow.

Thanks!!!