Look at the birds of the air. Break the “magnetic” grip of anxiety. Discover how looking at and considering nature can ground your brain in providence. Anxiety can be like a magnet. It can grab your attention and hold it in its grip. This energy of focus can exhaust […]
mindfulness
The most vulnerable point of change is at the beginning, but if we can catch the little foxes that spoil the vine, those things that would want to kill new growth, then we can find the change. It’s spring here in New Zealand, and for grape growers, it’s the riskiest […]
Sometimes I feel alone in the struggle, but when listen deep I sense a providence. A providence I can lean into. It was the strangest thing I have experienced in a dog’s behaviour. Our family once had a dog that leaned. He could come alongside you, cross his legs […]
We could rake the muck forever, but what about stringing pearls? What will bring the delight of heaven to full song? I recently watched someone restringing a necklace of pearls. With mindful precision, a fine silk cord was taken and inserted through the pearls with a small needle. A […]
We can feel alone, but to have someone there with us helps. He watches over me even in the dark of the night. It’s the comfort of having someone there. I know of a young man that has trouble getting to sleep. At times one of his parents has […]
The practices of your week and day may drain your life, but what practices restore your soul? ‘Oh, that’s so good for the soul’ Sometimes I hear people say that. Sometimes I say it myself. It’s that moment when you feel a restoring of something drained out of you. You […]
A 17th Century Nun Prayed ‘Lord, Thou knowest better than I know myself that I am growing older and someday will be old.’ Recently, I went on a pilgrimage to Jerusalem, a small village here in New Zealand. In 1892, Suzanne Aubert (better known as Mother Mary Joseph) established the congregation […]
It’s a noisy world with lots of stressors wanting our attention, but there is a still small voice longing to be heard, so quiet yourself and listen. I have a pendulum clock on a bookshelf near me. Yesterday, I noticed the pendulum was swinging back and forth freely, but now […]
So many good things go unnoticed, but when we learn to take in the good and let it nourish, then our whole direction of a life can change. My neighbors have some small children. Yesterday, while walking in the garden, one of the little boys ran up to me to […]
We face struggles, so we try to control the uncontrollable, but this brings even more stress. Better to stay in the zone of what we can control – ourselves. It was out of my control. The decision on how they would treat me was beyond my control. Have you ever […]