Heavy rain in the forecast...

There are heavy rains forecast for today... rains that will wash away the bleakness of winter and feed the roots of the spring abundance.  The temperatures are beginning to creep up and a sure sign of spring is the return of the people who migrate south for the winter months.  I was out this morning with my son's dog and I could hear the birds.  It was before the sun was up, very early, 6:00 AM and it was a lovely time of day.  It reminds me that each day we begin again and have a new day with no mistakes in it!  Can I do better today than I did yesterday?  Not that yesterday was not good but each day I want to be a better person, find greater things to do, change people's lives and encourage those who are struggling.  This is my work helping others find the sacred and be the best they can be.

Most recently I found a very good picture on Facebook.  I captured it and kept it in my "good message" folder and shared it with the congregation at Sunday morning worship.  I find it speaks to my heart and keeps me focused on living in the moment:

I try to live in the moment and let the rest fall away.  Taking the time to smell spring in the air this morning was a great way to begin my day.  Even though I had to scoop up after my son's dog (I am not fond of dogs but am helping out right now so it is part of the job) I took the time to listen to nature and smell spring in the air.  CBC radio reminds me there will be great rain in the next 24 hours and I ponder how Mother Earth will be cleansed of the salt and sand, remnants of winter.

I am reading Parker Palmer's "Let your life speak" http://www.amazon.ca/Let-Your-Life-Speak-Listening/dp/0787947350 and am loving his philosophy.  He reminds me to listen to my life and hear my vocation which is my inner voice directing my work.  I am encouraged to listen to my "true self" which for Palmer, "when violated, will always resist us, sometimes at great cost, holding our lives in check until we honour its truth" (pg. 4).  This to me is god.  Our inner voice which calls to us for relationship and beckons us to be the best we can be.  That was the Jesus story.  Come to god and you will find yourself.  Authentic self and trust in what is beyond ourselves.

Sometimes life forecasts heavy rain and we need to welcome it in order to bloom, blossom and grow spiritually.  Rest in yourself to find wholeness and love yourself and your god first ... the rest will fall into place.

Yogyakarta pictures from June 2012.  Taken by C. Breadner.