Rest in Safety

   The longer I live as a Christian, the more convinced that I am that Jesus came to show us how to live.  Strong statement for 1 in the morning, I know, but I couldn't sleep until I wrote this.
    As a young woman, I was convinced that the fruit of our life was how we coped with the suffering that life produced.  So, of course, I welcomed suffering and shortfalls into my life.  I only had clothing in my closet that others had given me.  Wasn't this the poverty that the books talked about?  Well, not really.  As I grew and learned, I found that life is about confronting gracefully and actively what was presented.
    In the past few months I have had many opportunities to practice grace and ease (and sometimes I even took advantage of them).  It has been like God (or the universe or whatever you would like to term the Higher Power) has been lobbing softball after softball at me to see how I would stand up to constant, but light, pressure.  Of course, there has been mixed results.
     Today I was thrown a hardball.  I have spent most of my life working on my body and mind.  Exercising, meditating, praying and reading book after book.  One would think that I was the picture of health, inside and out.  Not so much.  I have been visiting a new chiropractor, who really believes in holistic care, body, mind and soul.  When we looked at my latest x-rays, they revealed more imbalance and bits of degeneration that were new additions.  Aak!  I have been under chiropractic care for at leas 14 years and have practiced yoga for 11 (one class that I teach has run for almost 9 years).  How could this be?
     As we talked it over, of course she told me the things I knew: your body is the culmination of all that you have eaten, drunk, breathed and felt  for the whole time you have been alive; just think what it would be like if you did not do all those things; there is a possibility for some improvement.  But, the bottom line was, my neck will never match the ideal blueprint I have learned about in so many ways.  It is time to let that dream go.  Bummer.
      My eye doctor said the same thing earlier this year.  I have worn glasses since I was two years old, done eye training of many different kinds, etc etc etc.  When I asked if my eyes would ever improve, he said "that is a mountain too high."  Broke my heart.
      With all this background, where does Jesus come in?  As I was praying before bed, the only thing that came to mind was Matthew 26:39:  Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will."  Each time I am faced with some "infirmity," it turns into the blessing of a class or something I can use for my clients.  It is not that God wills me to have these problems, but how can I turn the problems into gifts.  What a great gift I have been given.  Now it is time to rest in the safety of the Lord.

Monday Delight

I had a wonderful talk with a neighbor this morning.  She said being happy 51% of the time was a great beginning.  Here is a similar thought to start your week...

Dedicate yourself to the good you deserve and desire for yourself. Give yourself peace of mind. You deserve to be happy. You deserve delight. ~ Mark Victor Hansen, the founder and co-creator of the "Chicken Soup for the Soul" book series.

As I reread this quote, I am reminded of a wonderful trip a few years ago to Columbus.  We went to see a group of Dale Chihuly installations in both museum and garden settings.  I could not believe the variety of emotions he could draw out of me with pieces of glass.  This is a little excerpt from the Wikipedia article on Chihuly.  It describes how he found peace of mind while overcoming tremendous obstacles to his chosen career of glass blowing :

In 1976, while Chihuly was in England, he was involved in a head-on car accident during which he flew through the windshield.^[1][3] His face was severely cut by glass and he was blinded in his left eye. After recovering, he continued to blow glass until he dislocated his right shoulder in a 1979 bodysurfing accident.^[3] No longer able to hold the glass blowing pipe, he hired others to do the work; Chihuly explained the change in a 2006 interview, saying "Once I stepped back, I liked the view" and pointing out that it allowed him to see the work from more perspectives and enabled him to anticipate problems faster.

To continue to create in glass he would make a painting...

Supervise the creation.....

Then find the setting to compliment the work...

Now this is some fine lemonade made from life's lemons.  Not only did Chihuly find a way to give himself delight, but also all of those who see and own his works.