Look Up

Walking through the streets of Toronto one can easily feel small in the midst of surrounding concrete, but if you slow down, better yet stop ... look up ... you would be amazed. Reflections of the world are there ... the sky, buildings, bouncing sun, even the moon.

So how about heading outside ... laying on the ground (okay not the pavement or sidewalk in the middle traffic area) ... but lay on the ground tonight and see the heavens open up to you with the wonderful full moon, the stars.

Signs of Gods love ...
All day all night God's love through light shines on us!
And even when us humans build these large buildings there are reflections that get to us.

Stay tuned .... and I'll post some pictures!

Memory Triggers: S'mores Part II

This s'more thing is quite a fun topic for discussion. In a group of six, five thumbs up and one thumb down "they are just too sweet". At which point his wife informed him that he ate them anyway!!!!!!

For another there is a bit of PTSD ... okay you ask what is that about .... Memories of being a camp counselor and kids running around with pointed sticks and running too close to the fire. The antenna were up ... would a child accidently fall into the fire, or stab another child. You see, this individual used to work at a burn unit ... and saw first hand the horrific pain and suffering a child would endure as the result of a burn. See ... what we experience and feel today is built on experiences of yesterday. Yesterday's memories springboard today's reactions.

Then there were two in the group that talked about their shared love of poking campfires. The need to find the right stick to move things around and keep the fire going. When stoking the fire another said she would calculate how long a log would burn to make sure they planned to stay up that long (wanted the fire all the way out before turning in for the night!)

An extended discussion ... when all I asked was "thumbs up or down for s'mores".

Memories ...

What do you think of when you think S'mores?

S'mores Anyone?

Many of us grew up eating s'mores while on camping trips.  But do you really like them?  Think about it ... a roasted marshmallow (I really don't like it when they are burned), a slice of chocolate (Hershey's really is the best), both sandwiched between graham crackers.  They are sticky, gooey, wayyyyy toooo sweet.  I don't really like them ... but somehow whenever there is a campfire ... s'mores seem to be eaten.   You know ... like peanut butter and jelly, ham and eggs, Tom and Jerry, Mutt and Jeff.  

So here are two girls ... one from France one from California .... sitting around a campfire in the backyard of a home in Oakland California ... making memories.  S'mores and campfires.  Fifteen hours later I could smell the campfire smoke on my sweatshirt .... memories ... campfires in Yosemite, Holden, Scout Camp, Mt. Cross, Caribou Wilderness, Lake Tahoe, the Adirondacks and now my brother's back yard.  

Campfires and s'mores. Even though I really don't like them that much ... they just go together ... because that's what memories are made of!

The Unknown

Have you ever taken a path without knowing what is ahead? We believe that we know what lies over the berm and into the future based on previous experience. Yet we don't really know until we take the step. It is on the knowledge of yesterday (tainted by our memory) that we live today and hope for tomorrow.

As you look forward ... follow your heart, follow your mind. You can make your lists of positives and negatives, but know that it is the melding of the heart and mind that you need to follow. You live in a web of support as choose your path. Is the grass greener? Maybe. Maybe not. You won't know for sure until you are there. The there may be there, the there may be here. The reality is, there will be different than today.

“For yesterday is but a memory and tomorrow is only a vision; but today well lived makes every yesterday a memory of happiness and every tomorrow a vision of hope.”

Sanskrit Poem

Just know ... that every tomorrow is a vision of hope.

So work to create what will be and take the step into the future ...

Stopping for a Rest

Perhaps this butterfly really isn't stopping for a rest ... perhaps a refueling.  Yesterday afternoon she decided to stop by .... gently approaching unaware of Teddy ... allowing me close to take a picture ... then flying to another branch.  Seemingly alone ... one of a kind ... connecting with life ... for only a short visit.  But then it seems that their adult life is very very short.   I read that "marking studies suggest that winged adults of many (and perhaps most) species live only a week or two, and that the male tends to live a few days less than the female."

I so appreciate this one stopping by and sharing her beauty.   

Each of us needs to share the beauty we have with others ... and recognize the beauty in others!

Bread

Why did Christ only give enough bread to the people for one day?

The answer came from a 13 year old

Because we need to believe that Christ is there tomorrow as well ... it is one day at a time.

So simple ...

Give us this day our daily bread.

I am the bread of life

Living bread

Live today

Live in hope

"Give me only my daily bread." Proverbs 30:8

The Tasting

Wine Tasting, Rennes, France

There is so much more to a tasting than the tasting.
There is so much more to living than living.
There is so much more to a walk than the walk.


What comes before
What happens during
What impacts the future.

We have to be careful not to focus on the event, what comes between the bookends, what's between the front and back cover. Rather we are who we are based on the past. What happens tomorrow builds on what happened today. Even when we say "tomorrow is a new day" we carry with it our experience of today.

Eternal life doesn't come after our death ... rather eternal life is what we are living today, what we lived yesterday, and what we will live tomorrow ... even if that is our death.

Enjoy the tasting .... yet know that there was a lot that preceeded it ... from the tilling of the soil, the care of the vine ... the corking ....

Enjoy the tasting ... we are tasting the eternal life today.
Live in confidence.
Live in faith. Live in belief.
We are preparing the tasting for those who come after us.