December 5

"I love the way you lie...."

These words come from a favourite pop song of my right now by Eminem and Rihanna....

Sometimes we accept lies... untruth...

We allow pain and resentment, apathy, ignorance, disregard to settle in our lives like water trapped in puddles after a flood.... but they stagnate and breed disease.  Our lives become swamps and we get stuck, bogged down by the rot and decay of life lived devoid of the light.... and we get sick... and wonder why we can never get healthy....

Can I admit that I am guilty of accepting lies because the truth would be harder to accept?

Yes.... But the light is growing brighter.... Like sunshine on a meadow of wildflowers...

Once, I wasn't doing very well.  I felt lost and exhausted.  I felt bogged down.

I sat in my front room and turned my face to the sun to take a few deep breaths and regain myself.  And in that moment, I recall that I turned my face, eyes closed to the sun.... Initially, the sun shone dark and red through my eyelids....but within moments, the light pulsed, growing brighter and whiter until it was pure and white.... and the lord spoke to me and said, "I want to fill your life with love and light".  And I knew that I was strong enough to overcome anything, and that he would always find a way to bring me back into his love and light when I wandered into darkness.

I don't believe anymore that God sits and waits for us to return when we wander.

I believe that He is with us everywhere, always.... trying to fill our lives with love and light if we will let Him.

God has always spoken to me through music... and I thank him for the gift of music that he is teaching me to rediscover right now.  Music is truly a language of love.....

Aloha,
Emily

November 28

November 29

I decided to write a letter today to request forgiveness for years of anger and resentment... and to offer my own forgiveness for the reasons for that pain….

I sat pondering what to write…. Wondered if I could really forgive… If I could really let go… there was a part of me that just wanted to hold on to the anger and resentment….some darkness that didn't want to let go. 

Then Ave Maria began to play…. And tears streamed down my face as it became abundantly clear to me that the Lord wants love and grace for me and not anger and resentment.   I finished the letter and sent it.

May this touch you in some way that it touched me as well.  And may forgiveness light your path of love. 

The video is poor, but the song is moving…. Close your eyes, breathe deeply, and let the darkness melt away and the light of love fill you.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQVz6vuNq7s

From Wikipedia:

AVE MARIA:

The prayer incorporates two passages from Saint Luke's Gospel: "Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with thee" (Luke 1 28: ... and "Blessed art thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb" (Luke 1:42:...

The first of the two passages from Saint Luke's Gospel is the greeting of the Angel Gabriel to Mary, .. The opening word of greeting, χαῖρε, chaíre, here translated "Hail", literally has the meaning "Rejoice", "Be glad"....

The word κεχαριτωμένη, (kecharitōménē), here translated as "full of grace", admits of various translations. Grammatically, the word is the feminine present perfectpassive voice participle of the verb χαριτόω, charitóō, which means "to show, or bestow with, grace" and, in the passive voice, "to have grace shown, or bestowed upon, one".^[2][3]

November 26

1 Corinthians 13

New International Version (NIV)

 ¹ If I speak in the tongues^[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. ² If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. ³ If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,^[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.

 ⁴ Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. ⁵ It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. ⁶ Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. ⁷ It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

 ⁸ Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. ⁹ For we know in part and we prophesy in part,¹⁰ but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. ¹¹ When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. ¹² For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

 ¹³ And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.

I regret that I have not blogged in many weeks, and that some of my faithful followers have been missing my words.  Thank you for your encouragementJ

The path of love is not always an easy one.  But where I seem to fail, I come back to 1 Corinthians.  It is used in an almost cliché way sometimes, but everytime I hear it, I am confident that I am hearing the truth about love.

There are people that I love very much who are suffering right now, and it saddens me.  It saddens me, because I feel that the suffering is being caused in the name of, or place of, love.  If REAL FORGIVENESS (think love keeps no record of wrongs) if difficult, then imagine that REAL LOVE can be so much more difficult. 

Or is it really? There are things that have happened to me in the past that I didn’t know if I could forgive,  but as I sit here now, and time and strength have gathered…. I can truly say that I can sit in a place of total forgiveness for all wrongs of the past.  Because my commitment to LOVE is so strong, I will MAKE A DECISION to forgive.  Can it really be that simple? I think it can.  It may need to be a choice that I make time and time again, when emotion and hurt return, but I do believe it is as simple as that.  It is the choice to move on…. Not to dwell in pain and resentment… Not to live in anger and hurt… but to simply walk forward in love.  The truth is clear.  There is no room for unforgiveness in the path of love. 

Maybe that is why hateful, angry, bitter, negative people are so abrasive in our lives…. They are resounding gongs and clanging cymbals…. But in the orchestra of life, we have THE CHOICE to make our own music, and I believe, to influence others in a deeply powerful way.   

I see many unhappy every day, who are unhappy because they do not receive the love that they are looking for every day in their lives.  Here is what I have come to believe.  Love attracts love.  To be loved, we start with being loving. 

On my journey, I feel blessed that new and wonderful people are entering my life every day.  Love attracts love… and WOW there is actually a WHOLE IMMENSE WORLD OF LOVE out there taking root and flowering.  In random acts of kindness, kindly made gifts, sharing of food and laughter, giving of friendship, thinking of another before one’s self….

Every act of patience, kindness, compassion, generosity, modesty, respect, selflessness, temperament, forgiveness, joy, truth, protection, trusting, hope and perseverance toward love is an act of love itself. 

It is not length of life, but depth of life.  ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

We can live forever…. But if we live without love…. We have not lived at all.

Aloha,

Emily

October 30

Halloween... for all that is dark and spooky and creepy about halloween... it has become a family favourite time of year.  We have so much fun and so many laughs... I feel so blessed.  Maybe it is just that it is fall... my favourite time of year... a time of thanksgiving.  We decorate the house... plan costumes for weeks... Invite friends to trick or treat with us... Last night we carved pumpkins... and had a family dance party in the living room.  I hope I will be lucky enough to remember it forever. 
Family... where love blooms and grows....

October 19

I'm not sure yet what has made the change, but I am feeling much better about my life today.  I'm thinking it is likely that I have had a fabulous overdose of great company over the past 5 days.  I have seen so many friends and family members - it has been so energizing and uplifting:)

I realized today that love is truly an enduring thing.  I shared an evening the other night with a family who was a very special part of my life two whole decades ago... and even though we hardly see each other anymore, they took time to spend time with me and my sisters and we had a really cool reunion.  Love forges bonds that last a lifetime. 

Tonight I am compelled to blog about random acts of kindness.  My friend Karen gave me the gift of a handmade pair of mittens tonight, and I have felt emotional about it ever since.  I LOVE handmade mittens.  And, the fact that she took her time, and thought of me, and handcrafted a pair just for me made me feel so special and loved. 

I have to confess that I do not often commit random acts of kindness, but I know now that I will start doing it more often. 

Today, I am grateful for all the love that I have in my life.... and the lessons that I learn from those who love me. 

I am also grateful for all of my friends on Facebook who shared their kind thoughts and words in helping me to solve a problem for my daughter.  I love her so much and hate to see her suffer.  It is such a relief to know that I am not alone as a parent, and that I literally have a whole community of friends and family who care about both of us.  I am grateful for everyone who took a moment of their time in the last 24 hours to share their warm thoughts and encouragement with me.

Aloha,
Emily

October 13

Many years ago, I found that this poem inspired me.  For some reason it came back to me yesterday and I looked it up.  Perhaps it will inspire you.....

Desiderata

Go placidly amid the noise and the haste,
and remember what peace there may be in silence.

As far as possible, without surrender,
be on good terms with all persons.
Speak your truth quietly and clearly;
and listen to others,
even to the dull and the ignorant;
they too have their story.
Avoid loud and aggressive persons;
they are vexatious to the spirit.

If you compare yourself with others,
you may become vain or bitter,
for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself.
Enjoy your achievements as well as your plans.
Keep interested in your own career, however humble;
it is a real possession in the changing fortunes of time.

Exercise caution in your business affairs,
for the world is full of trickery.
But let this not blind you to what virtue there is;
many persons strive for high ideals,
and everywhere life is full of heroism.
Be yourself. Especially do not feign affection.
Neither be cynical about love,
for in the face of all aridity and disenchantment,
it is as perennial as the grass.

Take kindly the counsel of the years,
gracefully surrendering the things of youth.
Nurture strength of spirit to shield you in sudden misfortune.
But do not distress yourself with dark imaginings.
Many fears are born of fatigue and loneliness.

Beyond a wholesome discipline,
be gentle with yourself.
You are a child of the universe
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.

Therefore be at peace with God,
whatever you conceive Him to be.
And whatever your labors and aspirations,
in the noisy confusion of life,
keep peace in your soul.

With all its sham, drudgery, and broken dreams,
it is still a beautiful world.
Be cheerful. Strive to be happy.

Max Ehrmann, Desiderata

Read more: http://www.inspirational-short-stories.com/desiderata-poem.html#ixzz1afTTocUx
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October 12

I don't like living like this...
Always feeling behind,
Just trying to get through
Day by day.
But I hope that by planting
seeds of gratitude...
Love will blossom
and grow.

I am grateful that my life is so abundant
that I can be so busy.

I am grateful for my family.
I am grateful for my friends.
I am grateful for health, safety, and abundance.
I am grateful for the opportunities that mean that I
never have to feel stuck where I am....

Aloha,
Emily