Monday, February 18, 2013

Choices and Voices, Part 1


It’s much easier to write about events, activities, hobbies, and accomplishments on a public blog than to share the things of the spirit.  The show-and-tell posts can teach and inspire readers to make great crafts and recipes, to sew, quilt, paint, decorate,, take professional-looking photos, and any number of other wonderful skills.  Writing about the things of the spirit feels like a little more of a risk to me.  But here goes anyway.

I guess I’ve travelled about 40 thousand miles this past year starting with one roundtrip to AZ, 9 to Washington DC, 2 to Utah, and 1 to Denver.  Forget about sky miles, it’s the blessings I’ve accrued that bring me to my knees in humility and gratitude.  I know I’m not the epitome of health, but I am undeniably stronger and healthier than I was when my travels began.  That’s physically healthier.  Even more marvelous to me is that I have also experienced an increase in spiritual nourishment and growth.  It feels like a miracle.  My heart wants to sing it out loud, but my spirit is telling me to keep my words simple and quiet, and to leave out all the exclamation marks I’d like to use..  Funny spirit.

 

I think I will be able to share more later.  But for now, I want to post the writings of someone else.   I am currently reading this amazing book, “Following the Light of Christ into His Presence” by John M. Pontius.  It is answering so many questions I’ve wondered about.  – How to be confident in my decisions; how to understand the actions of others; how to leave the plateau and make real and sustained progress... I borrowed the book on tape from the library, but some other kind person, C. Erickson, typed up the excerpt below in his Amazon review, and I believe it is life-changing!  Uh, I mean life-changing.   

4 comments:

Kirt said...

That's O.K. Bonnie, go ahead and use exclamation points. It makes your point louder. So glad you are regaining your health and gaining spiritual strength. Another interesting book is Viktor Frankl's, Man's Search for Meaning. Happiness is dealing with the present, and usually associated with what we get. Meaning in life is associated with past, present and future, and deals with what we give and serve others. “The one thing you can’t take away from me is the way I choose to respond to what you do to me. The last of one’s freedoms is to choose one’s attitude in any given circumstance.”
― Viktor E. Frankl

Bonnie said...

Thank you, Kirt. I've read Frankl's book, after hearing many positive references to it, and was slightly underwhelmed. I'm sure it's me! Still the comment you cited is just what I need right now.

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Danse said...

Hope you don't mind, mother dear, but I used part of your entry here as a part of a home teaching message I gave a week or so ago. A guy said it was interesting that we share that message at that time, and then after a silent pause, he asked us for a blessing. Nice jorb.