What if....

What if you were faced with a life-threatening illness and you had to make a decision (in a few short hours, possibly days) which would determine how long the remainder of your life might be? 

Would you know where to do go to get information?

Would you know if that information was reliable?

Would you know what the information-provider's agenda was?

This is what newly-diagnosed, critically ill individuals face and some face it alone, because they don't have partners in their life or because they don't have families or because the relatives are too far away or for some other reason.

I'm not offering up any kind of pity-party for anyone, but I am suggesting that as this fragile green earth spins faster and faster, we seem to have less and less time for our neighbors, acquaintances and even family.

Before I headed out West, I received a phone call from a neighbor to tell me that he and his wife were temporarily moving into "assisted living " quarters because of her cancer treatments and her care requirements which were beyond his capabilities. They have family living nearby and they have friends and neighbors like me. But clearly he wanted me to know that when I didn't see them around that they were open to having visitors in the new place. I was deeply touched and will certainly go and see them when I return.

And it brought home to me, in yet another way, that we are interconnected. That each smile, each touch, each effort made on behalf of another does have value.

So if you are reading this and you know someone who is facing a difficult time, perhaps you will be led to offer up some of your time to do something to ease their challenge. Not because someday you might be facing your own mountain, but because today is all we have... and what we give is our presentness... our being... and letting another living man or woman or child know that they have been seen or heard.

Arizona has spring, too

This morning I woke up to hear new bird sounds and a different smell in the air... it's the smell of the Sonoran desert warming up and in the spring the air here is also loaded with pollen as bees fly from flower to flower doing their work. My current eating program doesn't include any honey or I'd be down to the local health food store buying up some cactus honey to keep my allergies from acting up. But I don't live here anymore, so it's not worth the time it takes to overcome them. I'm just here for a seminar and will spend most of the time inside - unfortunately - poking my head out now and then to change the inside air for brief whiffs of the delicate aromas from outside.

Spring in my yard

   Look what just has blossomed in my yard this week! I didn't know what it was, but some Internet searching led me to the Trumpet Vine (Red) which has the potential to climb 35 ft. without a trellis. If you look closely you can see the pollen it's created as well as the pine pollen which is showing up everywhere - achoooo!

   Although this is supposed to be 'sweet-scented,' I was unable to discern much scent at all. To be fair, it is about 60 degrees outside and perhaps the flower needs to have some warmth and sunshine to be smelly. And it's kind of drizzly as well. 

   According to the description it can bloom all summer, so I'm curious why I didn't see it last year... not old enough? Some descriptions say it takes seven years to establish itself. Master Gardeners are invited to comment.

As Above, So Below

Recently I was listening to a pastor who really, and I mean REALLY, knows The Bible. He was reminding the faithful that our Creator is with us always, and to prove the point he was delineating how we were created in His image... that there is a pattern to His Creation (us) based on 'threes.' Our bodies and the world around us are put together in 3's... (even the dots!) And the trinity/triangle is the strongest form. Our arms have three segments, our legs have three segments, the body itself is comprised of the head, trunk and extremities. The earth has a core, mantle and crust. An apple has a core, the fruit and the skin. Pastor T. said "Further, in The Bible, Moses received those tablets with 10 commandments... you have 10 fingers to remind you of them.  And if that's not enough, you have as a master gland, the pituitary which provides 10 different chemicals to keep you in balance. You are a living Bible... you have 33 vertebrae so you can walk and stand up straight to remind you of the life span of the Messiah..." As we enter the season when the Messiah was born, because he was born in Abib, the first month (God's time - not the calendar established by Pope Gregory), and if you haven't picked up The Bible recently, perhaps you will to find out how the Lord wants to use you for His purpose.

Gone Too Soon

All the quotes about life ending too soon don't really provide much solace to those who are either facing it or the family and friends who grieve the loss of their beloved. News of the surprising and sudden death of the talented actress Natasha Richardson reminded me of how much I had enjoyed her gifts in the movies she performed in.

And as a skier myself, I fully acknowledge the risk of the sport. I have lost ski friends in 'freak' accidents on the slopes. And yet I was blessed to have survived it... and to ski again and again. I worked with the Ski Patrol one winter and saw the many ways that the human body could be damaged - whether novice or expert.

Young and talented, loving and lovely, it causes us all to stop and wonder "Why?" And so often the media is quick to jump on "If only..." scenarios which serve no good use except as barn doors for the departing horses. Perhaps the fall itself was an indicator of something going awry, not that that fall caused the injury... and perhaps there are no comforting answers to be given to the family - any family - who has to say goodbye too early to a loved one.

St. Patrick's Day 2009

When I was growing up in NH, there was a man called "Pat" who came into my life. He was an Irishman and by the time I knew him, he was already in his 50's, and yet he seemed ageless to me. He taught me how to raise chickens, to watch the skies for the weather and to garden. He used to sing while he was gardening, and thus I learned many of the Irish songs I enjoy today. He was gentle and loving, and so sweet-natured that for a long time I thought March 17th was the day he was being honored. Even though I found out later in school that it was a day for the man who drove out the snakes from Ireland, I still honor my "St. Pat" on this day. And now, all these many years later, I have discovered that there probably never were any snakes in Ireland (so no need to drive them out) and that there are likely several promulgators of the Catholic mission who might have been identified as "Patrick," for me this day is about a man who lived an honorable life and who taught me to do the same.