SOMETIMES

Sometimes
if you move carefully
through the forest

breathing
like the ones
in the old stories

who could cross
a shimmering bed of dry leaves
without a sound,

you come
to a place
whose only task

is to trouble you
with tiny
but frightening requests

conceived out of nowhere
but in this place
beginning to lead everywhere.

Requests to stop what
you are doing right now,
and

to stop what you
are becoming
while you do it,

questions
that can make
or unmake
a life,

questions
that have patiently
waited for you,

questions
that have no right
to go away.

~ David Whyte ~

(Everything is Waiting for You)

Following is a little story I wrote to share with the children in my family and life for Three King's Day. I hope you enjoy it and that you have a blessed Dia de los Reyes!

THREE KINGS DAY!

One Christmas when I was just a little girl, we lived in a place far, far away from my country home across the ocean on an island named Puerto Rico in a town named Ponce.

This is a story of how I came to learn about the true meaning of the Christmas season.

In Puerto Rico, we lived next door to some great people named Milka and Etienne. They had a little girl who was two years old named Milkita. Her grandma, who everyone called Mama, also lived with them. Mama was a very special lady who only had one leg and was in a wheelchair. Milkita and I used to crawl up in bed beside her and she would tell us wonderful stories.

One Christmas night, Mama told me a very special story. We were outside, Mama in her wheelchair and me standing beside her. She told me the story of the Christmas star. We watched for the star to appear and when it finally did, she pointed it out to me. Have you ever seen the Christmas star? It is the brightest star in the sky on Christmas night. When Jesus was born, it was so very bright that the three kings followed it and the star led them to the baby Jesus.

While Mama and I were gazing up at the star, she gently took my hand. She had a present for me! When I opened the little box, it was a necklace with a medallion of the Virgin Mother with baby Jesus. How did Mama know this was exactly what I wanted for Christmas? It remains a mystery, but I still have this very special treasure.

That same evening, there was a large procession of people in the street. It was like a parade but there was only one float….it was a float with a large cross on it.
All of the people following the cross were carrying lit candles, singing, and praising the Lord. I was given a candle and walked with all of our neighbors and the crowd of worshipers to praise the Holy Son.

The people who lived on the island celebrated Christmas, but their true celebration happened after Christmas on January 6th. This is the day that is known as El Dia de los Reyes or Three Kings Day. It is the day when the Kings named Melchior, Caspar and Balthazar arrived in Bethlehem to find the Messiah and bring him gifts of myrrh, frankincense and gold. Three Kings Day is the day everyone exchanged gifts, not on December 25th. This day is also known as the Epiphany or the celebration of the nativity.

I hope this story helps you to remember the true reason behind this season of joy and gifts and laughter. Remember the Baby Jesus and how the three kings traveled very far with only the Christmas star to guide them and bring our Lord gifts and praise his holy name!

For Presence

For Presence

Awaken to the mystery of being here and enter the quiet immensity of your own presence.

Have joy and peace in the temple of your senses.

Receive encouragement when new frontiers beckon.

Respond to the call of your gift and the courage to follow its path.

Let the flame of anger free you of all falsity.

May warmth of heart keep your presence aflame.

May anxiety never linger about you.

May your outer dignity mirror an inner dignity of soul.

Take time to celebrate the quiet miracles that seek no attention.

Be consoled in the secret symmetry of your soul.

May you experience each day as a sacred gift woven around the heart of wonder.

~ John O'Donohue ~

(To Bless the Space Between Us)

Red Bird by Mary Oliver

Red bird came all winter
firing up the landscape
as nothing else could.

Of course I love the sparrows,
those dun-colored darlings,
so hungry and so many.

I am a God-fearing feeder of birds.
I know He has many children,
not all of them bold in spirit.

Still, for whatever reason--
perhaps because the winter is so long
and the sky so black-blue,

or perhaps because the heart narrows
as often as it opens--
I am grateful

that red bird comes all winter
firing up the landscape
as nothing else can do.

*Photos are courtesy of friends on Flickr! So many were making comments on these pictures that I didn't want to take credit for them; only can take credit in 'finding' them to post!

Christmas!

Ok, I finally am getting in the mood for Christmas! I went shopping on my lunch hour at Marshall's. There was so much really neat stuff! Not sure if any of my family check this blog, so I don't want to give anything away, except to say that I bought totally useless but really pretty things! :)

It seems like once I am happy with a purchase, I get more in the mood for Christmas and excited to find more 'perfect' gifts! Is anyone else like that? I'm still having trouble deciding what to get our granddaughter who will be 3 on Dec. 19th. She's a bit too little for Barbie dolls. Her mom got her a baby doll, coat, boots, a v-tech...same things I would've gotten her! I have gotten her some clothes, but really want to find her the perfect toy and at this point don't have a clue! Does anyone out there have a 3 year old they are buying for this year? If so, I would love some ideas.

I know it is not all about the presents and the 'reason for the season' must remain in the forefront of my mind; but let's face it, it's just a blast to buy presents for people. It is for me anyway! So ho-ho-ho; time to do some wrapping!

Remembrance

In one of the stars,
I shall be living.
In one of them,
I shall be laughing.
And so it will be
as if all the stars
were laughing
when you look
at the sky at night.
~ The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupery

In memory of all those who lost their lives at Pearl Harbor.

Just Looking For Some Peace

Live your life so the fear of death can never enter your heart. Trouble no one about their religion; respect others in their views, and demand that they respect yours. Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life. Seek to make your life long and of service to your people. Prepare a noble death song for the day when you go over the great divide. Always give a word or sign of salute when meeting or passing a stranger if in a lonely place. Show respect to all people, but grovel to none. When you arise in the morning, give thanks for the light, for your life and strength. Give thanks for your food and for the joy of living. If you see no reason for giving thanks, the fault lies in yourself. Touch not the poisonous firewater that makes wise ones turn to fools and robs them of their visions. When your time comes to die, be not like those whose hearts are filled with fear of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different way. Sing your death song, and die like a hero going home.
-Tecumseh (March 1768 - October 5, 1813)
a famous Native American Leader of the Shawnee

Native American Wisdom

A Native American grandfather was talking to his grandson about how he felt. He said, "I feel as if I have two wolves fighting in my heart. One wolf is the vengeful, angry, violent one. The other wolf is the loving, compassionate one. " The grandson asked him, "Which wolf will win the fight in your heart?" The grandfather answered: "The one I feed."

~ Native American Story ~

Quotes on Books and Reading!

"There is no mistaking a real book when one meets it. It is like falling in love, and like that colossal adventure it is an experience of great social import. Even as the tranced swain, the booklover yearns to tell others of his bliss. He writes letters about it, adds it to the postscript of all manner of communications, intrudes it into telephone messages, and insists on his friends writing down the title of the find. Like the simple-hearted betrothed, once certain of his conquest, “I want you to love her, too!” It is a jealous passion also. He feels a little indignant if he finds that any one else has discovered the book, too." Christopher Morley

"A good book is the purest essence of a human soul." Thomas Carlyle

"I must say that I find television very educational. The minute somebody turns it on, I go to the library and read a book." Groucho Marx

"Let us read and let us dance - two amusements that will never do any harm to the world." Voltaire


"Every farmer, every laborer, every fisherman can both read and write — and we think that books instead of being locked up in cupboards, far from the sight of students, should be distributed as widely as possible. The books of our library are therefore passed from hand to hand without returning to the library shelves perhaps for years." Jules Verne - Journey to the Center of the Earth


"Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and speculation at a standstill." Barbara Tuchman





"You are the same today that you are going to be in five years from now except for two things: the people with whom you associate and the books you read." Charles Jones



"There is more treasure in books than in all the pirate's loot on Treasure Island . . . and best of all, you can enjoy these riches every day of your life." Walt Disney






"When you read a book as a child, it becomes a part of your identity in a way that no other reading in your whole life does." Meg Ryan (from the movie You've Got Mail)




"When I get a little money I buy books. If any is left, then I buy food and clothes." Erasmus






"Words that enlighten the soul are more precious than jewels." Hazrat Inayat Khan







"One glance at a book and you hear the voice of another person, perhaps someone dead for 1,000 years. To read is to voyage through time." -Carl Sagan, astronomer and writer (1934-1996)


"What really knocks me out is a book that, when you're all done reading it, you wish the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it." J.D. Salinger, writer (1919- )






"A room without books is like a body without a soul." Cicero






"Every book, every volume you see here, has a soul. The soul of the person who wrote it and of those who read it and lived and dreamed with it. Every time a book changes hands, every time someone runs his eyes down its pages, its spirit grows and strengthens ..." Carlos Ruiz Zafon (The Shadow of the Wind)


"I would rather be poor in a cottage full of books than a king without the desire to read." Thomas Babington Macaulay


"A man is known by the books he reads" Ralph Waldo Emerson


"Some women have a weakness for shoes... I can go barefoot if necessary. I have a weakness for books." Oprah Winfrey





"Literature is my Utopia. Here I am not disenfranchised. No barrier of the senses shuts me out from the sweet, gracious discourses of my book friends. They talk to me without embarrassment or awkwardness. " Helen Keller

"Just the knowledge that a good book is awaiting one at the end of a long day makes that day happier." Kathleen Norris (Hands Full of Living, 1931)

"I cannot live without books." Thomas Jefferson

Blue Monday!

My contribution to "Blue Monday" are pictures of the Pacific Ocean and the Humpback Whale with baby (though you can't really see the baby in the pictures) that my husband saw during a June trip to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico which included an ocean cruise. It was very unusual to see a humpback whale during this time of the year, so everyone was very excited. The ocean is so blue and the sky follows suit; the wonders of God's creation were experienced first-hand!

To participate in 'Blue Monday', go to Smiling Sally's Blog, link is above on title of this blog! You can join in the fun of sharing blue pictures also.

Humpbacks

There is, all around us, this country of original fire.

You know what I mean.

The sky, after all, stops at nothing so something has to be

holding our bodies in its rich and timeless stables or else

we would fly away.

Off Stellwagan, off the Cape, the humpbacks rise.

Carrying their tonnage of barnacles and joy

they leap through the water, they nuzzle back under it

like children at play. They sing, too.

And not for any reason you can’t imagine.

Three of them rise to the surface near the bow of the boat,

then dive deeply, their huge scarred fluke

stipped to the air. We wait, not knowing

just where it will happen; suddenly

they smash through the surface, someone begins

shouting for joy and you realize it is yourself as they surge

upward and you see for the first time

how huge they are, as they breach,

and dive, and breach again through the shining blue flowers

of the split water and you see them for some unbelievable

part of a moment against the sky

—like nothing you’ve ever imagined —

like the myth of the fifth morning

galloping out of darkness, pouring

heavenward, spinning; then they crash back

under those black silks

and we all fall back together into that wet fire,

you know what I mean.

I know a captain who has seen them

playing with seaweed, swimming

through the green islands,

tossing the slippery branches into the air.

I know a whale that will come to the boat whenever

she can, and nudge it gently along the bow

with her long flipper.

I know several lives worth living.

Listen, whatever it is you try

to do with your life, nothing will ever dazzle you

like the dreams of your body, its spirit

longing to fly while the dead-weight bones

toss their dark mane and hurry

back into the fields of glittering

fire where everything,

even the great whale, throbs with song.

~ Mary Oliver ~
(American Primitive)