Find Your Peace

I find peace in the morning light that streams through the tops of the trees and turns them bright shades of green. I find peace in the evening light that then turns those leaves to gold. I find peace in the stillness that brings the songs of birds or the soft sweet ripple of water to my ears. I find peace in the hymns and anthems sung at church. I find peace in deep gulps of fresh air in wide open spaces. I find peace in closing my eyes to embrace a gentle breeze that’s found its way to me. I find…I seek…I hope for peace.

In a world of constant interaction and engagement and the world pushing in on us from all directions, it is ever important to give ourselves the opportunity to find peace.

We all need time off. Time away. Time out. We must shift gears to make sure we don't over do it in one way or another. Constantly red lining leads to burning out. Sometimes we just need to let off the gas and brake.

Take a moment. A minute. Five minutes. Ten minutes. Just seek and ye shall find. Your heart and soul will soak it up, your mind will thank you, and whether you realize it or not you will then bless the world by facing it with your peace. I hope this so much for you, for all of us.

Find your peace, sweet friend. An entire day was dedicated to it in the beginning, surely a few minutes a day can be managed. Please do this for yourself. Find your peace.

With love and light,

LT

Your Theme Song

When passing a young man in our high school the other day, I noticed his ear phones and that his walk had a certain strut to it. Smiling, I said to him, "It must be good." 

Grinning back, he said, "It is. It's my theme song." As he kept walking on to class, he turned back over his shoulder and said, "I have a different one everyday." I happily chuckled at his cheerfulness and walked merrily along reflecting on my own songs of life.

I can't remember my first theme song, it might have been something by The Bangles or Bananarama, or "Jesus loves me" or "Tis a Gift to Be Simple," but I do remember finding encouragement through my 20's by singing Phil Collin's version of "You Can't Hurry Love" at the top of my lungs with the windows down as I drove through young adult life.

Sting's "Desert Rose" helped me close out the 90's, and Enya's "Only Time" was a go to for centering. 

I can't quite put my thumb on this chapter's theme song, but I certainly have a love for certain lyrics and music that remind me of those whom I cherish. I suppose I'm living through their theme songs now, too.

If Europe's "Final Count Down" comes on, you can bet my son will be rocking out. Each time I hear Christina Perri's "A Thousand Years," I can't help but tear up a bit at how thankful I am for my husband, and my daughter and I share a great love for Tim McGraw's "Be Humble and Kind" words to live by.

Whether you are floating in sadness and need the comfort of Julia Brennan's "Inner Demons" or are just ready to "Shut Up and Dance" with Walk the Moon, give yourself the gift of a theme song. They will heal you, inspire you, comfort you, energize you, and help you through the chapters of your life. They can strengthen you when you are alone and bring you into community with others when you are ready.

Find your theme song for the day, for the month, for the year, for what you need now and set it to repeat!

Thank God for great song lyrics and the artists that bring them into our lives with the emotional comfort and inspiration that can be found within their music.

With love and light,

LT

Snow Dream: The Epiphany

The snow drifts were two to three feet high along the streets, and the roads could only be approached by foot by the time we headed out that night. Bundled from head-to-toe, determined, we walked until we saw a light coming from the church. All else was dark save the street lamps.

The unassuming church, tightly bricked in between two other buildings, surprised me. The view when we walked in was completely unexpected. Gray marble stretched for almost an eternity and narrow stained glass windows of every color followed it. It was majestic, breathtaking, warm, and welcoming all at once.

I was amazed to see how crowded it was for an Epiphany service. I honestly don’t think I had ever attended one, but it was important to Ellie that we go.

It was finally time for the service to begin. Every wooden seat was filled. I was comforted by Ellie and her joy and enthusiasm for the Epiphany service.

Incense seemed to be wafting through the candlelit room as we all walked in a line towards the crèche. Ellie confidently walked first, knelt before the crèche, and then with an exuberant smile sacredly painted the cross upon her forehead with holy oil.

I knelt afterwards realizing it was a prayerful time to consider the gifts ­I was presenting to the baby king.

We walked back to our seats, pure joy on Ellie’s face, for she too is expecting a newborn gift.

As we were seated, paper ornaments of the sheerest weight lined with silver were handed out. Ellie turned to me with hers in hand. It was in the shape of a C, the first letter of her expected daughter’s name. It reminded me of the brilliant light of the moon. The look on her face…glorious.

This whole evening was a dream. Oh, the hope, the comfort, the joy that lives in each of our hearts and drifts into our minds at rest.

This was my snow dream. It was for Ellie, for her daughter, for her mother, for her mother’s mother, but it was for me, too, and for you, on the Epiphany.

There are always gifts waiting to be received.

With love and light,

LT

The Force Be With You

I am not the fanatic that my sister is nor do I come close to my son or my husband’s expertise, but I do love Star Wars and kept a goofy grin on my face throughout most of the new Force Awakens as I watched it with my husband and children.

My son and I also greatly enjoy curling up on Saturday mornings to watch the new Star Wars Rebels cartoons. And even before he somewhat patiently began begging for a Star Wars Advent calendar, I was already feeling compelled to buy him one.

I am glad that he has fallen in love with the Star Wars series and enjoy hearing him talking with his friends through the issues of the movies and books. I hear echoes of the same conversations and debates that my sister and I shared playing in the front yard or gathered around the playground with our friends.

To talk through the trials and tribulations of the Rebellion is to consider the ultimate battle of light and dark and of good and evil. It raises the question of hierarchy, domination or superiority in society and how to give hope and show bravery, kindness and empathy when faced with fear and challenges in life.

The Rebels aren’t out for gain or glory; they are fighting for fairness and the right to life. There is a great beauty to the Rebellion’s protection of the innocent as well as the preservation of creation. Moving beyond ego to recognize the good of the whole certainly is a powerful story that rises again and again.

The movies and book emphasize a higher positive power that cannot be seen but can be felt and believed in with faith. The Force enables individuals to realize their true gifts and to use them to combat the dark side. It empowers simple people to greatness, and strength comes from believing. Even when facing great obstacles, the characters of Star Wars realize that The Force is with them, and they courageously charge to take their stand against the dark side. “May the Force be with you” is repeated time and time again. Knowing The Force is on their side, they have hope.

In Hank Stuever’s article “George Lucas: To feel the true force of ‘Star Wars” for the Washington Post on December 5, 2015, he wrote, “Lucas wanted to make a movie that would teach children the central ethic of right and wrong, good and evil. ‘I want[ed] to see if I can bend their lives at a particular point in time when they’re very vulnerable,’ he recalls, ‘and give them the things that we’ve always given kids throughout history. The last time we had done it was with the Western. And once the Western was gone, there was no vehicle to say, ‘You don’t shoot people in the back’ and such.’”

While recently watching Disney’s “Legacy” episode of Star Wars Rebels with my son, Ezra, one of the show’s main characters, had a vision of his parents from whom he had been separated and who he sadly realized must be dead.

“You are going to need to stay strong…,” said his father. His mother continued, “Remember, Ezra, without hope we have nothing.”

As Ezra considered the loss of his parents and the task facing the Rebel force, his mentor Kanan said to him, “The Jedi teach that life doesn’t cease at death but merely changes form with The Force. Your parents are alive in you, Ezra; they will be always.”

Each Sunday, our family and many more across the world greet each other saying “Peace be with you.” We are purposely making the effort to connect and to remember and realize that we are all a part of the great Kingdom. There is strength and comfort to be found in this shared community and story, and it does not end with death. We each have the peace of God within us to celebrate the joy of life and to challenge the dark side.

The story of the Kingdom is repeated again and again; it is ongoing. Generations take time to nurture the story in their children. Star Wars. Jesus. They are good stories.

The Peace be with you. The Force be with you. Have hope. 

With love and light, 

LT

Three Little Monkeys

I’ve noticed as of late how disturbing and loud the negative voices have been made around me through social media, television and other news outlets. I’m shocked by the unkindness and anger being shown. The lack of respect being given for differences of opinions. The violence being taken in the name of one religion or another. It is a heavy overwhelming feeling.

As a video image popped upon my computer screen today of a man yelling at another and egged on by supporters as the insulted man hung his head at a loss, an image from childhood popped into my head: monkeys, three of them.

When I was a little girl, I loved visiting my nana and granddaddy’s home in Dumas, Arkansas. It had all kinds of nooks and crannies, rooms and levels for exploring and fascinating furniture and décor. It was so very different from my own home, I didn’t want to miss anything so I spent hours taking it all in. I walked in circles around the place, got on my hands and knees to look under things and climbed into boxes and furniture to get a better view. During one such roll about on the green shag carpet in my nana and granddaddy’s television room, I noticed a curious statue in between the levels of the heavy wooden octagon coffee table. It was a greenish brass color and depicted three monkeys in a row. One monkey had its hands over its ears, the next monkey had its hands over its eyes and the next monkey had its hands over its mouth.

Not daring to move the monkeys or to disturb my grandparents’ show, I stared at it intently. Days ticked by during my trip to Dumas, and I kept returning to this interesting little statue. One afternoon, while my granddaddy read the newspaper, I finally asked him about the little monkeys. He lowered his paper, cocked his head to the side and adjusted his glasses to get a better look and said, “Hear No Evil, See No Evil, Speak No Evil.” The sun was streaming through the windows that lined each wall of the room. The light next to my granddaddy lit both the paper and him up. My heart beat a little faster. He went back to reading.

As much as Advent is considered an anticipatory season of hope, it is also a time of penitence and reflection. As of late, I’ve found myself wishing my heart and mind were a little more centered. I’ve found myself a little uncomfortable with my own thoughts and wondering how or why I’ve said and done or not done certain things. I’ve been pondering all of this in my heart and considered what I can do to make a change.

I find myself wanting to remember the words of my grandfather and the wisdom of those three little monkeys. I don’t want to give power to evil by hearing, seeing or speaking it. I know I can do better and will feel better for it.

Hear No Evil

See No Evil

Speak No Evil

With love and light,

LT

Love Spread Like Wildfire

I am often overwhelmed by the daily news report. Viewings leave me sad, scared and breathless. There are killings after killings, angry people that see absolutely no good in others and “leaders” that are just after the next sound bite. It certainly does not leave one inspired. Instead I fear that it leads many to feel hopeless.

We are in a very precarious situation in which more and more people have no sense of self worth and therefore see no worth in the lives of others. If their lives are not valued why should they value the lives of anyone else? It becomes easy to dismiss the pain and suffering of others, to snuff out a life or to look the other way.

The more I think about how polarized our society becomes the more I hope for Jesus. In a society built on a treacherous hierarchy where the majority of lives were unvalued, Jesus helped the least of these realize what love is and what it is to be loved. He went into the undesirable neighborhoods and helped to reorganize perceptions of how we should treat one another. Life didn’t necessarily get easier, but communities came together and supported one another. People from different sides of town began to recognize their commonalities and found they could respect one another in this new light. Love spread like wildfire and toppled a corrupt and overbearing regime with peace.

At a loss at the continued killings and arguing over this law or that and his right and her right and so on and so on, I said to my husband, rather vehemently, the other evening, “We NEED Jesus! We need someone who can help people realize that they are loveable and have the ability to love. We need someone who can make people listen again and share kindness towards one another. We need someone who can bring us together not more and more news that will separate us.”

This, too, left me breathless, because as I called out for help, I paused and remembered the somewhat hard part; we have to be Jesus.

Teresa of Avila (1515-1582) wrote “Christ has no body now but yours, no hands, no feet on earth but yours, yours are the eyes through which he looks with compassion on this world. Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good. Yours are the hands with which he blesses all the world. Christ has no body now on earth but yours.”

I am not brave. I do not have all the answers. I am kind one minute and the next something ugly can leave my lips. But I DO believe with every ounce of my body that we must not give up on love. We must keep trying to be good to one another. Instead of dismissing the anger and pain of others, could we address it with kindness? Instead of rising to anger and attack, could we instead work towards peace? Could we stop trying to get ahead of each other and instead help each other out?

I don’t know what this ultimately looks like, but there are others that do. They are out there bravely reaching out to the least of these. Marching in peace through the forgotten neighborhoods and trying to help people feel loved.

Where are the hippies now to put flowers into the guns used in the wars of our streets? Can that moment of stillness be captured again, when the man holding the gun stands still and lets someone reach him in peace and hope?

I want to make a difference and will continue to strive and do so everyday. I may fall short, but I will get up and try again.

God give me the strength to be kind to all I meet. Help me to share love in a way that others know that they are loved even when all feels hopeless. God, help us reach outside of our comfort zones into the uncomfortable space for growth of community. Help us to be Jesus to one another and to realize that we are all yours, each of us a treasure to behold.

#BeJesus #WeNeedYou

With love and light,

LT