Yesterday and today things began to resume a more normal household pace, with one exception… the weather.  Since moving from The Quiet Place, in the high northwestern mountains of North Carolina, to live with my son and his family in Des Moines, Iowa, one things stands out, above the volume of many voices under one roof.  It is bitterly cold here, more so than in the tranquil mountains, which were my home for twenty years.  The cacophony of calls, responses, dismay, and joy, occasionally falling into intermittent quiet, actually slip into a pattern, a family symphony, if you will.  But the concert takes on another life when there is a blizzard, blowing outside, and the low is -20 and the high is -7.  Other than hearing and seeing each other you feel each other.  You are closed-in together with a mountain of snow, gradually building with each snowflake, outside the doors and windows.  It is in these tender times you can feel the heart and spirit of the others.  And when you feel the heart and spirit of another you understand, on a deeper level, why they are frustrated, or are dealing with some hurt feelings, or maybe even growing angry because a basketball game is missed, due to weather.  There is no escaping the family in these conditions.  It is, what it is, and it is the time we have been given to be together… really together.  So, the old familiar boardgames come out, Monopoly, Uno, Charades, and even Twister.  And with energies channeled into the game of the moment things settle into playful cheers and jeers, for a while.  It can be a test of wills, or it can be the golden opportunity to patiently see how things unfold through it all.  And through it all there is love.  This morning my eight year old grandson said something that stuck with me.  My 4 year old granddaughter wanted to resume the game of Twister from last night.  He was not ready to do so.  Then he said, in defense of his position, countering his sister’s persistence that he play.  It was, “If you could make everyone do what you want them to do, it would be pretty boring.”  True words.  We all must do what we are called to do, even when it is not what others want us to do, even when the others are those who really love us, and whom we love too. 

          The reading I have chosen today is from Luke 2:41-50

The Reading

January 13, 2024

“ Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. ⁴² When he was twelve years old, they went up to the festival, according to the custom. ⁴³ After the festival was over, while his parents were returning home, the boy Jesus stayed behind in Jerusalem, but they were unaware of it. ⁴⁴ Thinking he was in their company, they traveled on for a day. Then they began looking for him among their relatives and friends. ⁴⁵ When they did not find him, they went back to Jerusalem to look for him. ⁴⁶ After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. ⁴⁷ Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers. ⁴⁸ When his parents saw him, they were astonished. His mother said to him, “Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.”

⁴⁹ “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”^{[a] 50} But they did not understand what he was saying to them.” Luke 2:41-50.

Today I was still held by God’s words, when told I was doing it all wrong, backwards.  And those thoughts brought me back to how God followed with direction and guidance.  So, I returned to my journal page of April 7, 2020, and read the written words I wish to share with you today.

 April 7, 2020

And God said

“It Is All Within”

      And so, after listening to my whining and frustration patiently and quietly, God said, “everything you are talking about, everyone you are talking about, every issue you are talking about can be resolved by going within, first, before you let frustration turn into anger, before frustration rolls into a feeling of helplessness.  Challenge frustration and anger with rejection before the energies draw you into a feeling of helplessness.  You have all I have, within you.  Do not seek validation.  Seek wisdom in the light of My grace, and you will be strong all your days.  Your strength is within, and it comes from Me.  I AM your strength.  Strength can be difficult to accept, because you want someone to side with you, support your position, cheer you on with your cause.  But your strength does not come from causing another to appear less than you.  Strength is not belittling another or making light of their situation.  When you put others down, you never feel better, you do not feel lighter, you certainly do not feel happy or joyful.

          “For all the reasons above, and more, I will not cheer your cause against another, or agree with you as you walk a path that will lead you away from Me.  But I also will never leave thee.  I AM forever with thee.  I will take your hand and whisper, encouraging you to stay near to Me.  My ways are not the ways of the world created by man.  The world teaches you that you have every right to be frustrated, upset, angry, or totally enraged, reacting to another’s action.  This is not true.  You have no right to create more frustration, anger, or rage.  You do have a responsibility to create love, and light, and peace to counter the negative energies which are created.  But to do this requires spiritual maturity.  You must grow in spirit ways before you can turn the other cheek in the face of anger.  However, it is in this way, by turning the other cheek, by loving those who would curse you that the energies of darkness and shadow will dissipate and vanish.  When My children rise-up to counter hatred with love, greed with charity, coldness and arrogance with compassion then the shadowy, dark energies, which inundate the world, will dissolve in the light created by those who are willing to deliver My ways to Earth.  It will be easy to recognize My ways because they are of The Light.  Always remember, My Light, My Love, and every answer you will ever need has already been given unto you.  It is all within you, now and forevermore.  It is a vast and unending treasure chest prepared for thee, just for thee, by Me.  Your strength, your power, comes from following My ways, and using all I have given unto thee to live your life upon Earth in a divine light, growing stronger and wiser within My grace.”

          The reading I have chosen today is from Luke 2:39-40

The Reading

January 11, 2024

“When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. ⁴⁰ And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him.” Luke 2:39-40.