The Merry-Go-Round

I hadn't seen her for nearly two years. It had been almost five years ago when she first walked into the exam room with panic all over her face. So much had happened to her, she was caught in the chaos, and her body had broken down. Eventually with time and rest, her spirit found peace, and with medical intervention she found relief. But she always ventured back onto her merry-go-round of stress. . .

I welcomed her embrace and was so glad to see her. She told me once more, how month after month, there had been such major events all too consuming for her to address. "It was one thing after another, " she said, "I had no other recourse." And now she was worried again that she'd let herself go, her blood pressure kept climbing. . .

There is something about modern society, it is all too consuming, yet so inviting. Everyday it welcomes us to join on the merry-go-round that whirls us around at an impossible pace. We grow accustom to spinning and making ourselves dizzy by filling our days, 24/7. It's so easy to think that we must ride the wheel, that we tend to forget that it's our choice to make. You cannot ride on the wheel if you're weak and can hardly hang on; it's even more difficult to help others hold on. The merry-go-round can stop, but only when you decidedly choose to get off.

Our body, our mind, is just finite; created to live in the moment; created for breathing, for fueling with real food sources, for balance, for play, for adequate rest and relaxation. The merry-go-round will always remain as a "given", but it doesn't have to be where we do all our livin'. . .

Comments

Easter Production

Driving down the freeway, the large billboard caught my eye. "Join us for our Easter Production," it beckoned with splashy brown and orange colors. It made me think, yes, that's what the resurrection of Jesus Christ has been reduced to. . . a man made production. Even this very day we celebrate, the headlines are all about the celebrities that attract the biggest Easter crowd. E.G. "Tim Tebow draws thousands to Texas Easter service." Once again, I had to think . . . who is Easter really about? What happened to "Jesus draws a crowd?" I have grown tired of celebrity worship. Yet, it seems in America that is what most Christians are interested in. We flock to mega churches, we drink in videos and studies all geared to keep us simple minded and complacent. No longer is theology a priority to be taught. No, it's better to read through the Bible in a year by reading only 5 minutes a day. Never mind, contemplating or discuss...

Close Encounters of the Spiritual Kind

" Put yourself in the path that God will work." (Pastor Martin Smith, 1/2024) On a crisp, clear Saturday morning, I started up the hill with Gypsy Rose eagerly leading the way. I was more caught up in the fresh air feeling that was invigorating, than paying attention to the few cars that passed us by. But there up ahead, a small red truck had slowed to the curb to flag me down. "Could I help him find his son's house?" He was an older gentleman with his phone in hand. He couldn't reach his son because the calls only went to voicemail, and he didn't have his address, only that it was somewhere here in Rancho. I googled his son for him, but unfortunately, it only brought up an older address which was the current address now for this man. There was no updated address for Rancho Cucamonga. I told him the bad news, but he was so very gracious. He did everything to show me that he was for real, pulling out his driver lice...

Awe

The thunder resounded with a loud clap! Certainly, it came as an afternoon surprise. The expected rain seemed less than what was forecasted, but with the thunder came a bucket of heavy raindrops splashing against my kitchen window. I wanted to take it all in, the fresh aroma of falling rain and the beauty of water drops hitting the leaves of my nasturtium and petunia hanging baskets. Unfortunately, the rain cloud quickly fled, running away into the eastern sky. But then the sun made its way onto the scene, and I was drawn to a thick band of rainbow colors shining up at me. The western sky was magnificently orange, completely bound up tight with that solo color scheme. I went outside to catch it all before it would disappear. Creation again was causing me to pause in awe and wonder. . . Awe is that reverential wonder, that even includes fear and respect. It is only a 3 letter word, but it takes bigger and grander words to define it....

Mary's Heartbeats

Search This Blog