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In the words of the storied philosopher Tim McGraw, "it's the ending of an era, and the turning of a page"...
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A current fascination...***
Current fascination #2...
Excerpts from Anne Lamott's, Help, Thanks, Wow
“Let’s not get bogged down on whom or what we pray to. Let’s just say
prayer is communication from our hearts to the great mystery, or Goodness, or
Howard; to the animating energy of love we are sometimes bold enough to believe
in; to something imaginably big, and not us. We could call this for Not Me, and
Not Preachers Onstage with a Choir of 800. Or for convenience we could just say
“God.”” 2-3
“Prayer is talking to something or anything with which we seek union,
even if we are bitter or insane or broken.” 5
“Prayer is us – humans merely being, as e.e. Cummings put it – reaching
out to something having to do with the eternal, with vitality, intelligence,
kindness, even when we are at our most utterly doomed and skeptical.” 6
“I also know that life can be devastating, and it’s still okay to be
pissed off at God.” 14
“We and life are spectacularly flawed and complex. Often we do not get
our way, which I hate, hate, hate. But in my saner moments I remember that if
we did, usually we would shortchange ourselves.” 45
“So I prayed: ‘Help me not be such an ass.’” 67
“I pray not to be such a whiny, self-obsessed baby, and give thanks
that I am not quite as bad as I used to be (talk about miracles).” 95
“You’ve heard it said that when all else fails, follow instructions. So
we breathe, try to slow down and pay attention, try to love and help God’s
other children, and – hardest of all, at least to me – learn to love our
depressing, hilarious, mostly decent selves. We get thirsty people water, read
to the very young and old, and listen to the sad. We pick up litter and try to
leave the world a slightly better place for our stay here.” 101
I have enjoyed every word of script and music in this blog. It has left me with such a wonderful up-lifted feeling. Thank you for continually finding words that make me think, laugh and appreciate the little things that we all experience in our simple everyday lives. LOL
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you liked it, Mom. Thank you for instilling in me the appreciation/love of those little things:) LOL
DeleteLove the boot tribute! Those ARE some mighty fine boots. Love the new music. Love, love, love Anne Lamott. I got this book around Christmas and it's sitting on my nightstand. I've devoured it in small, sporadic servings-- not cover-to-cover--but it's really great stuff. I have many of her books, and she's so quote-worthy. If you haven't already, "Like" her on Facebook and she will post little musings much like her essays every week or so. Her ideas on prayer remind me of a poem I love by Mary Oliver (another woman with great thoughts):
ReplyDeletePraying
It doesn’t have to be
the blue iris, it could be
weeds in a vacant lot, or a few
small stones; just
pay attention, then patch
a few words together and don’t try
to make them elaborate, this isn’t
a contest but the doorway
into thanks, and a silence in which
another voice may speak.
- Mary Oliver
Beautiful, eh?
Most of the time, however, I can better relate to Anne's lament: "Help me not be such an ass!" :-)
I don't know how I overlooked this comment. I love that you always make me think, make me more mindful. I love this Mary Oliver poem. Off to do some research on her....right after my "help me not be such an ass" prayer;)
Delete