~ Spencer Johnson

A fun post for today:

ALABAMA …………Was the first state to have 9-1-1, started 1968.

ALASKA ……….One out of every 64 people has a pilot’s license.

ARIZONA…………Is the only state in the continental U.S. that does  not follow Daylight Savings Time.

ARKANSAS………..Has the only active diamond mine in the U.S.

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~ Benjamin Disraeli

“Patience is a hard discipline. It is not just waiting until something happens over which we have no control: the arrival of the bus, the end of the rain, the return of a friend, the resolution of a conflict. Patience is not a waiting passivity until someone else does something. Patience asks us to live the moment to the fullest, to be completely present to the moment, to taste the here and now, to be where we are. When we are impatient we try to get away from where we are. We behave as if the real thing will happen tomorrow, later and somewhere else. Let’s be patient and trust that the treasure we look for is hidden in the ground on which we stand.”

~ Henri  Nouwen

I played with a dear friend at Penn who was also a “Gilman Boy.” His name is Brandon Copeland. Brandon was a three time all Ivy League football player as well as a solo captain on the 2012 Ivy League Champion Football Team. He currently plays for the Tennessee Titans.

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Where does God dwell?

Where does God dwell? He dwells in the places where we can turn to each other with the innocence and pure-heartedness of children, really deeply turn to each other, like a child before she is covered over by social concerns and self-consciousness. See each other in this deep, pure, whole-hearted way and create together a space of shelter, a container of love.

God dwells in the containers of love that we create together. God is both the container, the one who holds us in love and shelter – who is Himself pores sukat shalom alenu, “spreading a sukkah of peace over us” – and also the one who is held by our container, by our love. He enters into the spaces where we create such containers, and Himself provides such a container, such a feeling of protection and love, for us to dwell in.

Where are these spaces in life? They are all around us, though we are often too busy to notice them or feel them. All these accomplishments, things we rush around to produce and finish, that’s all fine. The mishkan does need to be built. Ultimately, though, where is God? In the moments that we take to turn toward one another. Pause for a moment in your interactions with people, just pause and feel their presence, feel your connection to them, turn deeply toward them and feel the holiness of the space that is created, how, in holding one another, you create a container for God’s Presence, create a space to feel the One that holds us all.

This is a beautiful reflection that our dear friend, PM shared with us today in an email. We identify with the entire email but the final paragraph especially. 

When’s the last time you paused for a moment to simply feel another person’s presence, to feel and enjoy the connection with another person?

~BL

Interesting piece that speaks to the power of love and God’s power to help the sick and suffering.

Love Through Locked Doors by Ronald Rolheiser

Several years ago, a family I knew well lost a daughter through suicide.  She was in her late twenties, and had become dangerously depressed.  An initial attempt at suicide failed. The family then rushed around her. They brought her home, strove to be with her constantly, sent her to doctors and psychiatrists, and generally tried everything within their power to love and coax her out of her depression. It didn’t work. Eventually, she succeeded in taking her own life.

Looking at her death and her family’s efforts to love her and save her life, one sees how, at a certain point, human love can be helpless.  Sometimes all the effort, patience, and love in the world cannot get through to a frightened, sick, depressed person. In spite of everything, that person remains locked inside herself, or himself, huddled against love, unfree, inaccessible, bent upon self-destruction.  None of us who has ever dealt with a situation like this: has been immune to the deep feelings of discouragement, guilt, hopelessness, and fear that ensue. Love, regardless of effort, seems powerless.

Fortunately, we are not without hope and consolation.

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