I recently watched some guys putting down a concrete path. Just before they laid the concrete down, a mesh of steel reinforcing was placed into the trench. The concrete was then poured around this mesh until hidden away. Now I have seen concrete work done where there was no reinforcing […]
recovery
189 posts
Rebuilding Walls have weakened, crumbling, sinking low to ground, sagged like our spirits as they view the sorry edifice before us
I thought I could handle this one myself. That I didn’t need help from others. A ‘pioneering, do-it-yourself’ attitude had worked its way into the rebuilding of my life. I thought to myself ‘I don’t need others to know what is going on, I can handle it all, it will work out ok.’ […]
Sometimes the knife of life drives right to the core of your being. It wrenches around till your bleeding in grief. Your speechless in shock, numb in movement and it feels like the very essence of life has been sucked out of you. You mourn because there is no other worthy […]
Do you like questions being asked of you? I don’t think any of us like that feeling of potential shame and exposure. Ever since Adam hid himself from the gentle questions of a loving God we have chosen to avoid, hide and lie to camouflage the obviousness of a problem. I […]
The Habit Poem I am your constant companion. I am your greatest helper or your heaviest burden. I will push you onward or drag you down to failure.
Christmas time can be one of those times when you can feel miserable. Often this is because in our minds we play a little comparison game. We compare our lot in life, our situation, and our ability to give, to what we perceive in others.
Recently I have been reading and practising Mindfulness. I have found it very helpful, so I thought it would be good to get some advice and guidance around Mindfulness. I tracked down Richard Johnston who has a website dedicated to Christian Mindfulness. So I sent him some questions. 1. What is […]
Something happened here but it didn’t happen overnight. As a gardener I have been working on an old homestead garden for two days every week for around two years. When I first started, the garden was in bad shape. Over grown with weeds, dead trees and sick looking plants it […]
The rawness of the meat was either inviting or disturbingly unappealing. Stories shared, honesty held as holy, the powerless being empowered. For some it was too raw, too up close and uncomfortable for them to receive the gift God was offering. To take in this gift there would have to […]
It’s his favourite resting place. I have a large comfortable chair in my office. With solid armrests and comfortable cushions sometimes it’s a tussle between myself and our two dogs who gets to sit on it. Our nervous pound pooch Tyler particularly likes it. He climbs his large body into […]
As I write this I have the sound of birds singing, a gentle water fall and a trickling stream. There is a rhythm to this. Every 15 seconds it stops and repeats, stops and repeats, stops and repeats. I am not sitting in the middle of some leafy grove, but […]
I almost overlooked it. There it was, a small little camellia flower. Deep pink, just beginning to burst out of its green cocoon. I had almost walked passed it without noticing its gift to me. While I was busy pruning and looking at some straggly looking shrubs, I saw this […]
I’m not a dancer, but I am a musician. I believe that our Mental Health is closely linked to the rhythms we keep. I have played guitar since I was thirteen and one of the little practice exercises I used to do in the early days was to play a […]
I’ve had a taste and now I want more. I’m not being greedy or demanding or ‘push in line’ about it. It’s just that I have had a taste and I long for more. There are wafts of joy coming from the kitchen. There is a party going on and […]
Step 11 in the 12 Step Recovery tradition brings some challenges. For many people who try to follow the 12 Steps, Step 11 is a step they either love or hate: “Sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, as we understand God, praying only for knowledge of […]
It was so delightful that you could smell the perfume of joy sweep the room. She was in her 30’s and had been diagnosed with a psychotic illness. Voices in her head were her constant companion. She was into some New Age stuff mixed with Catholic teachings and a liberal dose […]
I loved to watch planes as a child. On the farm in which I grew up on we would often get fertilizer spread by aeroplane. It was exciting to see that noisy plane swoop low over the fields and hills and see trails of white powder spreading over the landscape. […]
‘Sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never harm me’ is a fallacy. Words can hurt. They can cut right to the core of your being and can echo around and around in your mind and drive you to despair. Just think of the abuse of text bullying. […]
Sometimes I think I am like a cow. I ruminate over things, chewing my thoughts this way and that. Trying to extract something good out of them. Much of my life I have worked on farms, I even have a University Degree in Agriculture. I humorously call this my first […]