FREEDOM!

"...[A]s we offer freedom, it is given us." 

--A Course in Miracles, Lesson 332

May you offer - and receive - the gift of FREEDOM today!

Letting Go

"Some days the best gift you can give yourself, and the world, is to not try to hold it all and to allow yourself to collapse." 

--Sonya Renee, at the Seattle Poetry Slam

I saw Sonya Renee perform at the Seattle Poetry Slam a couple of weeks ago. If you do not know who she is and have never seen her perform, check this out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0soC-Dvv1f0. (The sound isn't great, but the poem will blow you away anyway.)

This quote is from a story she told about her dog and its unreliable bowels, but she made the point that it applies to all of us at one time or another. 

A few days later was the yoga incident, wherein I tried to hold it all for our family and found that I just couldn't. 

So now I am trying to ask myself everyday, what can I let go of today as a gift to myself, to my husband, to my kids, to the world? 

What can YOU let go of as a gift to all of us?

Dutiful is (sometimes) Beautiful

"I slept and dreamt that life was Joy. I woke and saw that Life was Duty. I acted, and behold, Duty was Joy." 

--Unknown from a YogiTea tea bag

I was up all night with sick kids, after hosting a dinner party at which I drank WAY too much red wine. By all rights I should be a mess right now, but for some reason I feel pretty darn good. 

I spent the night lying all curled up at the bottom of my sons' beds; first one and then the other, moving whenever I heard that still, small voice calling out, "Mommy!"

"Mommy, I got sick again." 

"Mommy, I need some water." 

"Mommy, I wet the bed."

"Mommy, is it my turn for snuggles?"

Midnight, one AM, three AM, six AM....there may have been more, I kind of lost count somewhere along the way....

The funny thing is instead of feeling martyred or exhausted or hungover or even resentful (my husband was enjoying a blissfully uninterrupted night's sleep), I felt....dutiful. 

And that felt beautiful. 

Merry Christmas!

"The light of God surrounds us. The love of God enfolds us. The power of God protects us. The presence of God watches over us. Wherever we are, God is...and all is well."

--Unity Benediction

May you be surrounded, enfolded, protected and watched over, today and always. And may all be well in your world. 

Ask Yourself: What problem does God bring to your door? What gift does He give you to solve it?

Father Daniel Syverstad in a homily at Blessed Sacrament Church