Fall Musings,
Yes, today we celebrate. Boston Strong! Go Red Sox! Our team, our community has risen up from defeat. 

Yet, there is a somber mood today. The murder in Danvers of a bright young math teacher hangs heavy.  I am finding it hard to wrap my head around it. Why? Her life was dedicated to teaching. I can't think of a more honorable profession. She had a whole lifetime ahead of her.  

In the passage from 2nd Timothy, it's Paul that is speaking as he awaits his death in a Roman jail. He does not  expect it to end well this time. He reflects back on his long and full life which he compares to a finished race. Paul's life was more of a marathon than a sprint, and one filled with many stops and starts, twists and turns. Like any full life, it had suffering and loss, but it also had a deep sense of purpose and was filled with beloved friends and colleagues. Just as Paul, teacher Colleen Ritzer touched many. Her life, though, was a sprint, barely begun.   

No one of us knows how much time we have to live. Poet Mary Oliver reminds us we don't get a redo on life. We want to be able to look back at the end of our days whether long or short without regret. And we want to be able to look forward to what comes after death with curiosity and a sense of wonder.  

In her poem, "When Death comes" she writes: ........... I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering:
what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness?

And therefore I look upon everything
as a brotherhood and a sisterhood,
and I look upon time as no more than an idea,
and I consider eternity as another possibility,

and I think of each life as a flower, as common
as a field daisy, and as singular,

and each name a comfortable music in the mouth,
tending, as all music does, toward silence,

and each body a lion of courage, and something
precious to the earth.

When it's over, I want to say all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.

When it's over, I don't want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.

I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened,
or full of argument.

I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.

- Mary Oliver

Each day is a precious gift. May we spend it wisely making of our lives "something particular and real" a life lived. 
Blessings,  Beth

My walking buddy grumbled today about the near dark and cold in the morning. I nodded and smiled.  It got me thinking about persistence. 

For almost 20 years we have walked at least a couple times per week. My son had just entered Kindergarten when we began and now he is away in grad school. We became friends when I ran her school committee campaign. Over the years, we have weathered ice and snow and wicked heat. We have rules now that were not present at the beginning. We only walk if it is above 15 or below 95.  Most days, though, are sunny and warm, perfect for walking. At least that is what I recall. We walk slower now, but it's the same five miles that takes us along the river. The view one day this week was breath- taking. The water was still,with a mist rising on the far shore. The boats thinned out due to the lateness of the season, now stood out singular and angular. The marsh grasses shimmered golden in the morning light. Shorebirds fished.  We both longed for a camera or canvas.

The point, if there is one,  is that persistence gives you many gifts, some not planned.  It would have been easy to give up the walk many times. In the past 20 years, I went to grad school and got divorced. My friend struggled with back, knee and feet problems. Our kids grew and fledged. We persisted.  The need for exercise was why we began but I suspect, if that were the only gift, we would long ago have found a more effective or more convenient way to move our bodies. The unintended gifts are many: friendship, deeper appreciation of the natural world, a shared experience to name a few. 

It may be that the whole point of the passage about the widow and the unjust judge is about the gift of persistence. When we persist at something, we gain an intimacy with the experience that only comes through time. It's something we know in our bodies that cannot be gained any other way. The widow persisted despite the odds, and the judge finally gave way. The needs of the world can seem overwhelming. We can choose to do one thing and do it again and again and again. It may make all the difference. 

See you Sunday!

Blessings, 

Beth

The prophet sent a letter to the people in exile with bad news. They weren't going home anytime soon. He then asks them to do just about the impossible. Live!  He says to them: plant gardens, marry, have children and plan to marry those children....in exile.  Live, be present, where you find yourself. 

We live in a world that is filled with distractions. I must check my iPhone 100 times a day. If there are no emails to respond to, I check the weather or the news. This takes me away from the present moment, from the gift that is unfolding right now. It may be that I am trying to avoid something....like the reality of the sermon that needs to be written or the difficult phone call I need to make. The Internet gives us an infinite number of distractions from living life where we find ourselves now. 

We may not be in exile like the people Israel find themselves in Babylon but we still may be far from home. As the prophet reminds us, we have this life now. Not the dream of what is to come, nor the longing for what was. Your life, the one you are to live, is happening right now. 

I hope you will find some time to enjoy yourself outside this weekend. For me, the smell of damp leaves, the crisp air and beautiful fall sky helps me to be in the moment. 

Enjoy!

Peace, 

Beth