VLA

Let Freedom Ring!

Fig. 1 The flag and gazebo at Lake Ella.

A few weeks ago, I got this idea to pray "the Patriotic Rosary" at Lake Ella on Independence Day, the 4th of July.  I emailed people, many said they would come, and then as the day got closer, more and more people were not able to be there.  "That's OK!" I said to myself, "I shall pray by myself if I have to."  Originally I was going to walk around the lake while praying, but as it seemed there would be in-climate weather, I opted for the Gazebo (see Fig.2).  It seemed that all was against this event!  It was going to be pouring down rain, my printer stopped working (so I had to write the prayer handout by hand), and I was probably going to be by myself!!

Well, Our Lady had obviously set this one up!  Five people from my church came (four of which I had NOT emailed), and three homeless vets and a couple of passers-by joined in.  We sang "America", "America the Beautiful", "The Star Spangled Banner", "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "God Bless America". It all ended with one of the homeless vets, Ernie, spontaneously jumping up, saluting, and saying the "Pledge of Allegiance".

Fig. 2  The weather in Tallahassee on July 4th.

The rain held back until everyone had returned to their cars, then the sky opened up and poured down a torrential rain! God poured down his blessings! (Fig. 2).  I hung out with the homeless vests for a little while. Parker had been on a submarine in the Pacific and got a kick out of talking about geophysics, David played a song on my guitar he had written, and Ernie was trying to get their cell phones to charge and was hoping I knew some Jim Croce tunes (which I didn't). When I left, they thanked me profusely, and I thanked them for their service and all they had done for our country!

Happiness

"Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness". This was the topic of the documentary I watched on Netflix this morning. It was an interesting show..."Happy", what is happiness, what makes people happy, how is it defined. The thing I noticed the most was that I am not used to seeing happy people on tv. When I DID see happy people on tv, it made me smile!

It made me think about what I listen to on the radio, and what I watch on tv shows and commercials, billboards, and magazines.  For a nation where the pursuit of happiness is a stated goal, we sure surround ourselves with depressing, alarming, loud, sensual, shallow, and meaningless images and information.
                       

Ephesians 6:17 tells us to put on the Helmet of Salvation. It is the part of the armor of God that protects our minds, by putting on the mind of Christ.  This new year, I am going to try to block out these negative images and surround myself with happiness, good spiritual thoughts, beauty and the arts, deep thoughts, and things that make you go "hmmm".

Ze Plane! ze plane!

Last month I took a journey to fantasy island! Do you remember that show?  A set of strangers would arrive on an island via a small airplane, they were met by a man in a white suit and their fantasies would be "granted".  By the end they would all learn something valuable about themselves.

      

On July 19th, I embarked upon a journey with 5 'strangers'...a skilled middle school teacher, a family man-politician, a business man of many hats, a retired aviator, and a quiet gentleman with a passion for helping others.  After a three hour drive to Pensacola, we arrived at the Naval Aviation Museum, were greated by a man in a white uniform, Captain Miller, and we all cried with enthusiasm "Ze Planes! ze planes!"

Eureka! Oh Dear...

I have spent years trying to understand why I can't seem to keep my house consistently clean.  Its not like I don't like it clean.  I have a good sense for design, and am pretty organized.  I will even get it looking perfect and by the end of a day or two it seems to be back in chaos.

I recently had a discussion with a friend about how our families communicate.  She likened her family to the movie "My Big Fat Greek Wedding".  Lots of talking, being direct, boisterous, etc.  I pondered the character of my family and decided it was an Indiana Jones/Lara Croft family.  We were either working on a masterpiece, teaching about what we have been thinking about, or off to some adventure.   When we are done...the house is a mess.  When we are "in the zone", we must be reminded to eat, to sleep, to shower...and to put our dishes away.  Scrubbing pans just doesn't have the same appeal as doing research on the internet to figure out how to make Water Rockets or doing Bungee Ballet!! 

Hot stuff

The devastating fires in Colorado and our little heat wave in Tallahassee have got me thinking about...you guessed it, Global Warming.

I bet much of the population in Arizona (a cozy 115 degrees at Yuma Airport on June 27th), and many other places in the U.S. are pondering this great question.  Come on! Admit it!  It has crossed your mind this week...

I am going to offer you a way of thinking about this you may not have considered.  I will come back to this...bear with me :-)

Some of you may or may not know that I participate in something called "Prayer ministry".  Several churches around these parts have what we call "healing services".  Its not what you might think, with people yelling "be healed" or anything.  It is actually a very somber, peaceful, and humbling experience.  Many people come who have need of physical, spiritual or emotional comfort and trust us enough to pray for/with them.  Over the years I have prayed for many people with major physical illnesses.  I don't have a life threatening condition myself, and I could never even imagine the spiritual, mental, emotional and physical struggle is brings into one's life.  However, I have watched several people go through this struggle as they come face-to-face with their own faith in God and their faith in themselves.  The human response to such a struggle is quite often heroic (though it may not feel that way).

This week I prayed with two people who have cancer in their lives.  One had just found out her brother had cancer, and was incredibly worried and had spent a lot of time struggling with the diagnosis.  She spent hours on the internet, researching.  Her brain was so full of facts, symptoms, misdiagnoses possibilities, cures, etc.  She was a bundle of nerves.  Was it real? Was it true? Could it be fixed? What could have caused it?

The second woman had been struggling for 3 years with the disease.  It was quite clear to her that she had cancer, it didn't matter where it came from or what caused it.  She was more interested in how to cope with the situation.  How was she going to get through her next CT scan.  Was she allowed to ask God to heal her, or should she "offer it up", or both?  How was she going to live without cancer "being" her life?

With the greatest respect to each of these extremely brave souls, I would like to reflect on global climate change using their responses to their situations. Perhaps it is time to shift from asking "Is global warming real?", "Can it be fixed?", and "Did we cause it?"  to "How are we going to live with this?", "What do we need to do to survive?", "How do we ride this out before it starts getting cool again?"

Just a thought!  I have a lot of other thoughts about this, but I think I will save them for another post!

The new Olympic event - Fibromyalgia

"Sometimes you hurt so much, you just want to stop...but you have to keep going".  This is not a direct quote, but it is generally how a commercial started as we were watching the olympic swimming trials.  (btw: Michael Phelps was one of the two to make it for the Individual Medley).  This quote is the general "state of being" for someone with Fibromyalgia...almost everyday.  You can either sit around and hurt, or you can do stuff and hurt...with the possibility of distracting yourself enough to not notice.  It is a strange thing to spend the day doing normal things, and by the end of the day you have exercised as much will power and determination as an Olypmic swimmer.

Had my annual doctor's visit today.  I am perfectly healthy...need a little exercise.  I was reminded by my doctor to take care of myself.  I don't take any medications to manage my condition, but when I do all the "right things", life can be pretty normal.  In case you might be wondering what one does to manage such a condition (disclaimer: this is not an official recommendation):

1) I try to keep stress to a minimum
2) I take vitamins: B, Calcium with D, Magnesium, fish oil, C, and a few other things
3) I exercise as much as possible, which means something different for me than most.  It is important not to "over-do it", or I could be wiped out for days.  Some days it usually means stretching, a little walking, or a little dancing.  Other days, I can doo all kinds of things...which is very exciting to me!
4)  I work on having a strong spiritual life.
5)  I try to get help when I need it (physically, mentally, etc)
6)  I don't eat wheat, sugar, milk, and a bunch of other stuff.

Overall, its all on how you look at it!  Everyday, I get to live like an olympian!