March 1

It's March 1 and the book is about ready for the publisher. Writing this book has been a marvelous experience. For 4 months I have focused on scripture, what it means as devotion and what it means in my daily life. Does it make a difference in my sense of God's presence in my life? Does it make a difference in how I interact with others? Does it make a difference in how I face the demons in my life-what ever that demon might be?

When I have finally submitted all those 52 weekly chapters will I keep this focus on God in my life as a priority; or will I slip back into a more casual relationship-more just fitting it into the other stuff?

I sense the writing of this book as God's gift to me. How do I keep this gift alive?

How do you keep god's presence alive in your life-in your recovery?

Blessings-Penny

book

I have not been posting as much as I would like to. My new book, "Filling the God-shaped Void-a book of daily meditations" was due yesterday. I hope to really have it complete by March 1 but it is consuming most of my writing time.

But I have been thinking of this writing and musing over a couple of things. One is a couple of newspaper articles on child rearing.Since I feel being a good parent is absolutely one of the priorities in life, I'm always interested in the latest trends. One article reviewed a book written by a woman who had lived in France. She was struck by the better behavior of French children than her American children. After talking and observing many French families, she determined that the better behavior of French children was due to the firmer limits that French children have. Parents speak in firmer tones when setting limits. French children have only one snack per day-at 4 pm. The American writer mused, "Are we afraid to make our children unhappy?"It all made sense to me. When I raised my children we certainly had firm schedules and things like good behavior in restaurants or a church was an understood requirement. However I also have been supportive of the newer generations more "at ease" approach to parenting-children included in more gatherings, schedules more flexible.

It is all so very important and I wonder how we find the right balance? It is certainly worth ongoing conversation.
Blessings-Penny

Blessings-Penny

relapse and recovery

A recent article by a physician involved with the recovery of doctors who abuse drugs and alcohol had an interesting idea. This doctor who was in charge of this physicians' recovery program said that their success and minimal relapse rates indicated that relapse is not necessarily a part of the disease of addiction. He maintained that the physicinas enrolled in their program relapsed at a far lesser rate than the average recovering program. Monitoring, drug urines and support were essential parts of their program.

The reduced relapse rate for those physicians is certainly admirable. However I wonder how applicable that is for the average recovering person. After all look at the incentive for recovery for the physician. If he does not relapse, if he moves into sustained recovery, he returns to a lucrative job, probably a family ready to stand by him (after all they have alot to lose if they don't)and a supportive network.

What does the average person in recovery have? Often the average person has lost a job, has no housing, no transportation, no skills and a probation system that is looking for him or her to screw up.

It seems to me for the average person to sustain recovery it would take the same things physicians have- a job, a home,a supportive network. As the very least, the average person working towards recovery needs to feel their lives are important enoughto save. They need to have enough self esteem to know they are worth saving. They need to know they can change and things in their environment can change. They need to have a spiritual connection that promises them they are loved.

How are we ever going to get there?

Blessings-Penny

Being pleased

Chistopher Hitchens wrote an article, his final one, in Vanity Fair recently that has great advice for all of us. He was talking about Charles Dickens and Dickens' respect for childhood. The part that spoke to me was Hitchens' suggestion, through his analysis of Dickens, that we all "hang onto our childhood." His perspective was that if we do that we are more apt to be generous in spirit,to have a "freshness and gentleness and a capacity to be pleased."

Isn't that a beautiful phrase-"a capacity to be pleased?" Do you still get pleased at things or is your more general attitude one of criticism and judgment? Criticism and judgment are easy patterns to slide into. After all there is alot to be critical of in today's culture. But Dickens delighted in birthday parties, being lavish about them and celebrating that we were "unborn and now we are launched."

Do you still "have a capacity to be pleased? Do you still delight in lavish birthdays? Wouldn't it be wonderful if friends described you as "gentle and fresh?"

Blessings-Penny

good health

Joe and I have had a real tangle with the flu virus this week. He wound up going by ambulance to the ER after fainting and such terrible weakness that he couldn't get up. A few days later I had the same flu and fainting feeling but didn't go down.

A bout like this and feeling so badly for several days makes one extremely grateful for good health.When we have good health days-physically, emotionally and spiritually-we need to remember what a gift good health is. We need to cherish it, make a resolution to take care of it, and define ways we are going to do that.

How will you protect your good health-physically, emotionally and spiritually? Today?
Blessings-Penny

windows

A member of our extended family died recently and I have been talking with his wife frequently. She is grieving and wrestling with all the different emotions associated with her loss. At one point she said she has been telling friends, "He died with grace." I was surprised to hear her use the term grace. I was in the room with her as he drew his last breaths and it was a peaceful death. But this was a man who one might say was "larger than life." He was a successful salesman with all the accompanying bravado and exhuberance of that profession.

And then the widow said, "I wonder why I use the term grace. That's not in my usual vocabulary. It must come from something I learned in bible school a long time ago. Maybe it's something I need to pay attention to."

The words we use can give us a window into our innermost thoughts. If we pay attention to those words, they might tell us of beliefs we hold, things we've learned that we have lost, ideas we once thought important.

Any words that catch you by surprise? Even if they are not your words are there words that touch you-words like peace and gentleness and honesty and grace? Blessings-Penny

thankful

We visited a friend in the hospital yesterday who usually travels out of Vermont to warm places January-March. He really dislikes the cold and what he describes as the dark, raw days. This year he cannot travel and he is miserable.

As we left the hospital and returned home I noted the temperature was 8 degrees above 0. It had warmed up from 8 degrees below 0 at dawn! Yeah it was cold!

But then I sat at the dining roon table to do a little writing and a little daydreaming out the window. First a fox ran across the field from one woods to another. His fur was thick and his tail fluffy. He wasn't minding the cold. And then as sunset came the alpenglow was on the mountain. Alpenglow occurs on sunny winter days as the sun sets and reflects its pink color on the mountain snow. It is mystical-a wonder.

Yes, we could complain of the winter cold or we can delight in its unique gifts.

Do you complain of your circumstances or note and take pleasure in your gifts? Both are genuine human responses. One just seems more pleasureable.

Blessings-Penny