A Lot to be Thankful For!

“The key to life is to be grateful and give thanks for everything that happens -- both the happiness and the sadness.” Author unknown

This quote is on the bottom of my calendar this month.  I’ve checked this same calendar numerous times this month; today is the first time I noticed it. Perhaps that’s because I asked for an inspiration for this blog this morning.  Ask and you shall receive! In any event ‘being grateful’ is a perfect topic for the week before Thanksgiving. 

When our children were young, it was a tradition in our household to go around the dinner table and state the things for which you were thankful. As they grew older we seem to have lost the tradition but now that they have families of their own I think that we should re-initiate it. It’s very easy to say that we are thankful for the happiness in our lives: the new job, the new house, our families, etc. But how can we be thankful for the sadness? How can we express our gratitude for something that has brought us sadness: the loss of a job, illness, the death of a friend or family member? That’s a little more difficult.

Earlier this year, after having attended 7 funerals in a few months, I wrote an entry in my Nuts and Bolts blog about ‘Life Lessons learned through death.’ Some of the lessons I learned were that we need to keep in touch more with those we love, that death happens no matter what your religious beliefs are and to never be afraid to say ‘I love you.’ But can I truly say that I’m grateful for these sad events?  That’s a tough one!

I thought about how to pull the positive out of these unhappy situations and find something for which to be grateful. When my mother died I was deeply saddened; but I was also grateful for the days I had to be with her while she was ill. Usually when you lose a job you find something much more rewarding and the same with a bad relationship; in time you’ll find someone more suited to your needs and wants. Sometimes a prolonged illness will give you time to think about your life and renew your faith.  Sometimes we just need to sift through the ashes a little longer before we can rise up again.

This Thursday is Thanksgiving and we all have reasons to be thankful, for both the happiness that we enjoy and the sadness that gives us grace and strength. If you don’t have a sharing tradition in place, why not start one this year and if you do have one, reinforce it. Express your gratitude to your family and friends.  Make it truly a day of gratefulness and not just a turkey fest.

And from my house to yours:

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

Our God-Given Gifts

Our gifts from God are not unique in and of themselves.  What is unique is the way in which we choose to use them. A few of you responded that you have the gift of love. The responses showed the many ways that this gift is used. Someone mentioned motherly love. This is a special gift that creates a bond between mother and child, usually forever. When shared it’s a double blessing, two gifts in one, giving and receiving. Not only motherly love but the ability to love anyone unconditionally is a gift that we are all given but must work to cultivate.  I saw a sign once that said something like, ‘I’m trying to be the person that my dog thinks that I am.’ Dogs instinctively love unconditionally, maybe there’s a lesson to be learned there.

Another gift that a few people mentioned was healing. One person that mentioned that gift is a nurse; she wrote about being there to help patch up and comfort injured players on her child’s softball team. This is a true example of both healing and love.  It would be much easier to say “This is not my child or my problem. Go tell your mother you got hurt.”  But instead, out come the tissues, the antiseptic, the Band-Aids, all applied with a gentle hand, a smile and a word of encouragement. 

The other prevalent responses were talents, baking, writing, painting, etc. We all have something that we do well but if we’re really passionate about it, we share it. I bought a Halloween cake last week at a bake sale. Someone had put a lot of time and effort into making this cake look like a graveyard, complete with marshmallow ghosts and Vienna wafers with R.I.P.  written on them in frosting. Then handed it over for a bake sale! Why?  Because someone they loved was a Girl Scout who needed to raise money for their troop. My husband is an artist and on numerous occasions has donated one of his creations to be auctioned or raffled for a fundraiser. I touched on why I write in my last blog and other writers have re-iterated that reason.

Sometimes when we think about gifts from God we concentrate on the big charismatic things and forget about the little things that God has given us. Pay attention to your gifts this week and see the value in the small blessings you give and receive; like the ability to change a child’s tear into a smile or the joyous look in someone’s eyes when you appreciate their efforts or maybe someone touched you with their gift. Whatever your gift or talent may be, use it to its fullest capacity this week with passion and joy.  God smiles when we use His gifts!

Let me know you used your gifts this week or what gifts you received that brought you joy.  God bless!  Have a joyous week!

Why I Blog

What has made you stronger in your journey? I didn’t get any responses to that question but I did get a number of questions which I feel merit a response.

Why do you feel the need to write and share your thoughts about your intimate life with others?

 God has bestowed certain talents and gifts on all of us.  I believe that I was given the ability to write so that I could share my thoughts.  The details that I share are ones that I feel others can relate to.  They’re intimate to me but if it helps someone to put their lives in perspective then I’m happy to share them. I don’t share details that would put burden on or embarrass another member of my friends and family.

Always wondered why people need to do it?   

It’s not so much that I need to do but that I want to do it.  If I learned nothing else on my recent Pilgrimage I learned that we are not singular individuals as much as we are a community of God’s people and as such we should reach out to each other.

Are you trying to influence others? 

I’m not trying to directly influence people but if they read my blog and they laugh a little or if it sparks an idea or provokes a thought then it benefits everyone. Our days get very complicated sometimes and we don’t even realize it until it’s too late and we’re all stressed out. If I’ve made you laugh or stop to think about something then I too have accomplished something. 

Do you have purpose or a message that you think that you want to send?

This was the toughest question because it made me look at my motivation for writing not only this blog, but the other two blogs as well. People write blogs for all different reasons. For Julie (of Julie and Julia) it was a way to document her adventures as she cooked her way through Julia Child’s cookbook. For some it’s a way to educate on a certain topic and for others it’s a personal journal shared with anyone who may be interested.

I have always enjoyed writing and telling stories, especially humorous ones. I was always hearing “You should write a book.” I truly believe that everyone has a book in their lives; but who has the time to write it and, unless you’re famous, who wants to read it? When I started my first blog (Nuts and Bolts) it was with the idea that I could hone my writing skills while possibly making people laugh or think (depending on the topic).  The Garden Blog came after I had spent a year with a Community Supported Garden and although we ate well, we still composted a lot. The idea for that blog was to share lessons learned and recipes and hopefully get the same back from my readers. This blog Spiritual Wanderings came out of a sociological interest that I have in people’s beliefs and philosophies. Having completed a Master’s program in theology and working in an industry that has a very diverse population has fed this interest. When I proposed the idea I got positive feedback.  So here we are!

I admire what you are doing, but why do you care or think that others care?

I may be naïve but I have a belief that there is a fundamental goodness in most people and that we all need a little nurturing now and again. My blogs are only sent to people who have responded that they would like to see them or occasionally because I think that the subject matter would interest them. I have had some people tell me that they’re not interested and they are removed.

Basically, I blog because I enjoy it and I enjoy the interaction that it sometimes sparks. And it’s fun!!

What gifts have been bestowed on you?  How do you use them?

Na zdrowie!

I left off the last blog with a question, “How do you define spirituality and where has your journey taken you?” I received a variety of answers, not only in the comment section but also in private emails. I saw two main themes emerge from the responses:  1)  a strong belief in God’s power  and love throughout  our lives and 2) a hunger  and searching for that belief with some trying to find it and others trying desperately to hold on to it. Either way I believe that we’re all on the same journey just on different parts of the road. No one ever said that the journey would be clear sailing downhill nor should we believe that it’s all an uphill battle.

I recently returned from a Pilgrimage to the Holy Land. I had no idea what to expect.  Would it truly be a Pilgrimage or would it be more like a vacation? The word pilgrimage to me conjures up visions of wandering around a desert on foot, sleeping under the stars and eating off the land. However I knew that we had a tour bus, a hotel room and restaurants. So just what about this trip would constitute a pilgrimage? I soon found out.

Before we even got on the plane we faced our first challenge.  We were one group of 36 people speaking two different languages. Some spoke English, some spoke Polish and others could manage both. Somehow we all managed to get on the plane, arrive in Israel, reclaim our luggage and get on the bus to start the tour (at 6:30 a.m. after very little sleep on our 10+ hour flight).  Hence the second challenge!

We started our day by visiting the ruins of Caesarea and then headed off to visit the Sanctuary of Stella Maris and have Mass (which was half in English and half in Polish). We continued on to Tiberius and eventually checked into our hotel.  At the welcome dinner we were divided between 4 or 5 tables but the 6 of us who were totally English speaking stuck together as did the totally Polish speaking people. Despite Fr. Dawid’s (our spiritual leader) attempts to integrate us, we seemed to be functioning as two separate groups.

By the middle of the trip things started to change.  One evening, a couple sat at our table for dinner.  They didn’t speak English and we didn’t speak Polish.  We tried talking to each other but it was awkward at best even with gesturing. But when Val, the husband raised up his glass and said “na zdrowie!” It didn’t take rocket science to know that he was offering his glass in friendship. We still tried to communicate but when things were unclear someone would raise their glass and say “na zdrowie!” and smile. A smile translates well in any language.

Throughout the trip as we followed the footsteps of Jesus I slowly saw our group becoming not 2 separate groups of travelers but one group of pilgrims. When we realized that someone was missing we were all concerned and when another fell sick we inquired about their health and prayed for them.    Sometimes we need to be more childlike and not let simple barriers like language get in the way.

  

The day we went to Bethlehem I knew that we had reached a new level of understanding.  There was a large crowd of people in line waiting to enter the Cave of the Nativity and with the stone floors and steps it was potentially dangerous. Being only 5 feet tall it’s very easy for me to get lost in a crowd.  But more than once I felt a hand on my back pushing me through the crowd and back into our group.  It was one of the Polish men from our group helping to keep me safe.

As our group entered the cave I noticed that two men stood, one on either side, holding back the crowd until our group was safely through; one Polish speaking (the same one who had helped me through the crowd) the other, English speaking.  They didn’t previously know each other and they hadn’t planned this with words, they instinctively knew that it was the right thing to do.

We started this trip as mostly strangers with two different languages but ended it as pilgrims walking in the footsteps of Jesus and taking care of each other.  We’re all back home and paths have diverged; but for ten days we walked the same paths on our spiritual journey.  I believe that we’re all better for having faced the initial frustrations and are now stronger as we continue on our separate journeys.

Dziękuję my new friends!  Thank you!

What has made you stronger in your journey?

My Holistic Approach to Blogging

Welcome to my brand new blog, Spiritual Wanderings.  I have always believed that as beings composed of mind, body and spirit we need to keep a nurturing balance between the three. It occurred to me that my Nuts and Bolts blog feeds your mind, either by making you laugh or making you think, depending on the content. My Back to the Garden blog discusses ways to feed your body using nutritious foods from the garden. But what about your spirit, how do we nurture that component?

What is spirituality? Spirituality means different things to everyone. Some tie it to religious beliefs, others to philosophical theories and others to their mere existence and views on life.  Wikipedia (whatever happened to Webster’s?) describes it as “an  inner path enabling a person to discover the essence of their being.”   

For me spirituality encompasses all of these components. My religious beliefs play a major part but so do the philosophies I’ve encountered as well as my life experiences. My objective for this blog is expressed in the title Spiritual Wanderings. The topics will vary, they will be whatever happens to “wander” into my mind (sounds a little scary, doesn’t it). Basically, I will pose a question and give you my musings on it.  Your part will be to reply with your thoughts, comments and questions. Together we can spark some lively discussions. However, we must all keep a positive perspective and respect each other’s beliefs and opinions.

In this initial posting I’ll provide a little pertinent background on myself. My religious background is Roman Catholic, born & raised, 12 years Catholic school, graduated from St. Joseph’s University (after a 15 year hiatus from the church) and completed graduate studies at St. Charles Seminary. My hiatus was from the church not from God.  I tend to think of it as my desert wandering period, searching but not sure for what. While at St. Joe’s, I took a class called Church in Crisis. One of the assignments was to write our   spiritual journey. As I wrote, a lot of things started to seem clearer to me and I eventually realized, like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz, that there’s no place like home. What I needed was in my own backyard. So with great joy I returned to the Church where I have served as lector, Eucharistic minister, religious education instructor (high school students, adults seeking initiation to the faith & Baptism preparation classes for parents of infants).

As for philosophy, I can take it in small doses.  Too much gives me a headache! It interests me but I need small chunks at a time to digest. In college I took a Philosophy of Art class.  I figured that since my husband is an artist it would be fun discussing the different pieces explored in the curriculum.  By the end of the course I didn’t want to look at another work of art.  Velvet Elvis’ and poker playing dogs were good enough for me!

How do you define spirituality and where has your spiritual path led you? I look forward to hearing from you as we journey together in this blog.