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8

What do we do when tragedy strikes?

Posted by Pat on December 16, 2012 in Uncategorized |
sad teddy bear
NEWTOWN, CONNECTICUT
This weekend, with our awareness of Friday’s horrific tragedy in Newtown, has been one of sorrow and bewilderment.
It’s difficult to understand not only
“How could this happen” but “Why?”
Whatever happened to
the silver lining?
Being able to provide meaning to adversity is an essential part of recovering. This usually involves finding a positive aspect, some silver lining to the crisis.
Maybe a new opportunity arises in one area of our life
when a bad thing happens in another.
Or maybe the crisis begins to make sense later
when we get a bigger picture of the time frame in which it occurred.

It’s going to be hard to find a silver lining here.

How do we make any sense at all of a senseless act?

Maybe we don’t right now.

We need to remember that meaning-making and perspective take time. It’s part of our human nature to think on things for a bit before we figure them out.
And it’s okay to not be able to figure this out yet. It’s hard because
 we so want to understand, we want for it to make sense.
We struggle with it.
So what do we do ?
We want to do something, to fix things, to make it go away. Yet we know that grief needs to run its healing course. Death is a part of our common humanity as is the grief that accompanies it. And our collective sorrow for the pain from the senseless events in Newtown seems overwhelming.
We can do what ever we need to process our feelings. Perhaps it helps to talk about it with a friend. Maybe it helps to write in a journal about how this tragedy reminds us of our own losses. If we are feeling vicariously traumatized by the events, we must make sure to take care of ourselves and our children. Create a space where we (and they) can feel safe, both physically and emotionally.
And breathe, remember to breathe.

Ernest Holmes, founder of Religious Science, asked,

 “When we bring a lamp into a darkened room where does the darkness go?

The darkness neither came nor did it go, anywhere.

It was never a thing of itself, merely a condition,

simply the absence of light.”

We have a choice: to be the light or to stay
in the dark room. The Spirit within each of us,
the Life and Light within each of us,
is the gift we were given when we were born.
And it is our potential gift to the world.
We can remember our spiritual nature
and our connection to everyone and then we can 
let our prayers, and our light, go out into the world.
We can hold a space for peace, for love, for healing.
We can be a part of the solution. What will you do?
let your light shine

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Doing small things with great love…

Posted by Pat on December 10, 2012 in Uncategorized |

One of my favorite book titles is… ” Old Age is Contagious, But You Don’t Have To Catch It.”        And it reminds us that we can throw away the calendar as an authority. Even medical doctors agree that aging is a completely individual process. They divide age into two separate categories; chronological age […]

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An Irish Christmas Experience?

Posted by Pat on December 3, 2012 in Uncategorized |

What fun it was to attend the live concert of The Irish Rovers while I was visiting my sister over in the Seattle area this last week. The group began in Canada, were immigrants from Northern Ireland, and then headed down to the states. They soared to the top of the pop and country charts with “Wasn’t […]

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And what did you learn this weekend?

Posted by Pat on November 25, 2012 in Uncategorized |

  I think Henry Van Dyke said it all when he said . . . “Gratitude is the inward feeling of kindness received. Thankfulness is the natural impulse to express that feeling. Thanksgiving is the following of that impulse.” We can find reasons to be grateful from this weekend. Are you thankful that you got to […]

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2

How full is your cup?

Posted by Pat on November 19, 2012 in Uncategorized |

Abundance is not about how much we can get; the experience of abundance arises when we feel that whatever we have is enough. Brother David Steindl-Rast, a Benedictine monk who has studied Oriental and Western spirituality, is quoted in Legacy of the Heart by Wayne Muller, and says that  “abundance is not measured by what […]

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4

Thank God for the Fleas!

Posted by Pat on November 11, 2012 in Uncategorized |

I love this time of year! It’s the season we focus on being grateful. The harvest is in and the blessings abound!    And it’s easy to be grateful for the sunshine, the good things, plenty of food, meeting our budget, and compliant children.     But what about the storms, the money running out before the […]

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2

Ants, a life lesson (or 4!)

Posted by Pat on November 4, 2012 in Uncategorized |

We all tend to look up to big people, leaders, gurus, for lessons on how to live life better. But we forget that sometimes the biggest lessons in life come from the smallest folks around us. Take ants, for instance. Would you believe those small creatures can teach us how to live a better life? […]

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6

Aarrg!! Can’t wait for it to be over!

Posted by Pat on October 28, 2012 in Uncategorized |

Politics! Politics! Politics!    Why are we so cranky? So quick to snap at a family member or co-worker when the conversation turns to the election coming up in the next weeks? At least we can be grateful that the presidential debates are over and we just have the media stuff to wade through!    Of course […]

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4

50 Years Ago or Today?

Posted by Pat on October 21, 2012 in Uncategorized |

Over 50 years ago, Mahatma Gandhi gave a pretty good description of our current situation in one of his quotes:  “The things that will destroy us are: politics without principle; pleasure without conscience; wealth without work; knowledge without character; business without morality; science without humanity; and worship without sacrifice.” 50 years ago? today?      Are […]

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14

Do Thorns Have Roses?

Posted by Pat on October 16, 2012 in Uncategorized |

    What I want to share today is something I’ve shared on occasion in talks I’ve given, even though I don’t know where it came from originally.     I read it somewhere and that author indicated a friend told him it had been shared with him originally by an old friend who didn’t know who […]

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