Thursday, April 28, 2011

Prayers and Quotations


Native American Prayer to Begin the Day

 

O Great, Holy Spirit,   I take this step into the day you have given.     I embrace all I see - the season, the wind, the fragrances, the weather. Let me always accept the day given with a grateful heart.


O Spirit of Life, I put my arms around myself, all that I am, all that I can be. I stand here in my own history, with all my mistakes and victories. I hold all those I will meet today, in my journeying and in my work. I try to walk gently on this earth. Let me walk gently through the lives of my friends
and work companions. Though they make way for my passing, may they spring back, neither broken nor bruised.


O glorious Spirit of Mystery, I put my arms around you. I do not know what will happen to me today, but I accept it.  Give me a heart of courage and believing, so I may put my trust in you, and fear nothing.
 

                - From the Plains tribes -
                           * * *
Whatever your daily tasks, seek every opportunity to make contact with the world of the spirit, with the divine world, because it is only here, in this world you each carry within you that you can blossom and find plenitude. The subtle joys of the spiritual world are the only lasting joys, so why spoil them by endlessly lingering too low in the material? This divine world you carry within you is your higher nature, and by identifying with it you give it every opportunity to develop. Then, little by little you will sense that even when you are in darkness and torment you will forever be accompanied by peace and light.

Omraam Mikhael Aivanhov

.@;~.@~:~@~.@;~.@~

Slow me down, Lord!
Ease the pounding of my heart
By the quieting of my mind.
Steady my hurried pace
With the vision of the eternal reach of time.
Give me, amid the confusion of my day,
The calmness of the everlasting hills.
Inspire me to send my roots deep into the soil
Of life’s enduring values
That I may grow toward the stars of my greater destiny.

-   Author Unknown – 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


It is almost time.
As always,
There has been
So much to do. But now, before it is too late,
Before this hallowed, gracious hour slips away,
I must pause
And be quiet.
I must think.
I must be 
with God.

        - Vincent P. McCorry, S.J.



"Be who God meant you to be and you will set the world on fire."
— St. Catherine of Siena -


"We can do no great things,
Only small things with great Love."


- Mother Teresa -






   "The place God calls you to 
is the place 
    where your own deep gladness 
    and the world's great hunger meet." 

     —Frederick Buechner

Thursday, April 21, 2011

The Poetry of Working with and Knowing Beautiful Souls




(¯`v´¯)
`*.¸.*´
¸.•´¸.•*¨) ¸.•*¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•´ .•´ ¸¸.•¨¯`•
¸¸.•¨¯`•


Superman


I wish I could be Superman
And you were Lois Lane;
I’d break the Laws of Nature
And bring you back again.

I wish that I were Superman;
My love would be my strength
To bring you back to perfect health,
Your life to natural length.

But Superman was Jesus
When he healed people in pain;
He brought his dear friend back to life.
These stories weren’t in vain;

They must be showing us the way
That we can do the same,
Translate love into miracles
And lift you from your pain.

But maybe dying is just that
And life is one long dream.
God’s love then lifts you from your pain
And brings you back again.

Dedicated to the women of my support groups by
Marilyn Brine Gilmour   
July 31, 2009





Karin's laughter echos through the halls of Heaven




                                                               
                                     
                                   

                                                                 In Memory of:           
Lois
Harriet
Martha
Letitia
Michelle
Valerie
Mary
Louise
Pat

Lori
Mary Jo
Vigi
Jay Marie
Cecilia
Sue E.
Lynda
Iris S.
Michele
Trudy
Roberta
Kathryn

Sharon
Brenda
Sandy
Karin
Joni

Jane
Linda B.

Betsy
Sue C.
Penny
Meam
Sue D.

Kelly

Gail

Margaret
Cathy

Bonnie
Barbara (individual)


...to Lois



Maya Angelou, from her collection, I Shall Not Be Moved

When great trees fall,
rocks on distant hills shudder, 
lions hunker down
in tall grasses,
and even elephants
lumber after safety.

When great trees fall
in forests,
small things recoil into silence,
their senses
eroded beyond fear.

When great souls die,
the air around us becomes
light, rare, sterile.
We breathe, briefly.
Our eyes briefly,
see with 
a hurtful clarity.
Our memory, suddenly sharpened,
examines,
gnaws on kind words
unsaid,
promised walks
never taken. 
Great souls die and
our reality, bound to
them, takes leave of us.
Our souls,
dependent upon their
nurture,
now shrink, wizened.
Our minds, formed
and informed by their 
radiance, fall away.
We are not so much maddened
as reduced to the unutterable
ignorance
of dark, cold
caves.

And when great souls die
after a period peace blooms,
slowly and always
irregularly. Spaces fill
with a kind of 
soothing electric vibration.
Our senses, restored, never
to be the same, whisper to us.
They existed. They existed.
We can be. Be and be
better. For they existed.



Monday, April 18, 2011

FLORIDA! February 25 - March 2, 2011






at the pool... aaahhhh



"Old Florida"



Marilyn and her aunt Rita    
*.¸.*´`*¸.•¨`•¸¸  

Spring Training in the City of Palms Park
   RED SOX FANS 



                   
        

Sanibel Island and Captiva

Jim / Solitude




                                                 


                         Marilyn / Freedom
                         


                                                                   *.¸.*´`*¸.•¨`•¸¸   .´*
                                                                

At the hotel before we left..