Observing Lent 2024

February 25, 2024 / law2374 / 2 Comments

Have you ever started out with intentions or plans to do something and met obstacles, got redirected, or maybe even realized the intentions or plans were really not worth pursuing? We started out this post with the intent to go a different direction, but circumstances and resources changed, which made us reconsider not necessarily the topic, but the approach. Life can be this way, and Lent is a great time to reassess our intentions and plans, as well as our methods of going about them and following through. We thought we’d share some things we observed about Lent in this week’s post.

“Lent is a healing journey.” -Sr. Miriam James Heidland

Theme of the Week: Reconsider Please

Our theme of the week started when we had an emergency situation that totally changed our schedules and expectations for the week. While the emergency was definitely not fun to deal with, it did offer some perspectives to consider, as well as unplanned extra time to reflect and be thankful for what we have in life.

As part of our reflecting, we read from Max Lucado’s book Let the Journey Begin. In all honesty, the original plan was to read the book later, but the title matched one of the themes of Lent (being on a journey) so well that we reconsidered and jumped right in to the pages. This led to a number of wonderful revelations and relatable stories, all very timely and appropriate for Lent (and really any time or season of one’s life).

Lucado uses real stories from his life, combined with scripture readings and questions to help guide the reader to a better mindset. His honesty and willingness to share real life examples allow the reader to feel as if they are not alone (and really, none of us are alone, for we have God eagerly waiting for us to allow Him to walk with us on our journey), and there is still hope to be found both within us and our surroundings, whether or not we complete our best intentions.

In addition to the book, there was a day when I debated about going for a run given the temperatures were close to frigid and the winds were Arctic. Given the nature of the emergency we dealt with prior, I was hesitant to go, but honestly hate (yes, it is a strong word, but appropriate in this case) to miss an opportunity to run. The inner part of me is always willing to go, as are the inner child and adult. However, the adult mindset has a tendency to create paralysis by analysis. After a few minutes of inner arguing, I finally said the heck with it and whispered, “Lord be with me,” as I headed out the door.

While the weather was not inviting at all, the experience of the quiet in nature after the noise I had dealt with during the emergency situation earlier in the week felt most welcoming (and needed). My intent was to only go about three miles, but I ended up going closer to eight miles. Originally, I was going to pray as I ran, but ended up just listening and observing nature. The experience was uplifting despite not being able to feel my hands or feet for several miles. The lesson learned was that reconsidering and going with one’s natural tendencies sure beats waiting around for a “right” moment.

“The only mistake is to not risk making one.” -Max Lucado

Lesson of the Week: Value Without Money

Our lesson of the week came via a reflection on values that was written by Randy Woodley. In the reflection, Woodley lists the following values as ways to reconnect and build healthy lifestyles:

Respect (for everyone and everything)
Harmony (with people and nature)
Friendship (the true, honest kind)
Humor (laughing at oneself)
Equality (all voices count)
Authenticity (speaking from the heart)
History (learning from the past; living in the moment, but able to look back)
Balance (of work and rest)
Generosity (sharing what one has)
Accountability (recognizing the interconnectedness we share)

Reviewing this list of values may be a way to help measure where one is on the Lenten journey and in life. Our values act as guides for us and straying too far from them in either direction can lead to some tough consequences. If we make it a practice to evaluate AND take action to rectify any issues we discover, we not only are able to work through our issues, but also find freedom and grace.

Perhaps one of the greatest beauties of Lent is finding freedom through God’s grace. The practices and traditions of Lent offer much to reflect upon, reasons to set aside time to reflect and learn, and rewards for taking the time to be with God.

“Search me, O God, and know my heart today; try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray. See if there be some wicked way in me; cleanse me from every sin and set me free.” -J. Edwin Orr

Sight of the Week: Hyacinth Peek

Our sight of the week was the discovery of hyacinth shoots popping up from the bulbs beneath the mulch in the landscape bed. This sight always reminds me of my late grandmother, who loved flowers in general, but was partial to her hyacinths, peonies, and geraniums. The memories that come along with seeing these bulb shoots act as reminders of where I was, where I am now, and where I have yet to go in life.

Lent is much like the hyacinth bulbs. It starts slowly with the traditions of Ash Wednesday, then grows week by week through forty days to the climax of Holy Week with the ultimate flowering of Easter. We may also be like the hyacinth bulbs at times in our lives, peeking up from moments of slumber, then slowly growing and finally seeing the flower or fruits of our labor.

“Contentment is not the fulfillment of what you want, but the realization of how much you already have.” -Anonymous

Thoughts This Week: Perspectives Seen

We came across the following words this week, which offer aspects to consider for both Lent and life.

“Straight tribulation is easier to bear than tribulation that advertises itself as pleasure.” -C.S. Lewis

“Inspiration is for amateurs; the rest of us just show up and get to work.” -Chuck Close

“For where your treasure is, there your heat will be also.” -Matthew 6:21

May we come to see Lent as not a season for giving up things, but rather a time of freedom to explore and discover. May we open our hearts and minds to see the challenges before us as chances to learn and grow, and may find what we are seeking.

Seeking

Seeking meaning is my soul,

Believing it can hold

On with the heart

To the dawn past the dark

Of sin and despair

To begin anew and repair

What God has made

Through His awe and grace.

Seeking healing is my heart

In nature’s peeling apart

Of the clouds and skies of gray,

By the ground as it breaks

To soak up the sun

As the days grow and spring comes.

Seeking the inner child is my Lord,

To set free and move forth

With positivity and peace

In the tranquility of time’s seas

Past the waves upon the rocks

And the days when I was not

Able to understand or listen well

But through His forgiveness, have better dealt

Pressing onward in the journey

Letting Him turn me

Into who I am meant to be

As a gift back to Him from me.

-Lisa A. Wisniewski

A Note of Thanks

Our thanks this week goes out to the many friends and family members who helped us with the emergency situation we spoke of at the beginning of this post. Thank you all for your support and encouragement, which helped us to navigate the circumstances with a better mindset.

-Lisa, Leo, and Lena

Observing Hints of Spring

February 18, 2024 / law2374 / Leave a comment

Our adventures this week led us to some very exciting discoveries. We found hints of spring in the landscape, including snow drops, maple tree buds, daffodil shoots, and longer days with added sunshine. We also saw a very faint crescent moon one morning, and a very bold sunrise accompanied by Venus and the crescent moon on a different day. All these sights made us wonder more about the little hints nature and God offer us each day. We thought we’d share some of our observations in this week’s post.

“The more things you have, the more things you have to manage. Simplicity isn’t merely cheaper, it’s easier.” -James Clear

Theme of the Week: Do You See Me?

Our theme of the week started while I was running one day. I noticed snow drops starting to bloom along my route. Given how tall they were, I wondered if I had missed them in days prior. Had I been too busy thinking about other things or looking in other places? As I wrestled with this question in my mind through the miles, I found the first nubs of daffodil shoots popping up. It was a relief to know that I was paying attention to nature, at least on this day.

Other runs during the week offered sights of maple buds popping out in the sunlight, and a noticeably longer day. Prior to this point, I had to hurry home from work if I was going to get a run in before dark. However, on several occasions, even when leaving work later than planned and taking care of the dogs when I got home, I still had daylight to run. YES!

On one of my later runs, I spotted three deer in the neighbor’s lawn. I was fixated on those three deer, pondering what they were grazing on and if I would be able to get a picture of them. All of a sudden, ten more deer came running between the three deer and me. I had been so focused on the three deer that I had totally missed the herd of deer standing just yards away. Geez, Lisa, get your act together and pay attention!

Of course this experience had me questioning once more what I was missing by not paying attention to the hints in nature around me. While exhilarated by the experience of seeing the deer, part of me was perplexed, asking over and over what was wrong with me.

Further along on my running route, I got my answer in a whisper of the wind. It was God’s voice assuring me nothing was wrong with me. I simply had my mind on others whom I cared about and had been praying for while running. My focus was in the right place, doing my best to help these people through prayer. Oh, what a relief!

“Success has nothing to do with what you gain in life or accomplish for yourself. It’s what you do for others.” -Danny Thomas

Lesson of the Week: Release

Our lesson of the week came via a bit of a hard way. An issue that had been dogging me for some time came to a head. I felt I could not deal with it any longer. As I fretted and fussed about what to do, a reflection reading offered very good advice: Release it. All of it. Right now.

Well, that was simple. Why hadn’t it occurred to me to do this? Had I not paid attention in Sunday school or the many classes I had taken about such matters? Had I not taken to heart and deeply considered sage and wise advice offered by friends, relatives, teachers, and mentors over the years?

Well, yes, I thought I had, but maybe I’m not a good judge of my own self. Or, maybe I have been ignoring little hints in my life that were trying to warn me. Oh, yes, that would be a plausible explanation. No, it’s not what I want to hear, but it does makes sense given events of the past few months. I can’t change what happened, but I can change my perspectives on what happened.

Every day, we face a multitude of questions, situations, challenges, and circumstances where we must choose a path. Sometimes we make wise choices, other times no so much, and still other times we make the best choice we can given the information we have. The key is to realize we are responsible for these choices and that being responsible is not always an easy task to embrace, carry out, and emerge from.

So, how do we improve our ways? Prayer is a good start, along with exercise for the mind, body, heart, and soul. This combination offers insights we may not otherwise encounter. Prayer and exercise create space for release. Though I had been praying and doing a variety of exercises, I had gotten stuck in a going through the motions rut. The best way out of this rut is to release control, turn it all over to

God, and move on.

One of the best seasons to move on in is spring, for it offers literal and figurative hints of life renewed, joy unearthed, peace offered, and hope emphasized. Another great season for release is Lent, which coincides with spring. Spring and Lent have their own set of hints that offer us a path to follow. Spring has the emerging bulb shoots, longer days, tree buds, and the return of a variety of birds. Lent has Ash Wednesday, days of special prayers or fasting, and Holy Week. As we progress through these seasons following weather patterns and traditions, we experience life.

“How you experience whatever conditions life hands you correlated directly to how much responsibility you choose to take. None of us can control all (if any) of the conditions, but we can choose how we experience the conditions we find ourselves in.” -Angel Kyodo Williams

Thoughts This Week: Hints for the Journey

We found the following words in our readings this week. These words offer much to consider as we journey toward spring and through the Lenten season.

“The more you think you need to accumulate, the bigger fence you need to build around yourself and the fewer people you will trust and let into your life. It’s the inverse of what it means to live in true peace and security, which only comes in the context of relationship with people you can trust.” -Gareth Higgins

“The lowest level of motivation is guilt, shame, reward, and punishment; it has to moved us anywhere close to a civilization of love.” -Richard Rohr

“Always ask, but never expect.” -James Clear

May we learn to see the many hints and clues along the journey. May we find strength and inspiration to keep moving, and may we see the many gifts offered to us in the hints of spring.

Hints of Spring

Snow drops and daffodils

Shoots dot the hills

As the days grow long

In the sun rays’ song

And the water that runs

From the rains that come

Makes its way to the pond

Where the gray geese honk

Beneath the shifting clouds

That sprint as they move out

To lift and bring

Hints of spring.

Little Lenten rose

Spilling its colored growth

As the maple buds emerge

To sway above the earth

In the breeze a blowing

The remnants of leaves past the floating

Bubbles in the little water fall

That stumble over the rock wall

While the birds skip and sing

Hints of spring.

Viburnum leathered leaves

Turn beneath

The blue, blue skies

To the hands of time’s

Rhythmic beat

Hidden beneath

The breeze that moves

The trees and shoots

As the Good Lords gifts bring

Hints of spring.

-Lisa A. Wisniewski

A Note of Thanks

Our thanks this week goes out to nature for offering us many hints upon the journey and hope for the miles along the way.

-Lisa, Leo, and Lena

Observing Progression

February 17, 2024 / law2374 / Leave a comment

Whether we realize it or not, life is a series of progressions. Though at times, it may appear we are going backwards or heading the wrong way, in reality, we are simply taking the path we need to take to become who we need to be for God. This journey is one that can test the mind, heart, body, and soul, and as such, leads to many different areas of knowledge and understanding. As we approach the Lenten season, we often take a series of steps to prepare for what we are to encounter. We thought we’d share some things we’ve learned over the years about progression in this week’s post.

“No darkness lasts forever.” -Ursula K. Le Guin

Theme of the Week: Move Me

Our theme of the week started with Father Mike’s homily about the upcoming Lenten season. Father shared some personal stories of his path to better understand Lent. He made it very clear that Lent is not about giving up something, but rather receiving more of God’s grace.

This struck a chord with me, for I’ve always enjoyed the challenges of Lent and from a young age realized I got more out of it by focusing on what I was receiving versus fixating on what I was giving up or doing special. Perhaps that is part of many stumbling blocks in our world today—we fixate on what we seemingly sacrifice, do not have, or do not want. In reality, we need to remember that life itself is a gift given to us, not the other way around.

As the week progressed, I thought more about what I planned to do for Lent. Yes, there would be a giving up of some favorite things, but there would also be times trying new things and opening myself more to God’s will. Though I am far from mastering or understanding His will for me, I continue to find ways to hope.

Too many times in life, we let our imaginations run amuck and end up with stress, anxiety, anger, fear, or some other negative consequence. It is not easy to see the positive or the light when the world around oneself appears negative and dark. But, and this is a big but, we do have a choice—to focus on the negative or instead find the positive amid our circumstances. It takes time to recognize the choices we do have. It takes a series of trials and errors to learn what we are really made of. As we continue to experience life and all of its ups and downs, we witness a natural progression towards building our skillsets, training our minds, and opening our hearts.

“Our greatest mistake is to try to exact from each person virtues which he does not possess, and to neglect the cultivation of those which he has.” -Marguerite Yourcenar

Lesson of the Week: Seven Stories

Our lesson of the week came from reflection readings that talked about an e-book called The Seventh Story. The Seventh Story is a tale about how people live with one another. It explains seven stories that evolved or progressed as the people move through time. The first story is one of domination, where one person sees a second person with a shiny object. The first person decides they want the object, so they take it from the second person and declares that because they now have the shiny object, everyone else must obey him. He declares that to be happy, one must rule over others.

Of course, this did not go over well, so the people revolted, creating the revolution story. This did not work well either, because it simply put other people under oppression. The original revolutionists decided to retreat to their own island and judge others. This created an isolation story, which ended up in disaster leading to competition among the people and a reverting of sorts back to the domination story.

Then the domination story and isolation story created a business merger under the concept of removing people who were not liked or were different from society. This created a purification story, which also led to more suffering. The people realized they were not happy, but tried to convince themselves they were by accumulating material things. This only led to more hurt and the rise of a victimization story. The hurt became their identity and no one had suffered as much as they had.

Then a poet came to town. This poet knew all the stories—domination, revolution, isolation, purification, accumulation, and victimization—were destined to fail. This failure was due to each story asking (but without saying) the people to pretend they were in a competition. So the poet offered a radical idea, calling it the seventh story. It is the story of reconciliation, where everyone gets to win, but not at the expense of each other. The protagonist in the seventh story is not the people, but rather love.

Reading about these seven stories set us to thinking about the world today. We see all of these stories daily in our relationships with others. Though time passes, technology advances, and our environments change, we as people still have the same issues in our lives as those of our ancestors. Perhaps this is why the Bible appeals to many people—its stories and people in them are no different than us today. Thousands of years have not changed the inner workings of the heart, mind, and soul. We still get hung up, make mistakes, harbor anger and guilt, and forget who is really in control of our lives. We also have the opportunity for reconciliation.

This opportunity for reconciliation comes as we progress through our days, changing our thoughts, hearts, hopes, perspectives, and souls. Some days will be harder than others, but that is what builds character and strength and faith for the journey. We can choose which story we live by and which story we tell or share with others. We can spin the stories we tell as we wish, that is our free will. However, we need to remember that no matter how hard we fight nature and God, they will always win, for their story is the story of love, and this love is woven in an among our lives.

“If you want a better world, tell a better story.” -Gareth Higgins

Sights of the Week: Progress Seen

Our sights of the week included a little waterfall created on a hillside after some heavy rains, a Lenten rose busting with color amid the dull landscape, and clearing skies after a number of cloudy days. Each sight was a reminder that we are progressing toward spring, a time of renewal and revitalization in nature.

This renewal and revitalization is possible through the workings of time and in God’s time. As the seasons come and go, we too move from one state to another in our lives. What we notice, how we react, why we do things, who we confide or find counsel with, and where we find our comfort zones are part of our progressing into who we are to be.

Transitions amid our progression can be frustrating and confusing. We want to do better, but find ourselves seemingly stuck or not making the progress we think we should be, or even feel confined by input or feedback from others in our lives. It is not easy to know who to listen to, what to do, how to find the best course for ourselves, or understand why we are doing what God calls us to do. The one constant we can use amidst all this is prayer.

Prayer does not have to be ornate, flowery, showy, depreciating, or even spoken. It can be simple, unspoken, modest, and humble. Prayer is the panacea for what ails us, and the multi-tool in our tool box that no one can take away, no matter what story they are supporting.

“People will often try to convince you their limiting beliefs should become your own. They do not. Find your own ceiling.” -James Clear

Thoughts This Week: Considerations On the Journey

We came across the following words in our readings this week. These words offer much to consider as we progress through the Lenten season and our days ahead.

“An able yet humble man is a jewel worth a kingdom.” -William Penn

“Our human compassion binds us the one to the other—not in pity or patronizingly, but as human beings who have learnt how to turn our common suffering to hope for the future.” -Nelson Mandella

“The weak can never forgive, forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.” -Mahatma Gandhi

May we keep moving forward with each day, open to opportunities life offers us. May we come to know and accept God’s will for us along the way, and may we be thankful for progress made.

Progress Made

Venus and crescent moon in the sky,

Thankful to You, Lord God am I

For this morning, for this day,

For the glory of Your ways

That bring the sun through the clouds

And renew the earth all around

As the moments unfold

Flowing like gold

In time’s set space

Allowing for progress made.

See the sun in the east,

Feel Your love upon the breeze

As the frost sparkles and plays

It’s dazzling and heartfelt little game

In the lawns and the fields

Around the ponds and among the reveals

Of the rocks and the hillsides

Where one stops a moment in awe to confide

The many thoughts caught in the mind’s space

Working in and through progress made.

Lenten rose and falling water

Steal the show in nature’s callings that offer

A sense of peace

Whose worth extends and exceeds

Any sum or price

For it is love whose value is most high

Felt and seen in the blue

Tapestry of heaven’s smooth,

Soft space

Acting as a loft for progress made.

-Lisa A. Wisniewski

A Note of Thanks

Our thanks this week goes out to all the people who have helped, encouraged, and supported us through many life changes and progressions. Many thanks to our “inner circle” of family, friends, co-workers, and teachers for helping us to see our progress and achieve some lofty goals.

-Lisa, Leo, and Lena

Observing Rainbows

February 10, 2024 / law2374 / Leave a comment

In our area, we don’t often see rainbows in winter time. However, this past week, we saw one in the western sky. The temperatures had been cold and we had snow two days prior. However, a batch of warm air pushed through, leading to some rain and then some clearing of the skies. The clearing proved to be short lived, but such is life at times. The rainbow not only acted as a reminder of nature’s wonders, but also of hope for what is to come. We thought we’d share a few things about rainbows and hope in this week’s post.

“Without a certain ability to let go, to trust, to allow, we won’t get to any new place. If we stay with order too long and we’re not resilient enough to allow a certain degrees of disorder, we don’t get smarter, we just get rigid.” -Richard Rohr

Theme of the Week: Messages Seen

Our theme of the week started with snow on the ground, nature’s reminder of winter’s time and how beautiful a landscape can look in the dead of winter. The sparkling mass of white beneath the sun was quite beautiful, and though the coldness of the air took my breath away as I braved the elements to run, there was a sense of peace to be found in those moments and miles.

As the week moved on, the sun re-emerged between shifting clouds. Yet another reminder by nature of how life keeps moving, even when we may not feel like doing so ourselves. The sun and clouds seemed to play tag, each shifting and moving in the winds, which were strong at times. Though the conditions were not great, I persisted with running and biking outdoors and was rewarded with a clearer head and a sense of accomplishment despite the rest of the world around me seemingly frozen with the snow and ice.

Then came the morning that was warmer with a misty rain falling. The winds were almost non-existent, so I set out on what I thought would be a short run, but turned into a rather long run through periods of rain, sun, and prayers. At one point, I realized I had been looking down more than up. I have a tendency to do this in the winter more as a precaution, searching for ice patches or pot holes to avoid injury along my running route. On this particular morning, I turned and looked up to the west.

How wonderful it was to see a rainbow atop the very dark gray clouds! The sun was still shining in the east, and the clouds in the west definitely held more rain, as I could hear a low hush of water falling far off above the trees. The clouds were also very deep gray, steely, wintery cold, similar to how life had felt for me lately due to some rather extreme challenges. However, the darkness of the clouds made the colors of the rainbow stand out, like a vivid array of positivity. The rainbow and its colors assured both the inner eight-year-old and the adult in me that all would be well in time.

This reassurance made me realize I was free—free of what had been negatively impacting my mind and my life, free of all the noise in the world, and free of the fear of the unknown. It is only in going through life’s challenges and trails that we truly experience life and the freedoms and benefits that come along with it.

“Freedom isn’t a feeling; it is as much a state of being and experiencing as joy. To be free is to remember that I have always been free. The real labor of liberation is acknowledging that there is always a choice, even though I must work to get back to that choice.” -Lama Rod Owens

Lesson of the Week: Walk With Me

Our lesson of the week came as a tag-along to the rainbow experience while running. Rainbows come after the rain or storms and darkness have moved through. It is the chaos of the rain and storms that allows the rainbow to appear, for it is the reflection of the light off of all the water molecules that act as prisms to create the rainbow.

This set us to thinking about other life storms and how such storms have helped shape us and our mindsets. Long ago, I learned the best medicine for any ailment, be it physical, mental, emotional, spiritual, or otherwise, was to go seeking (especially outdoors in nature’s boundless expanse). Seeking through exercise of some sort, be it running, biking, walking, gardening, reading, whatever mode it took to open the mind, heart, and soul to the current circumstance to work through all the options and possibilities in order to get a better perspective.

It was in such seeking that I found God. While it was nice to know He was with me, there were times when He asked some tough questions that really made me think. Sometimes He asked questions through what I saw in the skies and the landscape. Other times I heard His voice. Still other times, He asked me to consider through the silence that enveloped me. There were additional moments when I felt Him inviting me to walk with Him, and moments when He asked if I would allow Him to walk with me through the circumstances of the day. Together, we went seeking, sometimes even wrestling with each other along the way, each one asking the other to understand our points of view.

Such seeking is work. It can be exhausting and exhilarating all at once. It can make others call you insane. It can also make you into the person you are supposed to be one step at a time. The steps may be arduous or light, through valleys and hills, across deserts and the wilderness. The steps may feel lonely, but in reality, they are not, for God and the Holy Spirit are with us, leading us through these steps whether we realize it or not or want them to or fight every inch or mile with them.

This journey is also like the rainbow, for it is the hardships of life that act as prisms to reflect our inner light out into the world, which in turn reflects that light so that we can see our true selves. Granted, seeing one’s true self can be a less than comfortable experience at times, but it is in seeing our true self that we learn what we are made of, how far we have come and have yet to go while asking us to focus on what matters most in life.

One thing I have had to remember along this journey called life is to always seek the light. One thing this journey has taught me is there is always light to be found, even in darkness. One great take away from all of the miles upon this journey is that each step builds upon the last, and though at times we may feel we are heading in the wrong direction, we are really just taking the route we need to take in order to get the most out of the experience. That is the wonder of life—it is made in and through circumstances seen and unseen, and its potential is boundless.

“A true crisis…can sometimes do wonders to focus the mind.” -Dr. Otis Moss III

Thoughts This Week: What Moves Thee?

As the years have passed with us doing this blog, we’ve morphed and changed to better utilize the resources we have. We started out in March of 2015 as a requirement for a writing class I was taking to earn a master’s degree. At that time, I had my dogs Sadie and Luke as helpers, and they really did help with finding materials and providing input.

When Luke passed in August of 2016, Sadie and I were left to do the work alone, which was fine with us, for we made a great team. Then we found our canine friend, Leo, who started with his own way of contributing to the posts, though he really was not interested. When Sadie passed in June of 2021, Leo and I set out to keep things going. We were soon joined by little puppy, Lena, who had some interest in contributing, but also loved to hinder the process with her need for attention and constant pawing while I try to type.

Since starting this blog in 2015, we’ve gone through three computers, three digital cameras, three cell phones, and three printers. I have worked for four different companies, changed jobs three times, and published three books. Our schedule has gone from standard and routine to unorthodox and random (though still structured, just very re-arranged at times to fit it all in).

So, here we are in 2024 with Leo, Lena, and me and a vastly different set of circumstances in all areas of life. We have had our share of struggles to get to this point, and we still want to be a sort of rainbow or reminder of hope for our readers and viewers. However, we will probably have to change the format a bit to keep this thing going. That said, we are introducing this section called Thoughts This Week. It is our way of still trying to spread light, knowledge, and perspective to others with a little less strain on our resources.

“To have faith, to grow toward love, union, salvation, or enlightenment, we must be moved from order to disorder and then ultimately reorder.” -Richard Rohr

“Our greatest mistake is to try to exact from each person virtues which he does not possess, and to neglect the cultivation of those which he has.” -Marguerite Yourcenar

“Put it before them briefly so they will read it, clearly so they will appreciate it, picturesquely so they will remember it, and above all, accurately so they will be guided by its light.” -Joseph Pulitzer

May we learn to see life’s trials and challenges as steps upon the journey. May each step lead us closer to our inner light, and may we learn to share the inner light with others to become rainbows of hope.

Rainbows

Rainbows

All the colors arched to show

Infinite love divine

Never ending throughout time

By and by, through and through

On the clouds of white and skies of blue

Withstanding and upholding

Sun and rain and life’s demands unfolding.

Rainbows

Awe inspiring glow

In ROY G BIV

Nested in

Between the clouds

On heaven’s seas moving out

With the hands of time

Sent to help understand and reunite.

-Lisa A. Wisniewski

A Note of Thanks

Our thanks this week goes out to friends Buffy, Matt, Michelle, Joyce B., Joyce H., Sue W., Beth, and Loretta for helping remind us of life’s many graces and gifts.

-Lisa, Leo, and Lena

Natural Deltas

Exploring nature's changes by Lisa A. Wisniewski

Month: February 2024

Observing Lent 2024

Observing Hints of Spring

Observing Progression

Observing Rainbows