Shhhhh......

We are surrounded by noise.  We are woken up by it in the early morning hours when our alarms go off and our bedside radio's go on automatically.  Dogs bark, children shout, parents run through the day's programme, motorists blast their horns, teenagers bob to the rhythm of the music blaring from the car radio or on their i-pods, whistles blow, computers hum, telephones ring.  You get the idea. 
Our days are filled with continuous sound.  When we return home, we immediately switch the radio or television on to fill the house with background noise.  We fear the silence.  Silence is so foreign to our existence today that it makes us feel ill at ease. We have no appreciation for silence in our lives. 
We equate silence with something that is lacking, absent from our lives.  Silence means we are alone, deprived of company.  We feel threatened by it.  We immediately need to fill the silence with sound, with noise.
Wherever people get together, they immediately begin to fill the silence in with words, with mundane chatter or ear-deafening music.  Conversations are carried on above the sound of the television playing in the background.  Strangers fear the silence that threatens to develop between questions and comments.  Even churches are continuously filled with music even during times of silent prayer, lest the silence would find a way into my thoughts.
We view our verbal abilities as a testimony of our education, we use it to convince, to rule, to impress.  Boastful people make sure that everyone else is quiet so that they can have everybody's full attention.  Very often our verbal communication is merely empty chatter, and a continuous repetition of what others have already said.  When we are quiet, silently looking on, people tend to view us with a certain amount of suspicion.  They do not understand silence, and feel insecure in its presence.  Mostly people would try to entice the quiet person into having a conversation, and if that fails, would then proceed to ignore the person as if the quiet, introspective person ceases to be of any importance.
We are so busy complying with the world's addiction to noise and sound that we have forgotten the importance of silence.  Only in the silence can we begin to truly hear again, to listen.  Our spirit, our soul is crying out to be heard.  God is trying to reach us, communicate with us.  As long as we keep up the sound pollution, we cannot begin to listen, to understand.  Silence is not just empty time, devoid of something.  Silence has presence, it is filled with an energy of its own.  Silence has substance.  Only when we are silent can we hear the spirit's guiding voice.
In the quiet our senses start to become more acute.  When we are not so busy thinking up new words to utter we start hearing better.  The tremble of insecurity in my child's voice, the silent scream of depression, the way fear is disguised in an angry voice.  We also begin to see better, to notice the hidden sadness behind a brave smile.
Maybe it is time to schedule silence into our busy lives.  To consciously spend time away from all external sound, to even switch of our internal dialogue, and just be quiet.  To breathe deep, being completely conscious.  To listen.

If you flutter by here, share with me your thoughts on silence.  Just click on the words "no comments" or "1 comment " and follow the link.  I would love to hear from you.

Today is a Good Day......

Today is a beautiful spring day.  The air is crisp and clean, with just a gentle breeze flipping through my hair.  A new day, full of promise and expectations. 
I opened the door to savour the beauty of the morning, when the next moment our two excited Spaniels stormed in, leaving a trail of muddy footprints all over my freshly washed tile floor!  Their happiness clearly written in the muddy zigzag pattern.  They love this beautiful day too!
Looking at the happy mesh on the floor, I asked myself a question, that I now put to you.  What will my footprints say about my walk today?  Will it be a reflection of my talk?  Everyday, no matter how carefully we tread we leave footprints behind, we leave a calling card in the hearts of everyone we encounter throughout our day.  Where will my footprints lead those who follow them?  Will they lead my children to waters of rest, guide people to see the sunny side of life, show the lost the way to the Lord?  Will I leave footprints with long strides that tell of joy and purpose, or will they be the shuffle steps of negativity, the heavy tread of despair?
Everyday is a beautiful gift, another day to celebrate, another opportunity to dance.  Grab this day, this moment with both hands.  Look at the butterflies, how they rejoice in the new season, their lives a short moment, a little comma in life's essay, but they flutter here, there, everywhere with zest. 
When you look back at your life, let it be full of dancing footprints, in a mad and messy zigzag pattern that shout out to all that you lived every moment like a butterfly.  Yes, indeed, today is a good day to be a butterfly!

If you flutter by here, I wish you joy and blessings.  Please feel free to comment.  Just click on the words "no comments" or "1 comment " and follow the link.  I would love to hear from you.

Take a breath....

We all know those days.  Those days when nothing seems to go right.  Days when every day's toils and struggles become too much. When we feel we want to scream at the conductor to stop this crazy train we are on so that we can get off.  We rush along with the world on an out of control roller coaster from meeting to meeting, chore to chore, duty to duty.  It is on days like these that we want to ask the question "Is this all there is?"  We feel caught and strangled up in the barbed wire of life.  Without wings.  Weary beyond believe.  What is the purpose of it all?
When life feels as if it is spinning you around at a whirlwind pace, it is time to take a moment and be still.  The roller coaster ride will continue whether you are on it or not, life will not disintegrate without you, but if you do not take a moment for yourself you might fall apart.  So take a few deep breaths, reconnect with yourself, with God. 
From the moment the butterfly emerges from its cocoon, it is a wonder, a miracle, a thing of beauty.  Its very existence is a testimony of its Creator, its purpose is to pollinate.  In the same way we are also, each and everyone of us, a wonder, a miracle, a thing of beauty.  Our purpose: to be a testimony of our Creator, to share the Gospel on our journey through life.
When we focus on the things around us, the dirty dishes, the bills, the meetings and dozens of other chores, we tend to take our eyes off God, but if we see in everything another opportunity to glorify God, we become like the butterfly, merrily flying along, enjoying every glorious moment of life.
When 'one of those days' happens again, take a deep breath, change your focus and fly......

If you flutter by here please comment.  To comment click on the words "no comments" or "1 comment " and follow the link.  I would love to hear from you.

Happy Birthday

Today would have been my dad's birthday.  All of my life I have associated his birthday with the arrival of Spring.  He was a Spring Time person.  Full of fun, funny stories and jokes.  Always ready with a tease or a practical joke.  He was and always will be my hero.
The thing that stands out above all else was the way he loved his family.  He cherished each one of us in a special way.  He was fiercely protective of us.  Even though I was a girl I wanted to be just like him, and every man in my life has been measured against him.  He always made me feel safe, nothing could touch me as long as he was near.  His wisdom is woven into every fibre of who I am today.  The way I love and discipline my children is directly influenced by him.
My dad was never a push-over, yet I never heard him utter foul language.  He was a jester, yet had respect wherever he went.  To me he was perfect, and my mother never said anything that would make us doubt his perfectness.  He faced friends and enemies with the same straightforward, steadfast look in his eyes.  At times I was sure the devil shivered in his socks.
He was a rebel and a gentleman.  Where my dad was there was always laughter.  His blue eyes bright with mischief, yet sometimes I remember catching him with a far off expression in his eyes.  He was strong, a man's man, yet he was a snappy dresser.  He had Irish charm and was a ladies' man, but the way he looked at my mother made it plain to everyone that my mom was his only love.
Age and illness drew a mellow blanket around him, but he was still my dad, invincible and stubborn.  If I have one wish, it would be to sit on his lap one last time, and say thank you for being my dad. 

If you flutter by here please feel free to share a memory of your dad with us. To comment click on the words "no comments" or "1 comment " and follow the link.  I would love to hear from you.

Little Things

Yesterday one of our youngest students arrived at class, sat down and gave a big sigh.  I asked her what that heavy sigh was all about and she answered that time was just rushing by too fast.  Yes.  This is the mantra of our lives in this hectic century! 
Everything happens at the speed of light.  Our days are crammed with everything that we have to do and it has to happen now.  Our lives are filled with big important things always demanding the highest priority.  We blink and years have passed, our children's chubby faces have made place for the serious faces of adulthood, dreams we have had made way for more pressing issues.  The sparrows have come and gone and come again and we never even noticed their arrival.  Little things, seemingly too insignificant, have passed us by.
It is so sad that we have come to measure our lives only by big events, important dates and major goals, forgetting that the times in between are just as important, they are the links that join the bigger moments, they are the material in between the bold patterns.
We have to start taking note of the little things that surround us, that colour our days, that unfold around us.  The silence of early morning,  the warmth of the bed where my husband lay just moments before, birds calling the sun to wake up.  The way my child's eyelashes curl on her cheeks, traces of her baby face still visible when she sleeps.  The smiles I receive from the people next to the road as they walk to work, the sms from a friend to say she thinks of me too.  The way the sun falls into the room where I have my first cup of coffee for the day.
Life is filled with wonderful little things that give meaning to our existence.  Insignificant when viewed against major events, but when I look at the bigger picture, everything fades into obscurity when compared to the times when my children would cuddle against me as we watched TV, when my husband would look at me and I see his love for me so clearly in his eyes, the laughter and funny moments we share as a family, the way my sister's laughter tinkles like bells in my ears, my brother's serious voice when he imparts some advice, the way his eyes crinkles just like my father's did, my mother's comfort, my father's words of wisdom, our long talks and visits around the kitchen table.  Christmas gatherings, the gifts are long forgotten, but the memories of the times spent together lingers long after.
These little things are all the major events of my life, the moments that truly matter.  Without them we would be so much poorer.  Life would indeed just be a senseless blurr, a useless chasing after wind.  Thank God today for every little thing in your live and rejoice!

If you flutter by here please tell me what little things you treasure in your life.  To comment click on the words "no comments" or "1 comment " and follow the link.  I would love to hear from you.

Take to the Skies!

The beginning of a new week is always a good time to do some internal stocktaking.  It is not necessarily an easy thing to do, and very often we prefer to avoid it, but it is as good for the soul as spring cleaning is for the house.  Today, take a good look at yourself, at your dreams, your goals.  Have you reached them yet?  Are you busy living your dream, or have you stashed them at the back of a messy drawer to maybe one day dust off?
What is it that is pinning you down?  What is it that you are allowing to hold you down?  Hmmm, I can hear you say it : "Nothing, my life is fine."  For some of you I know this is true, and that is absolutely wonderful!  But some of you reading this knows that even though you are happy, there is some part of you that wish you could try something if only you were not so afraid to try, so scared of failing or maybe just so comfortable with what you have now, even though you suspect this is not all there is.  We become very adept at telling ourselves little white lies just to stay safe, just to keep within our comfort zone.  We avoid the issue, because facing it might just rattle the cosy cage we have built for ourselves.
However, for as long as we avoid taking a good look at ourselves, our hopes, dreams and goals, we will not find true fulfilment.  It is like a butterfly trying to fly with just one wing, the other one is being pinned down, and it withers away.  It can only look at the fearless flight of the other butterflies.
Again I ask you - what is it that you allow to pin you down?  Fear maybe?  Fear paralyse us, it steals our freedom.  Is it Failure?  Just another word for fear.  If we don not try we can't fail, but we definitely also CANNOT succeed!  Could it be our own comfort zone that is keeping you pinned down?  Many people suffer from this one, it ties us down so softly that it does not even feel as if we are tied down.  Unfortunately there are no guarantees in life, taking chances expose us to the possibility of hurt, failure or disappointment. However, NOT taking chances definitely  keeps our hopes and dreams from ever being realised.  We are seemingly content, going about our daily routine, moderately happy, not really unhappy, yet....... We bury our feelings, our dreams, not wanting to disrupt our comfort, not daring to try , not willing to rip the pins out and fly.
Again my question.  You don't have to answer me, or confide in anyone, you just have yourself to answer to.  Nobody can help to unpin you, you are the only one who can do it, but I encourage you to do it, don't just wish it, do it and take to the skies!

If you flutter by here please comment.  To comment click on the words "no comments" or "1 comment " and follow the link.  I would love to hear from you.

Stormy Weather

I looked up at the sky.  It was filled with ominous black clouds.  The wind was lashing through the branches, howling around the corners like a wounded animal, the air heavy with anticipation of the coming storm.  Soon the heavens opened and the rain started pouring down.  Inside the safety of the house I could feel my heart beating heavily, keeping time with the drumming of the rain on our roof.  Lightning flashes sliced through the sky.  Like usual I felt ill at ease, like a butterfly tossed in the wind, anxious and frantic.  Stormy weather is my least favourite.  Even today, as a adult, I feel like hiding with my skittish cat underneath the couch.
Thunderstorms sometimes take us by surprise.  Beautiful, sunny days can suddenly be turned upside down by a devastating wind or the arrival of thunderous clouds and drenching rain.  Plans for a picnic then goes by the wayside, the barbecue gets cancelled and the birthday party taken indoors.
So too does life also have its unexpected thunderstorms.  Life as we planned it gets interrupted or changed.  It leaves us feeling fragile and vulnerable.  We worry, anxiety threatens to overpower us and we lose our peace.  Even the little storms of life unsettle us and leave us frustrated.  We focus on the problems raging about us and begin to feel hopeless. 
As a child I would put on classical music whenever there was a rainstorm and then I would watch the raindrops, pretending them to be ballerinas.  This helped to make me feel calmer, the storm less threatening, shifting my focus.  When life's storms rage about us, we too must change our focus.  All is not hopeless, God is always there.  We can rejoice in the fact that He is always present, He is our calm amidst the stormy seas.  When we focus on Him we can walk on the water, it is only when we turn our attention to the wind that we are overcome by the storm.
When the storm is over, silence settles on the rainy reflections, the sun breaks through the clouds and bathes everything in a golden glow, the leaves shine like precious gems, the air is as fresh as the first day after creation and we are heading for sunshine again!

If you flutter by here please share with me how you feel about thunderstorms or rainy weather.  To comment click on the words "no comments" or "1 comment " and follow the link.  I would love to hear from you.

Unpack the Suitcase

I have an old suitcase, one of those little brown ones, made from a sturdy cardboard, very much like the one in the picture.  It was my grade two suitcase.  Today it is filled with old family photographs, black and white memories and colourful moments back in time.  I love looking through the photo's, smelling the age that clings to them.  Some of the people are familiar faces, others just vaguely remembered and quite a few are total strangers, their names lost with the passing of my parents.  Looking at them always leaves me with nostalgia.

I have another suitcase too.  It is very old and battered and crammed to the point of bursting.  I have had it most of my life and it is constantly getting heavier.  It is quite a burden to lug around everywhere.  I am quite sure you have one too.  Most people do.  It is tiresome to carry it around, but it is so familiar, and we are so used to it that we can hardly bear to get rid of it.

This suitcase is also full of memories.  These memories, however, rarely make one smile.  These are memories of past pains, long ago hurts, ancient anger and resentment, agonising guilt and unbearable shame.  Maybe your suitcase is filled to overflowing with the hurtful things people have said, things your parents did, insult your friends hurled at you, memories of broken trust and a shattered heart.

With every year, every lesson learnt the suitcase becomes heavier.  Dragging it around drains us of energy, yet we cannot bear to leave it behind, there is comfort in its familiar feel.  It has become a safety net.  Whenever something new beckons I quickly open it up and find a dozen reasons why it could not possibly work.  My suitcase is an excellent protection plan against new love, relationships, exciting ventures or the future.

It keeps us from dreaming, hoping, flying.  Holding onto this suitcase prevents me from grabbing hold of any blessings.  The weight of it drags us down, it dulls our senses and robs us of our joy.  There is only one thing to do.  We have to open it and throw out all those past negative memories.  We have to discard our resentments, our fears and our anger. 

Butterflies dance so easily through life.  They would have been unable to fly if they had to carry an extra load.  Their wings would not have been able to support any additional weight.  On the flight of life there is no room for extra baggage, for our own sake, we have to travel light.  Just pack a smile, a happy heart and be ready to be surprised!

If you flutter by here please share with me what baggage you've decided to leave behind.  To comment click on the words "no comments" or "1 comment " and follow the link.  I would love to hear from you.

Through the Window

Have you noticed that sometimes a bee, a fly or even a butterfly will get fixated with a window and with all its might try to buzz into the house.  It will spend all its energy in this fruitless pursuit.  This puzzles me, for what can be so interesting inside that the beauty of the garden does not offer it?  What scent lures it there?
It reminds me of myself, in fact of many people I know.  We get caught up in the idea that life is better elsewhere.  We dream of a better life " if only ".  We are sure that happiness is just on the other side, all I have to do is to somehow get THERE.
Just like that insect, we will butt our heads to try to find a way, we focus all of our energy on that elusive goal.  We become obsessed by it, nothing else matters anymore, everything fades in comparison with that one thing we see through the window.  We turn our backs to the beauty that surrounds us, we ignore the joy of the present, we become oblivious to what we have now.
There is nothing wrong with dreaming, in fact it is a necessity of life to have dreams.  There is also nothing wrong with striving for something better, but when my dream, my goal becomes an obsession to the exclusion of all else, it is then that the balance is disturbed and I find myself on dangerous ground.  Then it is time to turn back to the garden, to once again notice all the beauty that surrounds me and to give thanks for the blessings I already have.
In our struggle to reach the other side we often forget the wonder of the here and now and we take our blessings for granted.  Our whole being is so focused on obtaining that "better" thing, that " happier" state of being, that we loose our grip on the reality of now.  It is then that once we reach that goal, we realise with a shock what we have sacrificed for it, what we have lost in the process, and the price we have paid for it leaves a bitter sadness in the pit of our stomachs.  Then we are trapped in a room so much smaller than what we've hoped for and we realise that the beautiful garden we thought we saw through the window was but a reflection of the reality.
Happiness lies not in attaining some or other goal, or reaching a destination, or having a change in circumstances.  True happiness is found in being content with what you have, where you are right now.  Edith Wharton said: "If only we'd stop trying to be happy we could have a pretty good time"!

If you flutter by here please share with me what makes you the happiest right now.  To comment click on the words "no comments" or "1 comment " and follow the link.  I would love to hear from you.