Connecting With God: Discovering A Cache of Bread Available to All ...........................11/12/12

To live a spiritual life we must first find the courage to enter the desert of our loneliness and to change it by gentle and persistent efforts into a garden of solitude.  Henri Nouwen

     Good evening,

Today was terrific.  How did it go for you?  Do you get frustrated,

Do You Know What It Means If You Are Too Busy? (Revisited) And, Must Haves and Can't Stands 5/3/12

You may feel that the world is too messed up, that too many wrong choices have been made,
that it doesn't matter much what you do, that it's hopeless. But that's not true. Just as every
problem can be traced to a wrong decision, every solution begins with a wise and loving
decision to do the right thing, the loving and unselfish thing.

A little bit of love can make a lot of difference. One act of kindness or unselfishness can start
a whole chain reaction of events that will, in the long run, make life a lot better for a lot of people
So don't despair because there is so much suffering and grief and wrong in the world. Instead,
do what you can to make things right and encourage others to do the same. The world won't
change in a day, but we can make a difference if we try. (Photographer's lovely caption)

All rights reserved for this and all of his other photos, which are frequently featured in this inn.

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Innkeeper's Note:

        I wrote this last year. I found it

A Country Walk

 

This is a trip down memory lane: I posted this in another community.  

My gratitudes for today:

1.  I took a trip along a country road, two miles from my home. It was sensory overload of the heavenly kind.  The air was crisp.  I breathed in the scenery and walked for an hour and a half. My view stretched out for 12-14 miles.  Rolling hills, lush greenery, four white goats "baaaaaa, baaaa"ing, as I walked past their stable.  Chestnut-colored horses----with blazes naturally painted down their faces----extended their necks over the barbed wire fences that lined the country road.  As I strolled by, their eyes pleaded for the length of their noses to be scratched. It was an invigorating change from my urban routine, to view cattle grazing----from a distance of 10 feet.  Their month-old calves drank from them as they stood in a field, just beyond my outstretched arm. 

  I'm grateful for time alone with God and His countryside.

2.  I'm thankful for my sweatshirt, vest, wool knit cap, scarf and gloves.  Hey, it was cold out there------maybe 58 degrees!  Brrrrrr!

3.   For the majestic view of the SF Bay Area as I reached the top of a hill luminescently green due to recent rains.  I stood next to a ruggedly handsome barn, its slouched and patched together sides betrayed the age of its character-filled redwood planks.  This red rustic repository for hay, scurrying mice and an occasional owl was a century and two score in years.  The Bay Area it overlooked.  Although I hiked after 6:00 p.m., I arrived at this spot while it was yet daylight, the virtue of getting off Daylight Savings Time.  A creek that ran through a near-by grove of oak trees sang out as I drank in the view of the bay, the San Francisco peninsula and enjoyed nature's tranquility. 

4.  For my continued health.  Not long ago, I was flat on my back and deathly ill-----thank you, Jesus, for making me whole, not only spiritually, but now physically, too!

5.  For good friends with whom I can speak honestly (but courteously and with kindness, too). See below.

6.  For not allowing a friend, who works as a manager, to dominate when we visited yesterday.  "You may be able to control conversations with other people but I'm uncomfortable with you doing so with me----we're equals."  (Our conversation was as equal adults after that comment----an unusual experience for him.)

7.   For the joy of being an adult.  Part of being an adult is that we can disagree with others.  We want to say what we mean, mean what we say, but not say it meanly.

      Okay, guys, those are enough gratitudes from me, I heading out to one of my favorite towns, the island town of Alameda. 

          The Innkeeper of the Attitude Inn,

Antidote to Stress: Not Being in HALT 4/1/11

      During a crazy schedule, making time to nurture ourselves strongly adds to our well-being.  Slowing the rpms of our schedule from a screaming 7,000 rpms to 1,000 soothes our psyche.

      We'll be happier and calmer, we'll last