Thank you Carrie. You are always so eloquent and it is so needed at this time in our country and world. I decided to check out the July 4th broadcast from DC eventhough I wasnt feeling very festive. Such a wonderful rainbow of people singing, dancing and celebrating the United States. It is hard to look at this crowd and not think about the tragedy of January 6. I can't fathom what is happening in this country.
I too work in my garden, watch the birds (house wren parents busy feeding their babies), walk to the lake and look for all the miracles of mother nature. I spend time with family and friends and lead with kindness. Also have been listening to Wiser than me podcast with Julia Louis Dreyfus and reading Mary Oliver.❤️
Thank you Carrie, for your thoughtful words. It has felt like such a treacherous time. And yet, each day there are the daily things that are important to lean into--friends who are in grief or undergoing treatment; the taste of a good strawberry: the basil that is waiting to become pesto. They help me not lose myself to the chaos of "what if?" We lost a beautiful friend, Phil Wiggins, in May, world renown harmonica player, songwriter and National Heritage Fellow. He was a gentle giant in the acoustic blues community. The words of one of his songs , "Love Always" keeps coming back to me, and I am singing it constantly. The chorus is "Love is always within arms reach , help is always within earshot of your cry, redemption is always within, walkin' distance, and the truth is always right in front of your eyes." And, as in circles in me, I feel grounded by something much bigger than the chaos, love-always.
I meet meanness with kindness and calm. Things in my life have never stopped changing. Constant change is here to stay. I have lived through hard times and done hard things. Bad people will do bad things and then they will pass on and I will remain. Scarred and bruised? Maybe.
Good people will do good things that hopefully will remain to heal my bruises and age my scars into more and more character.
On and on I will go. Looking breathlessly for hope.
Thank you, Carrie, for your heartfelt words. I’m feeling so angry - with this country, with this state that allows fireworks to be shot off, with the thoughtless people who shoot off fireworks for days on end until 1:30 am or beyond….I find nothing to celebrate about this day. Thank you for sending this raft of hope.
I begin my day with a prayer I discovered a while ago by Sue Monk Kidd: "To be fully human, fully myself, to accept all that I am, all that you envision, this is my prayer. Walk with me out to the rim of life beyond security. Take me to the exquisite edge of courage and release me to become." I read Daily Prayer with the Corrymeela Community and being here, Prayers for Curiosity, Justice, and Love, both by Padraig O'Tuama. I'm also working my way, an essay each day, through my fourth John O'Donohue book, Divine Beauty. Reading, silence, and writing is the rhythm of most of my mornings, and then a walk through my neighborhood in the cooler hour of the day, paying attention to what I see, to what sees me. The other morning it was two deer walking down my street and two fawns lying in the grass in unexpected places. This morning I said good morning to a few fellow walkers and their furry companions. I saw a man watering his garden full of flowers and green growing plants; "Your garden is lovely," I said. He smiled and I smiled and he watered on and I walked on. After inadvertently knocking down an exquisite web that I had admired minutes ago, I said I'm sorry to the small spider that landed on the railing nearby. Glimpses of beauty and small acts of kindness. I'm reminded of your words, Carrie: "what we do in love and kindness is all we ever leave behind." Thank you for sharing your love and kindness- I especially loved the option to listen to you read aloud, to hear your words in your voice!
I really try to limit my input. If we just had a news outlet that focused on doing it's best to report only news and not opinion or entertainment. We need to filter out the opinions, sarcasm and blah,blah,blah.
I worry that people will choose not to vote. We need to encourage people to vote.
I learned this recently..No is a complete sentence. So to the noise out there I say NO!
I'm so with you, Carrie - and I think the most hopeful thing I can do is to love one thing every moment we think about it. And love ourselves for trying to make the most hopeful world we can in these trying times. And, to remember that there have always been trying times! It's how we live with them that makes the difference!
Carrie, thanks you for the thoughts you express so well. I am reminded we(I) must be aware of what we are taking in these days. I feel frustrated and afraid so often lately the best way to get through the day is do the little things I can. I filled my bird baths, watered the plants and took a bike ride before dark around my small Illinois town. I wonder what feelings and thoughts are filling the hearts of the folks behind all those closed doors, are they as anxious as me. How can we open our closed doors and realize all we have in common? The last thing I do everyday as my head hits the pillow is recite the Serenity Prayer to myself. “Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Sometimes I find courage and wisdom scarce hard to find in myself but I’m able to sleep better knowing they are in reach.
I read this post today on July 4th. In the UK it is polling day - a General Election to 'choose' which policital party will be 'in power' next. Will we see a continuation or a change? Either way your words settled and gave me hope - hope in the daily tasks of love that I do for my family - the dishes, the laundry (the machine is dancing in the kitchen as I type), the food I make with the vegetables I grow. The here and now grounds me and for your words I am grateful. In Friendship - Fleur
Why do we keep wanting to exclude each other from power?
No longer wasting time on divisive winner-take-all (exclude everyone else, but billionaires) politics (like debates) after spending decades searching for answers with Democrats, Republicans, Greens, and Libertarians. Discovered Jesus had the answer all along...loving neighbor means sharing power equally with consensus/spiritual unity. We need multiple parties sharing executive power in proportion to votes earned, so women and minorities are routinely represented and heard in executive decisions. Swiss already proved this model can work well.
We can work together or our union will fall apart (without another brutal civil war), so personally stopped accepting dysfunctional status quo and happily avoiding traditional politics/media paid for by billionaires looking for tax loopholes. Now, voting with integrity for "All of the Above" as all views are important to include in our government, rather than divisively exclude.
The best place to start changing governance systems is in our churches to replace the divisive force of majority rules with the patient listening of consensus/spiritual unity, so people can relearn more natural mutual equal power sharing to advocate for in our government partly based on the monarchy model. If we ever want lasting peace, we need a new birth of equal freedom...no taxation for war without proportional executive representation!
After week in hospital, realized my future role after seminary is to be salesman for God/Jesus/Holy Spirit...not a natural fit, and certainly challenges personal growth. At least Jesus made the pitch easy.
Carrie, This was so very needed by me and all I am sharing this with. It made me cry. It made me think. It made me feel hopeful. For these things and so much more I thank you.
We got a new puppy 3 weeks ago. In my 68 years I have never had a puppy. It was an experience I wanted in my life. Having this puppy at times is so busy and so not easy and I don't think I have been this tired in years. But I thank the good Lord for this gift at this time. He brings such joy! I have to work on patience, always a good thing at this time. I have to pay attention to what I say to him and in what voice I use. I have to work on his training and manners. Jackson makes me slow down and hear everything that I was missing. Everything and I mean everything is new and fun and exciting. All these things I am doing with Jackson are things I need to do for myself every day. I get to look through this precious puppies eyes and what a gift it has been in this sad, confusing times.
Dear Carrie, thank you for providing this safe space for a group of strangers to come together with heart and shape. To share and listen and be present. Deep bows to you. Count me among the grateful.
Last week my spouse and I journeyed to eastern PA for a family memorial. It was a time of reflection for a life well lived and a final resting in the beautiful Amish countryside. As part of that visit we spent some time with the forefathers (and mother Betsy) in old Philadelphia. We spent time in Independence Hall, gazing at the cracked Liberty Bell and visiting the place where Betsy Ross created the flag that is the symbol of who we were and are as a nation. I am still processing it all. The deep conviction of these men to create a place where people could be free. Yes, the writing is of the time (as in “all men”) and yes, the majority of those men were holding slaves. But, as I stood in those rooms, I was filled with a sense of peace. Of the absolute courage it took to come together and say..this is what we believe. All are created equal. And then..those same men walked down the street, found a woman owned business (gotta love it) and said…please create a symbol for all to see and recognize what we mean by these words. So, the hand of the woman, equally courageous, created a symbol that endures. According to the family legend, Betsy Ross did not make a big deal about creating that symbol. She quietly went about her life. She was among the rebellious ones, sewing and creating and quietly living her life.
So…what gives me hope these days is the ones I see quietly making a difference. I keep looking for those who “pick up the shovel”. Those who move among the community doing good every day. Those who don’t need to scream and shout or have a row of flags flying on their front lawns or the fence line of the pasture. I look for those who stop, pause and do good. Who stay grounded with the noise. Who say, I am here, with my needle and my thread and my hands and my heart. Digging deep, finding courage, gathering and keeping hope and community. May it be so.
Carrie thank you for sharing your thoughts and talent. Please come and sing for us in Kansas!!
Thank you Carrie. You are always so eloquent and it is so needed at this time in our country and world. I decided to check out the July 4th broadcast from DC eventhough I wasnt feeling very festive. Such a wonderful rainbow of people singing, dancing and celebrating the United States. It is hard to look at this crowd and not think about the tragedy of January 6. I can't fathom what is happening in this country.
I too work in my garden, watch the birds (house wren parents busy feeding their babies), walk to the lake and look for all the miracles of mother nature. I spend time with family and friends and lead with kindness. Also have been listening to Wiser than me podcast with Julia Louis Dreyfus and reading Mary Oliver.❤️
Thank you Carrie, for your thoughtful words. It has felt like such a treacherous time. And yet, each day there are the daily things that are important to lean into--friends who are in grief or undergoing treatment; the taste of a good strawberry: the basil that is waiting to become pesto. They help me not lose myself to the chaos of "what if?" We lost a beautiful friend, Phil Wiggins, in May, world renown harmonica player, songwriter and National Heritage Fellow. He was a gentle giant in the acoustic blues community. The words of one of his songs , "Love Always" keeps coming back to me, and I am singing it constantly. The chorus is "Love is always within arms reach , help is always within earshot of your cry, redemption is always within, walkin' distance, and the truth is always right in front of your eyes." And, as in circles in me, I feel grounded by something much bigger than the chaos, love-always.
I meet meanness with kindness and calm. Things in my life have never stopped changing. Constant change is here to stay. I have lived through hard times and done hard things. Bad people will do bad things and then they will pass on and I will remain. Scarred and bruised? Maybe.
Good people will do good things that hopefully will remain to heal my bruises and age my scars into more and more character.
On and on I will go. Looking breathlessly for hope.
https://jeffastle.substack.com/publish/home
Thank you, Carrie, for your heartfelt words. I’m feeling so angry - with this country, with this state that allows fireworks to be shot off, with the thoughtless people who shoot off fireworks for days on end until 1:30 am or beyond….I find nothing to celebrate about this day. Thank you for sending this raft of hope.
Thank you! Wise words and sharing, plus a beautiful song make the hope in me bubble back to the top!
I begin my day with a prayer I discovered a while ago by Sue Monk Kidd: "To be fully human, fully myself, to accept all that I am, all that you envision, this is my prayer. Walk with me out to the rim of life beyond security. Take me to the exquisite edge of courage and release me to become." I read Daily Prayer with the Corrymeela Community and being here, Prayers for Curiosity, Justice, and Love, both by Padraig O'Tuama. I'm also working my way, an essay each day, through my fourth John O'Donohue book, Divine Beauty. Reading, silence, and writing is the rhythm of most of my mornings, and then a walk through my neighborhood in the cooler hour of the day, paying attention to what I see, to what sees me. The other morning it was two deer walking down my street and two fawns lying in the grass in unexpected places. This morning I said good morning to a few fellow walkers and their furry companions. I saw a man watering his garden full of flowers and green growing plants; "Your garden is lovely," I said. He smiled and I smiled and he watered on and I walked on. After inadvertently knocking down an exquisite web that I had admired minutes ago, I said I'm sorry to the small spider that landed on the railing nearby. Glimpses of beauty and small acts of kindness. I'm reminded of your words, Carrie: "what we do in love and kindness is all we ever leave behind." Thank you for sharing your love and kindness- I especially loved the option to listen to you read aloud, to hear your words in your voice!
I really try to limit my input. If we just had a news outlet that focused on doing it's best to report only news and not opinion or entertainment. We need to filter out the opinions, sarcasm and blah,blah,blah.
I worry that people will choose not to vote. We need to encourage people to vote.
I learned this recently..No is a complete sentence. So to the noise out there I say NO!
Thank you... just that. 💗
I'm so with you, Carrie - and I think the most hopeful thing I can do is to love one thing every moment we think about it. And love ourselves for trying to make the most hopeful world we can in these trying times. And, to remember that there have always been trying times! It's how we live with them that makes the difference!
Carrie, thanks you for the thoughts you express so well. I am reminded we(I) must be aware of what we are taking in these days. I feel frustrated and afraid so often lately the best way to get through the day is do the little things I can. I filled my bird baths, watered the plants and took a bike ride before dark around my small Illinois town. I wonder what feelings and thoughts are filling the hearts of the folks behind all those closed doors, are they as anxious as me. How can we open our closed doors and realize all we have in common? The last thing I do everyday as my head hits the pillow is recite the Serenity Prayer to myself. “Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Sometimes I find courage and wisdom scarce hard to find in myself but I’m able to sleep better knowing they are in reach.
I read this post today on July 4th. In the UK it is polling day - a General Election to 'choose' which policital party will be 'in power' next. Will we see a continuation or a change? Either way your words settled and gave me hope - hope in the daily tasks of love that I do for my family - the dishes, the laundry (the machine is dancing in the kitchen as I type), the food I make with the vegetables I grow. The here and now grounds me and for your words I am grateful. In Friendship - Fleur
Why do we keep wanting to exclude each other from power?
No longer wasting time on divisive winner-take-all (exclude everyone else, but billionaires) politics (like debates) after spending decades searching for answers with Democrats, Republicans, Greens, and Libertarians. Discovered Jesus had the answer all along...loving neighbor means sharing power equally with consensus/spiritual unity. We need multiple parties sharing executive power in proportion to votes earned, so women and minorities are routinely represented and heard in executive decisions. Swiss already proved this model can work well.
We can work together or our union will fall apart (without another brutal civil war), so personally stopped accepting dysfunctional status quo and happily avoiding traditional politics/media paid for by billionaires looking for tax loopholes. Now, voting with integrity for "All of the Above" as all views are important to include in our government, rather than divisively exclude.
The best place to start changing governance systems is in our churches to replace the divisive force of majority rules with the patient listening of consensus/spiritual unity, so people can relearn more natural mutual equal power sharing to advocate for in our government partly based on the monarchy model. If we ever want lasting peace, we need a new birth of equal freedom...no taxation for war without proportional executive representation!
After week in hospital, realized my future role after seminary is to be salesman for God/Jesus/Holy Spirit...not a natural fit, and certainly challenges personal growth. At least Jesus made the pitch easy.
Carrie, This was so very needed by me and all I am sharing this with. It made me cry. It made me think. It made me feel hopeful. For these things and so much more I thank you.
We got a new puppy 3 weeks ago. In my 68 years I have never had a puppy. It was an experience I wanted in my life. Having this puppy at times is so busy and so not easy and I don't think I have been this tired in years. But I thank the good Lord for this gift at this time. He brings such joy! I have to work on patience, always a good thing at this time. I have to pay attention to what I say to him and in what voice I use. I have to work on his training and manners. Jackson makes me slow down and hear everything that I was missing. Everything and I mean everything is new and fun and exciting. All these things I am doing with Jackson are things I need to do for myself every day. I get to look through this precious puppies eyes and what a gift it has been in this sad, confusing times.
Dear sister-in-heart & soulful matters,
Your words of love and kindness are greatly appreciated.
Dear Carrie, thank you for providing this safe space for a group of strangers to come together with heart and shape. To share and listen and be present. Deep bows to you. Count me among the grateful.
Last week my spouse and I journeyed to eastern PA for a family memorial. It was a time of reflection for a life well lived and a final resting in the beautiful Amish countryside. As part of that visit we spent some time with the forefathers (and mother Betsy) in old Philadelphia. We spent time in Independence Hall, gazing at the cracked Liberty Bell and visiting the place where Betsy Ross created the flag that is the symbol of who we were and are as a nation. I am still processing it all. The deep conviction of these men to create a place where people could be free. Yes, the writing is of the time (as in “all men”) and yes, the majority of those men were holding slaves. But, as I stood in those rooms, I was filled with a sense of peace. Of the absolute courage it took to come together and say..this is what we believe. All are created equal. And then..those same men walked down the street, found a woman owned business (gotta love it) and said…please create a symbol for all to see and recognize what we mean by these words. So, the hand of the woman, equally courageous, created a symbol that endures. According to the family legend, Betsy Ross did not make a big deal about creating that symbol. She quietly went about her life. She was among the rebellious ones, sewing and creating and quietly living her life.
So…what gives me hope these days is the ones I see quietly making a difference. I keep looking for those who “pick up the shovel”. Those who move among the community doing good every day. Those who don’t need to scream and shout or have a row of flags flying on their front lawns or the fence line of the pasture. I look for those who stop, pause and do good. Who stay grounded with the noise. Who say, I am here, with my needle and my thread and my hands and my heart. Digging deep, finding courage, gathering and keeping hope and community. May it be so.